Public Policy

  • July 20, 2026

    Trump Looks To Spur US Aluminum Output With Tariff Break

    Companies that pledge to build, expand or refurbish aluminum smelters in the U.S. will be able to apply for a reduced tariff rate on certain amounts of aluminum, President Donald Trump announced Monday.

  • July 20, 2026

    DOJ Says $1.8B Fund Is Dead, Urges Court To Toss Suit

    A Virginia federal judge should dismiss a suit challenging the U.S. Department of Justice's $1.8 billion settlement fund that was to be included in a deal to close President Donald Trump's tax leak suit, the federal government said, arguing the case is moot.

  • July 20, 2026

    Kalshi's Prediction Market Biz Facing Shutdown In Washington

    A Washington state court judge on Monday granted the state's bid to preliminarily enjoin Kalshi's operations in the state, agreeing with Attorney General Nick Brown that the prediction market platform offers unlicensed sports wagering and other illegal online gambling activities.

  • July 20, 2026

    Uber, Lyft Urge Court To Block NYC Driver Deactivation Law

    Uber and Lyft have told a Manhattan federal judge that New York City overstepped in enacting an unconstitutional new ordinance prohibiting the ride-hailing companies from "deactivating" drivers without formal notice and investigation, saying that carving out certain provisions from the regulation still doesn't save it from scrutiny.

  • July 20, 2026

    FCC Poised To Pull Co.'s Test Lab Status Over China Ties

    A Federal Communications Commission office is ready to pull a company's certification as an authorized test lab for devices sold into the U.S. market because of its ownership ties to the Chinese government.

  • July 20, 2026

    Judge Questions Exxon Bid To Revive Claims In Records Suit

    A Massachusetts judge on Monday appeared unlikely to let Exxon Mobil revive equal protection claims in a public records lawsuit against state environmental regulators, saying counsel for the company was essentially asking him to second-guess a colleague who tossed the allegations in March.

  • July 20, 2026

    NJ Justices Call Land Swap An Abuse Of Eminent Domain

    The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that a municipality violated state law and constitutional limits when it condemned two privately owned parcels of land to trade them to a developer, holding that the town never intended to put the seized properties to public use.

  • July 20, 2026

    Pa. District Owed Refund For Improper Water Fees, Court Told

    The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority has continued to improperly collect stormwater fees even after a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision found the fees to be illegal taxes, the city's public school district said in a complaint filed Monday, arguing it is entitled to a $1.9 million refund.

  • July 20, 2026

    Exxon Climate Suit Fate May Hinge On Preemption Precedent

    A Connecticut state judge on Monday seemed inclined to wait for upcoming U.S. Supreme Court preemption guidance before ruling on the state's attempt to nix one of Exxon Mobil's defenses in an environmental marketing lawsuit, though both sides drew some skepticism during oral argument Monday.

  • July 20, 2026

    Trump Curbs Foreign Sourcing Waivers For Weapon Materials

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing the secretary of defense to limit waivers that allow weapons contractors to obtain certain materials from nonallied countries.

  • July 20, 2026

    SD Judge Blocks Abortion Ad Ban Against Atty, Nonprofit

    A South Dakota federal judge barred the state from enforcing an abortion advertising ban against a reproductive health education nonprofit and an attorney, ruling that doing so would likely violate the First Amendment.

  • July 20, 2026

    Water Transfer Co. Seeks $351K In Worker Credit Refunds

    The Internal Revenue Service owes a water transfer services company nearly $351,000 in employee retention tax credit refunds, the business told a Pennsylvania federal court, saying the agency improperly retained the overpayments to offset a supposed civil penalty against the company.

  • July 20, 2026

    Vanda's NDA Rejection Challenge Can't Be Heard At DC Court

    A D.C. federal judge has said he no longer has jurisdiction to hear Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s challenge alleging the FDA violated the Appointments Clause by allowing a non-officer to exercise "signatory authority" and reject its new drug application for tradipitant, since Vanda went to the D.C. Circuit raising the same argument already.

  • July 20, 2026

    Trade Court Backs Thai Pipe Duties On Third Try

    A Thai steel pipe producer will be hit with a 15% antidumping duty after the U.S. Court of International Trade signed off on a federal government determination finding the record was missing necessary information.

  • July 20, 2026

    Wis. Village Can't Void Tribal Land Trust Order, 7th Circ. Told

    The U.S. Department of the Interior is asking the Seventh Circuit to reject a Wisconsin village's appeal that seeks to undo the agency's decision to place 500 acres into trust for the Oneida Nation, arguing that the municipality can't overcome Congress' power to regulate Indian affairs.

  • July 20, 2026

    Masonry Co. Owner To Pay $7.2M Over Amtrak Bribery Plot

    The owner of an Illinois-based masonry contracting company who last year pled guilty to conspiring to bribe an Amtrak employee to get favorable contract terms for the renovation of Philadelphia's 30th Street Station has agreed to pay more than $7.2 million to resolve civil claims stemming from the scheme, prosecutors said.

  • July 20, 2026

    IMF Paper Backs Destination-Based VAT For Digital Services

    The most coherent way to tax digital services is with value-added taxes that have place-of-supply rules to ensure they apply on a destination basis to final domestic consumption, according to a working paper by the International Monetary Fund.

  • July 20, 2026

    Activist Seeks Mich. Judicial Candidate Records

    A suburban Detroit political activist who has brought several challenges to candidates and state election rules sued Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and state election officials, claiming they violated the Freedom of Information Act by refusing to provide identity documents filed by a Wayne County judicial candidate. 

  • July 20, 2026

    Unions Seek To Block Texas Tech Curriculum Censorship

    A professors union and its Texas affiliate asked a Texas federal court to stop Texas Tech University's chancellor and board from enforcing policies that, the unions say, censor academic speech on race, gender identity and sexual orientation, arguing the policies will cause irreparable harm to the university's teachers.

  • July 20, 2026

    Trump Demands Review Of Judges' Science Manual

    President Donald Trump has escalated a recent controversy over a scientific manual for federal judges that has been around for over three decades. 

  • July 20, 2026

    Legal Center Tells 4th Circ. To Reject FCC Campaign Ad Rule

    The Campaign Legal Center has asked the Fourth Circuit to set aside recent FCC guidance on political ads, saying it violates the Communications Act of 1934.

  • July 20, 2026

    Rural Providers Laud Latest Broadband Map Push

    Rural telecoms are pressing lawmakers to advance a new bill to improve granular detail to broadband maps across the U.S. introduced by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

  • July 20, 2026

    Ga. Gov. Names US Magistrate Judge To State Appellate Court

    Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has appointed a U.S. magistrate judge for the Southern District of Georgia as a Georgia Court of Appeals judge, a move that came after the judge made the short list for a Georgia Supreme Court justice vacancy last year.

  • July 20, 2026

    Samsung Directed To Pay Interest Atop $445M Patent Verdict

    A Texas federal judge has ordered Samsung to pay prejudgment and postjudgment interest on a $445 million jury verdict that found the South Korean electronics firm was infringing patents covering wireless communications network efficiency.

  • July 20, 2026

    Pension Guarantor Proposes Rule On Disclosure Penalties

    The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. proposed a rule Monday on monetary penalties for failures to provide information on single-employer and multiemployer benefit plans that clarifies how plan sponsors can lower what's owed when they run afoul of their disclosure duties under federal benefits law.

Expert Analysis

  • What Jury Holdouts Can Teach Trial Lawyers About Strategy

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    Though a hung jury can be a disappointment, a psychological understanding of jury holdouts can help trial lawyers shape their damages arguments and understand leadership and group composition as a function of jury selection, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation.

  • 'Mobile' Sources For On-Site Generation May Be A Risky Bet

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering treating large on-site generators used at data centers as mobile rather than stationary sources under the Clean Air Act, a significant policy change that would leave developers that adopt this solution at risk of regulatory reversals, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • AI Investment Advice May Fail Investor Protection Rules

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    Based on an ongoing study of artificial intelligence platforms' investment advice given to retail investors, direct access to AI may not yield recommendations for typical households that are suitable under relevant securities rules, raising new and important issues in the regulation of financial markets, says Bruce Carlin at Rice University.

  • Startup Founder Disputes Increasingly Turn On Governance

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    Recent Delaware developments suggest that as courts place increasing emphasis on board process, independence and oversight in founder-led startups, the growing intersection of governance, technology risk and investor oversight is accelerating both the emergence and escalation of founder disputes, says mediator Frank Burke.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • AG Watch: Reconciling 2 Maryland Data Privacy Statutes

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    In-house counsel should map the interplay between the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act's strictly necessary standard to deliver a requested service, and the Protection From Predatory Pricing Act's exemption of consent-based pricing within loyalty programs, before the state attorney general begins enforcement on the latter in October, says Erek Barron at Mintz.

  • EPA Listing Signals New Scrutiny Of Drugs In Drinking Water

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    The recent publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest draft drinking water contaminant list highlights pharmaceuticals as a category of concern, marking the start of a process that could shape future research priorities, monitoring requirements, and federal and state actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • New Cuba Sanctions Raise Risks For Foreign Banks, Cos.

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    President Donald Trump's bold move leveling secondary sanctions against Cuba expands enforcement risk for foreign banks and companies with no U.S. nexus, signaling that non-U.S. businesses should reassess related transactions, counterparties and exposure as regulators test this broader authority, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • SEC Clarifies 'Baby Shelf' Restrictions For Small Cos.

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    For smaller public companies looking to access the capital markets, the so-called baby shelf requirements can be a significant limitation, but recent guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission helps to alleviate the effect of subsequent baby shelf restrictions on an at-the-market facility, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Nexstar Offers A Cautionary Tale On State-Level Deal Scrutiny

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    State-enforcement challenges to the $6.2 billion Nexstar-Tegna merger remind legal practitioners that federal approval isn't always sufficient to deliver certainty on closing, integration and timetable assumptions, says Brett Story at Britehorn Securities.

  • How 'Bundling' Enforcement Is Parsing Efficiency, Access

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    Recent antitrust enforcement actions have taken a selective view of companies' bundling of products or services — challenging it when it shuts out rivals, but tolerating it when it creates efficient scale — making the real test now less about lower prices than about whether competition is being blocked, says attorney Alan Kusinitz.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

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    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • How Treasury's Stablecoin Test Will Shape State Oversight

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    The Treasury Department's recently proposed principles for judging whether state stablecoin regimes are "substantially similar" to the federal framework signal that issuers should expect stricter benchmarking against the bank agencies' standards, limited state flexibility and heightened pressure to reassess compliance as rules take shape, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Opinion

    USPTO Must Address The Right Question In Sanofi Case

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Appeals Review Panel's questions in Ex parte Baurin indicate recognition of broader doctrinal issues, but rather than approaching from separate angles, the panel should concentrate on a single fundamental question about obviousness-type double patenting, says Jeremy Lowe at Spencer Fane.

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