Public Policy

  • August 05, 2026

    DHS Wants To Hire Debt-Tracer To Track Down Deportees

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection is seeking bids for a contract to hire a private company to track down immigrants in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras who left voluntarily or were deported from the U.S. before paying off immigration-related fines.

  • August 05, 2026

    NYC's Food Apps Data Law Goes Too Far, 2nd Circ. Says

    A New York City law that would require DoorDash, GrubHub and other delivery apps to share customer data with the restaurants fulfilling food orders violates the First Amendment, the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday.

  • August 05, 2026

    FCC Returns $881M In Unused TV Broadcaster 'Repack' Funds

    The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it has returned $881 million that went unused in the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund.

  • August 05, 2026

    Ill. Feds Fight Contempt Proceedings In ICE Protest Case

    Federal prosecutors urged an Illinois federal judge Tuesday to reject further hearings and a special prosecutor over grand jury misconduct in a dismissed case against anti-ICE activists, arguing that the dismissal of the charges, the payout of their attorney fees, "substantial" internal reforms and a pending ethics probe render criminal contempt proceedings unnecessary.

  • August 05, 2026

    Trade Group Seeks Injunction Over Colo. Recycling Law

    A trade group made up of about 35,000 wholesale distribution companies asked a Colorado federal judge Wednesday to issue an injunction preventing the state from enforcing a new recycling law, arguing that the law is unconstitutional.

  • August 05, 2026

    Texas Governor Calls For Data Center Audit

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to audit any data centers that are going through ERCOT's electric grid interconnection process, saying that an audit is needed because the demand from data centers seeking to connect to Texas' electric grid could overwhelm it.

  • August 05, 2026

    Mass. City Must Refund $2.4M In Cannabis 'Impact' Fees

    A Massachusetts state court judge has ordered a Boston suburb to refund $2.4 million in fees it collected from cannabis retailers, saying the city of Newton failed to show the fees were tethered to the costs of hosting the businesses.

  • August 05, 2026

    Texas Cos., Others Urge Cruz, Cornyn To Block Rio Barriers

    More than 140 river outfitters, local businesses and recreation groups have urged Texas' two U.S. senators and Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene and stop planned border barrier construction in and around Big Bend National Park, warning the project would devastate the region's recreation economy and cut off public access to the Rio Grande.

  • August 05, 2026

    Judge Says Firearms Act Can't Stand After Gun Taxes Zeroed

    A Texas federal court ruled Wednesday that the National Firearms Act and its enforcement of registration and transfer requirements are unconstitutional in light of the 2025 federal budget bill's elimination of taxes on certain firearms, handing a win to several gun rights advocacy groups.

  • August 05, 2026

    Utah Can Enforce Gambling Laws Against Kalshi, Judge Says

    A Utah federal judge has allowed the state's gambling regulators to crack down on Kalshi's sports event contracts, rejecting the prediction market giant's argument that it should be shielded by federal law.

  • August 05, 2026

    Senate Panel Presses DOJ Antitrust Pick On Independence

    President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, Adam Candeub, faced tough questions Wednesday during a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing, where several Democrats challenged his independence.

  • August 05, 2026

    Convicted Tax-Offender Atty Rebuffed In Bid To Have Firearm

    A Connecticut attorney who served prison time for tax offenses cannot proceed with most of a suit that seeks the restoration of his right to possess a firearm, a federal judge said in a ruling Wednesday.

  • August 05, 2026

    These Firms Are Picking Up The Most PTAB Work

    Intellectual property heavyweight Fish & Richardson PC remains the busiest firm in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, as it again secured the top spot on a list of firms with the most PTAB trials over the past three years.

  • August 05, 2026

    9th Circ. Urged To Revisit Klamath Project ESA Ruling

    A water association is asking the Ninth Circuit to rethink a ruling that held the Endangered Species Act applies to the operation and management of an Oregon irrigation project, arguing that the appellate court left "an unworkable" framework to determine a threshold question over nondiscretionary federal agency actions.

  • August 05, 2026

    CFPB Sends Open-Banking Rule Redo To White House

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finished a proposal to overhaul its Biden-era open-banking rule and has submitted it for White House clearance, a move that signals the agency is nearing publication of the highly anticipated draft changes.

  • August 05, 2026

    Texas Firm Lands $150M HHS Services Deal For Migrant Kids

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has entered into a $150 million contract with a small Texas law firm to provide legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children, raising concerns from former subcontractors about the firm's experience with immigration matters.

  • August 05, 2026

    Mich. Wineries Fight 'Secret Evidence' In Intervention Bid

    A group of northern Michigan wineries on Tuesday urged a federal judge to block a local advocacy group's attempt to introduce "secret evidence" into an ongoing lawsuit between the wineries and Peninsula Township, which they claim is undermining their business in the popular tourist locale. 

  • August 05, 2026

    Feds Sued Over Man's Death After ICE Raid At Cannabis Farm

    The family of a man who died following a chaotic ICE raid last summer at a cannabis farm has sued the U.S. government for negligence in California federal court, alleging that law enforcement agents used excessive force during the incident and prevented him from receiving timely treatment by medical personnel.

  • August 05, 2026

    Holland & Knight Hires Energy Finance Advisers In DC

    Holland & Knight LLP has hired a trio of advisers from lobbying and consulting firm Boundary Stone Partners to bolster its work on energy, technology and infrastructure funding and finance in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Tuesday.

  • August 05, 2026

    Ex-Congo President Challenges US Sanctions As Baseless

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control based its placement of the former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a sanctions blacklist on unsupported claims he backed armed rebel groups, he told a federal court in Washington, D.C.

  • August 05, 2026

    DC Gun Ban Suit Paused For High Court Look At Ill. Case

    A D.C. federal judge has stayed the Trump administration's challenge to the city's prohibition on silencers and AR-15s, ordering the case to remain on ice until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a similar challenge to semiautomatic bans in Illinois and Connecticut.

  • August 05, 2026

    Wyoming Judge Says Congress Nixed Coal Lease Fight

    A Wyoming federal judge dismissed a series of cases challenging resource management plans that ended new coal leasing on federal lands in the Powder River Basin, agreeing that the dispute ended when Congress repealed the plans.

  • August 05, 2026

    Court Wrongly Nixed $750K Tax Debt Collection, 6th Circ. Told

    An Ohio federal court wrongly found that the U.S. government couldn't collect on a man's federal tax liabilities of over $750,000 via a property sale, the government told the Sixth Circuit, saying while the man's mother holds legal title to the property, he is its equitable owner.

  • August 05, 2026

    High Court's Trans Athlete Ruling Roils Volleyball Dispute

    A legal fight over San Jose State University's decision to roster a transgender player on its women's volleyball team has intensified as the litigants feverishly debate the impact of recent U.S. Supreme Court case law.

  • August 05, 2026

    T-Mobile Asks Judge To Reconsider Data Breach Ruling

    T-Mobile has asked a Washington judge to address issues that the company says were overlooked in his June ruling finding that T-Mobile committed more than 722,000 violations of a state data breach notification law.

Expert Analysis

  • Challenging Detention After 5th Circ. Ends Bond Clocks

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    After the vacatur of the Fifth Circuit’s holding that the U.S. Constitution requires bond hearings for detained noncriminal noncitizens, practitioners should go back to filing habeas petitions, pending the court's en banc rehearing, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • Patent Eligibility Bulletin: New USPTO Guidance And AI Risks

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    In the second quarter of 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its subject matter eligibility declarations in line with its increasingly permissive patent eligibility stance, while the Federal Circuit rigorously applied the Alice framework in a decision that highlighted risks facing patent claims that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning, say attorneys at Banner Witcoff.

  • A Shift In How Policymakers Are Approaching PBM Regulation

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    Recent federal and state legislative and regulatory activity involving pharmacy benefit managers represent a change in focus from transparency to PBM compensation structures, vertical integration and competitive effects, say attorneys at Barclay Damon.

  • Workplace Menopause Laws Demand New HR Playbooks

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    A recent wave of state and local legislation that makes menopause an expressly protected condition in the workplace creates new compliance obligations amid an already ambiguous federal framework, and demands a workplace culture where employees feel safe asking for support, says Elliot Griffin at Ballard Spahr.

  • How State Actions Are Reshaping Surveillance Pricing Risk

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    Amid heightened state enforcement activity and expanding legislative action to curb surveillance pricing concerns related to transparency, fairness and discrimination, businesses should closely examine how consumer data is used in pricing decisions, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • State Of Insurance: Q2 Notes From Illinois

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    The second quarter of 2026 featured a trio of auto insurance opinions from Illinois' appellate courts, addressing a notice requirement, narrowing insurers' exposure for delayed payment of underinsured motorist claims, and creating a district split on coverage for employee-drivers under employers' policies, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

  • Tips For Issuers Left In Lurch Without Genius Act Final Rules

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    The compliance runway envisioned by the Genius Act is steadily shrinking after regulators failed to finalize all the required implementing regulations by July 18, so stablecoin issuers should begin implementing "no-regrets" compliance measures and securing outside vendors before the law takes full effect in January, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Why Courts Are Pushing Back On Greenwashing Laws

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    Recent Fourth Circuit and California federal court decisions blocking state greenwashing statutes on First Amendment grounds reveal a tension at the heart of environmental marketing regulation — while states want clarity, courts aren't prepared to let legislatures flatly ban categories of truthful commercial speech, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • What NYC Bridge Crash Signals About Micromobility Liability

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    A recent fatal crash between a cyclist and a man riding a high-powered electric scooter on New York City's Queensboro Bridge highlights how litigation over accidents involving micromobility devices may increasingly shift away from ordinary negligence and toward product liability, says Jeff Korek at Gersowitz Libo.

  • 3 Ways Tokenization Is Moving To Traditional Finance

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    Recent initiatives reflect efforts to integrate distributed ledger technology into existing regulatory frameworks for securities, banking and payments settlements while preserving the underlying rights and obligations of market participants, say attorneys at Hughes Hubbard.

  • At The Intersection Of Right-To-Repair Laws And IP Rights

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    Right-to-repair legislation passing through Congress highlights a broad tension between manufacturers' security measures and consumer autonomy, with important repercussions for the automotive industry's intellectual property rights, says Keith Noe at Lando & Anastasi. 

  • Opinion

    States Should Reconsider Forced PBM Divestiture Laws

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    State legislatures are attempting to enact policies intended to force pharmacy benefit managers to divest from pharmacies, but these laws would have the practical effect of reducing patient access and competition, potentially violating the U.S. Constitution in the process, says former Utah Attorney General John Swallow.

  • HSR Deals Proceed More Steadily Than Narratives Suggest

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    The most recent Hart-Scott-Rodino Act data show that transaction volume remained relatively stable, transaction values continued to increase and enforcement activity remained low, suggesting that enforcement rates have been relatively consistent across presidential administrations despite widely differing public rhetoric regarding merger enforcement, says Amanda Wait at Michael Best.

  • Assessing The Benefits Of Fla.'s Newest Business Structure

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    As of July 1, Florida business owners can create protected series LLCs to shield assets from liability while avoiding increased costs and wasted time, but burdensome recordkeeping obligations are crucial to maintaining the very protection that makes them attractive in the first place, says Gregory Ritter at Moritt Hock.

  • Key Post-Proposal Shifts Likely In CFPB Loss Mitigation Rule

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    Mortgage servicers, borrowers and consumer advocates should prepare for a likely narrowed version of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's loss mitigation rule, which is likely to permit sequential reviews, defer to investor guidelines, extend compliance timelines and preempt conflicting state standards, say attorneys at Goodwin.

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