Public Policy

  • May 18, 2026

    Native, Enviro Groups Challenge Calif. Oil Pipeline Waiver

    California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection granted safety regulation waivers without proper review, allowing Sable Offshore Corp. to restart operations of a Santa Barbara oil pipeline system a decade after a catastrophic oil spill, environmental and Native American organizations said in a suit removed to federal court.

  • May 18, 2026

    Seattle YMCA Biased Against Workers Of Color, Suit Claims

    Three former YMCA of Greater Seattle employees sued the nonprofit in Washington state court Friday, claiming the organization's leadership "treated workers of color differently and more harshly than white employees with respect to discipline, leave use, scrutiny, and termination."

  • May 18, 2026

    Wyoming Prosecutor Confirmed Despite Misconduct Rebuke

    Just a few days ago, federal judges tossed nine criminal indictments after President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. attorney's office of Wyoming was accused of prosecutorial misconduct. On Monday evening, he was confirmed to permanently lead the office.

  • May 18, 2026

    Aspiring Ga. Justices Flagged For Possible Ethics Violations

    A pair of plaintiffs attorneys running to unseat Republican-appointed justices on the Georgia Supreme Court in Tuesday's election may have violated state ethics rules, an oversight commission said Sunday in public statements after securing an Eleventh Circuit ruling.

  • May 18, 2026

    DOJ Charges Bring More Complications For Key Bridge Ship

    Recent federal criminal charges over Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster have created new risks for operators of the cargo ship at the center of the wreck, potentially upending a civil trial that's set to start next month to determine the scope of damages for victims' families and other injured claimants.

  • May 18, 2026

    Squires, Stewart Zero In On PTAB's Burden Of Proof At Panel

    The leaders of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Monday asked intellectual property experts to wade into debates over the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, focusing in part on whether switching to a stricter burden of proof would address disparate outcomes between the board and district court.

  • May 18, 2026

    House Ag Leaders Urge Trump To Fill Bipartisan CFTC Seats

    Leaders of the House agriculture committee are jointly urging President Donald Trump to nominate bipartisan candidates to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to serve alongside lone Republican Chairman Michael Selig.

  • May 18, 2026

    5th Circ. Revives Stabbing Victim's Suit Over Officer's Delay

    The Fifth Circuit, in a published opinion issued Monday, revived a civil lawsuit from a Texas woman claiming a federal probation officer did not take steps necessary to protect her from her ex-boyfriend who ultimately stabbed her, leaving her with near full-body paralysis.

  • May 18, 2026

    EPA, Flint Plaintiffs Clash Over Facts After Bellwether Trial

    Residents of Flint, Michigan, and the federal government have offered sharply different accounts of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's role in the city's water crisis in hundreds of pages of proposed findings submitted after a bellwether bench trial that lasted more than a month and ended in March. 

  • May 18, 2026

    Volvo Inks $197M Emissions Deal With Calif. Regulators

    Volvo Group North America has agreed to pay roughly $197 million to resolve allegations the automaker violated California's emissions and certification standards, according to an announcement made Monday by the California Air Resources Board.

  • May 18, 2026

    Online Directory Wrongfully Listed Cell Numbers, Suit Says

    An online directory operator published thousands of residents' cellphone numbers without their consent, exposing them to scams, harassment and identity theft, according to a proposed class action filed in Colorado state court Monday.

  • May 18, 2026

    Half The Nation's Bar Apps Could Remove Rape Questions

    By next year, it's possible that about half of U.S. jurisdictions will have amended character and fitness questions to avoid dredging up aspiring lawyers' sexual trauma. But while advocates hail the reforms as progress, concerns linger about the patchwork this could create across the country.

  • May 18, 2026

    DOD Says Chipmaker Belongs On Chinese Military List

    The U.S. Department of Defense has said it has "substantial" evidence to back labeling Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. a Chinese military company because its products have military applications, urging a D.C. federal judge to reject the chipmaker's lawsuit challenging the label.

  • May 18, 2026

    EPA Rejects Hawaii's Haze Plan, Keeping Oil-Fired Plants Open

    The Trump administration has rejected Hawaii's plan to comply with national emission standards to limit regional haze, repeating a novel argument that the closure of a fossil fuel-fired power plant as part of the plan appears to be unconstitutional.

  • May 18, 2026

    Feds Say TerrAscend Owes Back $8M Tax Refund

    Multistate cannabis operator TerrAscend erroneously received more than $8 million in tax refunds that should never have been issued because of a federal law that bars traffickers in controlled substances from taking business deductions, the U.S. government said in a new lawsuit.

  • May 18, 2026

    Feds Say BIA Ruling Doesn't Undercut Quick Removal Policies

    The Trump administration told the D.C. Circuit that a recent precedential Board of Immigration Appeals ruling interpreting the meaning of "arrival" and "arrived" should have no bearing on its policies seeking to increase the number of expedited removals.

  • May 18, 2026

    Exxon Tells 9th Circ. Calif.'s Plastic Suit Belongs In Fed. Court

    The state of California's claim that Exxon Mobil Corp. is responsible for plastic pollution belongs in federal court, the petroleum giant told a Ninth Circuit panel during a hearing on Monday, arguing that federal courts have admiralty jurisdiction because the litigation targets pollution in navigable waters, among other alleged injuries.

  • May 18, 2026

    Calif. AG Previews Live Nation Remedies At Democratic Forum

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta, one of the state attorneys general of a coalition of states that recently won a jury verdict finding Live Nation illegally established a monopoly over the live music industry, said Monday the next step is a structural overhaul of the conglomerate.

  • May 18, 2026

    AT&T Seeks FCC's OK To Change Covered Routers

    AT&T is asking the Federal Communications Commission to greenlight hardware changes to foreign-made routers, which the agency recently placed on the covered list, arguing the artificial intelligence boom has created a shortage that makes getting replacements difficult.

  • May 18, 2026

    Fla. Court Tosses Pricing Suit Against Textbook Publishers

    A Florida court tossed a qui tam action alleging that McGraw Hill and another educational publisher billed Sunshine State schools for educational materials at disparate costs in violation of the "best pricing" statute, ruling that the law only applies to interstate sales. 

  • May 18, 2026

    NC Says Open-Court Gun Review Didn't Prevent Fair Trial

    A North Carolina trial court did not violate state rules when it allowed jurors, at their request, to view in open court a weapon in connection with a case against a man accused of gun and drug charges, state lawyers have told the North Carolina Supreme Court.

  • May 18, 2026

    Ex-Detainees Say NC Sheriff Withholding Data In ECourts Row

    Counsel for a putative class of individuals who allege they were wrongfully arrested or detained due to glitches in the state's electronic court system told a North Carolina federal court during a Monday hearing that a county sheriff's office is delaying the release of its own records.

  • May 18, 2026

    Pa. High Court Snapshot: Wegmans, PennDot Top May Lineup

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's May session begins Tuesday with an argument whether the state's Department of Transportation can be sued over a tree branch that fell onto a state road, even though the tree itself was growing from Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority property.

  • May 18, 2026

    Debate Ramps Up Over Prison Cellphone Jamming

    Two GOP lawmakers say the Federal Communications Commission isn't moving fast enough to complete a rule that would effectively let state prisons and jails jam contraband cellphones, but industry pushback remains strong.

  • May 18, 2026

    Minn. Lawmakers OK Federal Conformity, Property Tax Relief

    Minnesota would conform with several changes to the federal tax code and extend its workaround of the cap on corporate deductions for state and local taxes under an omnibus tax package approved by lawmakers and heading to Gov. Tim Walz.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Gear Up For Trump's Pharma Tariffs

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    President Donald Trump's proclamation establishing tariffs on certain pharmaceutical products holds a few areas of ambiguity that companies should review and prepare for before the tariffs come into effect later this year, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Mapping Bank Exec Clawback Risk Ahead Of Revived Bill

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    The reintroduction of the Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act would allow recovery of executive compensation after bank failures, making it important for executives and counsel to take steps such as mapping compensation, reviewing employment agreements, documenting decisions, and confirming D&O insurance, says Drew Jones at Diamond McCarthy.

  • AG Watch: Texas Charts A Course On Investigative Authority

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    The Texas Supreme Court's recent decision in Texas v. PFLAG affirmed, and arguably expanded, the Texas attorney general's civil investigative demand authority, providing a road map that other courts evaluating state attorney general CIDs may find instructive, amid a lack of precedent, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • 8 Reasons To Consider Maryland As A 'DExit' Option

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    While Nevada and Texas have garnered the most attention as alternative states of incorporation for companies considering leaving Delaware, Maryland offers considerable benefits too, including a predictable statutory framework, robust anti-takeover protections, sophisticated business courts with decades of experience, and more, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.

  • PFAS OUT Cannot Replace Broad Drinking Water Protections

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's PFAS OUT initiative may help water systems deal with two specific per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances before federal compliance deadlines arrive, but it is no substitute for broader protections the EPA is withdrawing — and in PFAS litigation, that distinction could be important, says David Meldofsky at Lawsuit Informer.

  • Mapping Philly US Atty's White Collar Enforcement Push

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    Attorneys at Blank Rome discuss the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania David Metcalf’s commitments and priorities, survey early results from his first year, and suggest practical action items for companies operating under the office's jurisdiction.

  • Opinion

    Exxon's Retail Voting Program Is A Trap For Retail Investors

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved Exxon Mobil's first-of-its-kind proxy voting program last September, but ahead of the company's annual shareholder meeting next month, it's clear that retail shareholders have delegated their voice to the entity their vote exists to check, says Christina Sautter at Southern Methodist University.

  • Opinion

    Proposed Pro Codes Act Raises Constitutional Concerns

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    If passed, the Pro Codes Act being considered in the U.S. House of Representatives would fundamentally alter how technical standards are treated under U.S. law, and potentially conflict with the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, says Paul Taylor at George Mason University.

  • What DOL Proposal Signals For 401(k)s, Alternative Assets

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    The U.S. Department of Labor recently published a highly anticipated proposed rule that could establish more defined pathways for 401(k) plan fiduciaries to consider investment options with greater alternative asset exposure, and help fund sponsors and investment managers develop such options, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Building A Persecution Case After Justices' Asylum Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Urias-Orellana v. Bondi raises the bar for overturning agency findings in federal court, changing how practitioners handling asylum and removal defense cases need to think about building a factual record and formulating arguments on appeal, say attorneys at Lai & Turner and Farzaneh Law.

  • Opinion

    New Legislation May Be Necessary To Fix Flawed Cox Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion in Cox v. Sony erroneously limited the doctrine of contributory copyright infringement and effectively eliminated such liability for internet service providers, and the most viable option to remedy the damage is to codify the pre-Cox common law of contributory copyright infringement, says Michael Cicero at Mavacy.

  • SEC's Enforcement Slowdown May Raise Oversight Questions

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    After six months of enforcement activity, it's clear that fiscal year 2026 will see an unprecedented decline in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement activity relative to past years, but whether the SEC will be viewed as sufficiently policing the securities markets at the end of the fiscal year is more uncertain, say attorneys at Covington.

  • How Food, Beverage Claims May Preview Cosmetic Litigation

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    Class action litigation targeting cosmetics and personal care products is accelerating, with a playbook that comes from the food and beverage industry — and the defenses that succeeded, and failed, in past class actions offer a critical road map for beauty and personal care brands, say attorneys at Crowell.

  • Steps To Consider As DOJ Launches Fraud Division

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    The establishment this month of the National Fraud Enforcement Division within the U.S. Department of Justice is a significant reorganization that suggests an increase in enforcement activity involving federally funded programs but leaves a number of important questions unanswered, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Court's HRSA Policy Reversal Leaves 340B Rules Murky

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    A D.C. federal court's recent decision in Premier v. U.S. Department of Health limits the Health Resources and Services Administration's ability to enforce long-standing Section 340B interpretations through subregulatory guidance, leaving open core statutory questions about purchasing models, inventory classification and program oversight, says Martha Cramer at Hooper Lundy.

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