Public Policy

  • February 20, 2026

    Old 'Drunkards' Laws Cited As Support For Disarming Pot Users

    The federal government is urging the Supreme Court to overturn a Fifth Circuit finding that a man couldn't be disarmed for regular cannabis use under federal law, arguing that the law does allow such disarmament — much as founder-era laws authorized taking guns away from "habitual drunkards" to preserve public safety.

  • February 20, 2026

    Native Policy Roundup: Sens. Try To Revive $350M Ed Funding

    A bill that would allow for "Native American" markers on state-issued identification in New Mexico died this week despite bipartisan support, federal lawmakers called for the restoration of $350 million in minority education funding and Wisconsin lawmakers advanced a bill to allow online sports betting through the state's tribes.

  • February 20, 2026

    US, Indonesia Sign Trade Deal Cutting Tariffs Both Ways

    President Donald Trump's administration and the government of Indonesia have finalized a trade deal in which the Southeast Asian country will eliminate nearly all of its tariffs against U.S. imports in exchange for a 19% tariff rate on Indonesian imports, with substantial carveouts.

  • February 20, 2026

    Va. Judge Says Immigrant Bond Hearing Was Unconstitutional

    A Salvadoran immigrant detained for removal proceedings did not get a constitutionally-compliant bond hearing after Trump administration officials were ordered to allow the man to seek his release, a Virginia federal judge has ruled.

  • February 20, 2026

    Deportation Policy Pushes Texas Federal Bench To The Brink

    Texas has suffered through a shortage of judges for its federal courts for a while now, but the recent influx of immigration cases is pushing the system to the brink.

  • February 20, 2026

    Groups Fight Trump Arctic Drilling Plan Over Wildlife Risks

    Alaskan natives and environmental organizations urged an Alaska federal court to block the Trump administration's expansion of oil and gas development in the country's largest single piece of public land, arguing it hasn't satisfied procedural requirements meant to protect wildlife.

  • February 20, 2026

    Neb. Tax Board Says Retail Property Correctly Valued

    The Nebraska tax board said that a retail property assessed at more than $1 million was valued correctly, despite claims from the property owner that the assessor's income approach valuation was wrong, in an order released Friday.

  • February 20, 2026

    Fabiani Cohen Escapes Fired Black Atty's Discrimination Suit

    A New York federal judge tossed a Black attorney's case claiming Fabiani Cohen & Hall LLP subjected her to racist harassment and fired her after she sued, backing a magistrate judge's conclusion that the alleged mistreatment wasn't severe enough and her case lacked evidence of prejudice.

  • February 20, 2026

    Trump Imposes Maximum Tariff After Supreme Court Rebuke

    President Donald Trump imposed a temporary global tariff with several exemptions hours after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, then announced that he would increase the duty to the 15% maximum.

  • February 19, 2026

    5th Circ. Pauses Order Scrapping FTC Merger Filing Overhaul

    The Fifth Circuit on Thursday granted the Federal Trade Commission's emergency motion to pause a Texas federal judge's ruling that threw out the agency's overhaul of premerger reporting requirements.

  • February 19, 2026

    Judge Denies Mylan And Aurobindo's Bid To Escape Trial

    A Connecticut federal judge has once again rejected generic-drug makers' bid to escape a multistate lawsuit accusing them of engaging in an overarching antitrust conspiracy, saying the evidence supports the need for a jury trial on whether the companies colluded to fix prices and divvy up markets for dozens of generic drugs.

  • February 19, 2026

    Calif. EV Waiver Fight Faces 'Significant' Hurdles, Judge Says

    A California federal judge appeared open Thursday to tossing at least some claims by California and other states challenging the Trump administration's efforts to repeal Clean Air Act waivers, saying during a hearing that certain claims face "a significant challenge" following the Ninth Circuit's Center for Biological Diversity v. Bernhardt ruling.

  • February 19, 2026

    Texas Suit Says Sanofi Paid Kickbacks For Prescriptions

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Sanofi-Aventis US LLC in state court Thursday, accusing the pharmaceutical company of paying kickbacks to providers so they would prescribe Sanofi's drugs.

  • February 19, 2026

    Eutelsat Seeks Fast-Track C-Band Relocation Payments

    As the Federal Communications Commission makes plans to auction off part of the upper C-band, Eutelsat thinks the agency should use its auction of the lower part of the band as a guide, particularly when it comes to paying satellite operators to clear out quickly.

  • February 19, 2026

    SEC Rejects Call To Halt Consolidated Audit Trail Spending

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has told Citadel Securities LLC that it will not act immediately to stop the operators of a market surveillance database from spending money collected under an old funding plan nixed by the Eleventh Circuit.

  • February 19, 2026

    No Verdict Thursday In Goldstein Case

    The jury in SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's tax evasion trial broke for the weekend on Thursday without reaching a verdict.

  • February 19, 2026

    Minn. Court Weighs Civil Liberties In Refugee Detention Case

    Constitutional concerns took center stage during a hearing in Minnesota federal court on Thursday on whether to continue blocking the Trump administration from further detaining any of the roughly 5,600 refugees in Minnesota who have not yet secured their green card.

  • February 19, 2026

    Prisoners Slam 'Unacceptable' Delay In Ga. Trans Care Suit

    A group of transgender Georgia prisoners has accused state officials of dragging their heels in implementing a court order requiring the correctional system to resume hormone therapy treatments, asking a federal judge to force the state to begin notifying class members imminently.

  • February 19, 2026

    Judge Hesitant To DQ Prosecutor In Fla. Foreign Agent Case

    A Florida federal judge seemed hesitant Thursday to disqualify a federal prosecutor in the criminal case against a former Florida congressman and a lobbyist accused of failing to register as foreign agents for Venezuela but chided the U.S. Attorney's Office for not providing more information to rebut the bias accusations and "put this to rest."

  • February 19, 2026

    Religious Org. Backs Psychedelic-Using Church At 10th Circ.

    An entheogenic religious organization is urging the Tenth Circuit to maintain an order blocking Utah County and Provo City, Utah, from prosecuting a church for its use of psilocybin, saying the state's religious protections shouldn't depend on whether the prosecutors consider the religion "legitimate."

  • February 19, 2026

    Washington Justices' Input Sought On Prosecutorial Immunity

    A Seattle federal judge said he intends to send a certified question to the Washington Supreme Court as part of a lawyer's racial discrimination suit against Snohomish County judges and prosecutors, giving parties a week to weigh in on what exactly the question should be.

  • February 19, 2026

    Live Nation Says Judge Should Have Cut More Of DOJ's Case

    Live Nation urged a New York federal court on Thursday to further pare down the government's antitrust case against the company, saying a ruling earlier in the week should have nixed additional allegations involving the promotion services it provides to major concert venues.

  • February 19, 2026

    FCC Floats Nearly $200K Fine On Dahua For Late Filing

    The Federal Communications Commission will seek an almost $200,000 fine against Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. for allegedly failing to file paperwork detailing its subsidiaries and affiliates going back three years under a U.S. national security program.

  • February 19, 2026

    JPMorgan Pans Trump's 'Woefully Inadequate' Debanking Suit

    JPMorgan Chase on Thursday removed President Donald Trump's $5 billion "debanking" lawsuit to Florida federal court, saying it plans to fight for dismissal of the case as it rolled out a Jones Day legal team that includes Trump's former Solicitor General Noel Francisco.

  • February 19, 2026

    Gov'ts, Nonprofits Push To Block Trump's Student Loan Rule

    States, cities and nonprofit groups urged a Massachusetts federal judge to overturn the U.S. Department of Education's new rule allowing it to bar some organizations from seeking public service student loan forgiveness, saying the rule is illegal and must be vacated.

Expert Analysis

  • CFIUS Risk Lessons From Chips Biz Divestment Order

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    President Donald Trump's January executive order directing HieFo to unwind its 2024 acquisition of a semiconductor business with ties to China underscores that even modestly sized transactions can attract CFIUS interest if they could affect strategic areas prioritized by the U.S. government, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What Applicants Can Expect From Calif. Crypto License Law

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    With the July effective date for California's Digital Financial Assets Law fast approaching, now is a critical time for companies to prepare for licensure, application and coverage compliance ahead of this significant regulatory milestone that will reshape how digital asset businesses operate in California, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Elections Mean Time For Political Law Compliance Checkups

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    An active election year is the perfect time for in-house counsel to conduct a health check on their company's corporate political law compliance program to ensure it’s prepared to minimize risks related to electoral engagement, lobbying, pay-to-play laws and government ethics rules, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Next Steps For Fair Housing Enforcement As HUD Backs Out

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    A soon-to-be-finalized U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rule, which would hand responsibility for determining disparate impact liability under the Fair Housing Act to the courts, reinforces the Trump administration’s wider rollback of fair lending enforcement, yet there are reasons to expect litigation challenging this change, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • Malpractice Claim Assignability Continues To Divide Courts

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    Recent decisions from courts across the country demonstrate how different jurisdictions balance competing policy interests in determining whether legal malpractice claims can be assigned, providing a framework to identify when and how to challenge any attempted assignment, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin & Lodgen.

  • As Federal Enviro Justice Policy Goes Dormant, All Is Not Lost

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    Environmental justice is enduring a federal dormancy brought on by executive branch reversals and agency directives over the past year that have swept long-standing federal frameworks from the formal policy ledger, but the legal underpinnings of EJ have not vanished and remain important, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • What Clarity Act Delay Reveals About US Crypto Regulation

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    The Senate Banking Committee's decision to delay markup of the Clarity Act, which would establish a comprehensive federal framework for digital assets, illuminates the political and structural obstacles that shape U.S. crypto regulation, despite years of bipartisan calls for regulatory clarity, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Courts' Rare Quash Of DOJ Subpoenas Has Lessons For Cos.

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    In a rare move, three federal courts recently quashed or partially quashed expansive U.S. Department of Justice administrative subpoenas issued to providers of gender-affirming care, demonstrating that courts will scrutinize purpose, cabin statutory authority and acknowledge the profound privacy burdens of overbroad government demands for sensitive records, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • The Little Tucker Act's Big Class Action Moment

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    The Little Tucker Act, which allows claims against the government for illegally exacted fees, is transforming from a niche procedural mechanism into a powerful vehicle for class action litigation, with more than $500 billion in such fees — including President Donald Trump's tariffs — now ripe for challenge, says Dinis Cheian at Susman Godfrey.

  • Venezuela Legal Shifts May Create Investment Opportunities

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    Since the removal of President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela has shown signs of economic liberalization, particularly in the oil and mining sectors, presenting unique — but still high-risk — investment opportunities for U.S. companies, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Unpacking Dormant Commerce Clause Cannabis Circuit Split

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    Federal courts have reached differing conclusions as to whether state-legal cannabis is subject to the dormant commerce clause, with four opinions across three circuit courts in the last year demonstrating the continued salience of the dormant commerce clause debate to the nation's cannabis industry, regulators and policymakers, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Remote Patient Monitoring Is At Regulatory Inflection Point

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    With remote patient monitoring at the center of new federal pilot programs and a recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General examining Medicare billing for those services, it is clear that balancing innovation and risk will be a central challenge ahead for digital health stakeholders, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Latest Nasdaq Proposals Stand To Raise Listings Quality

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    Nasdaq's recent proposals stand to heighten both quantitative and qualitative standards for issuers, which, if approved, may bring investors stronger market integrity and access but also raise the listings bar, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Opinion

    CFIUS Must Adapt To Current Foreign Investment Realities

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    To continue protecting the U.S.’ long-term strategic and economic interests, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States should implement practical enhancements that leverage technology, expertise and clear communication, and enable it to keep pace with evolving demands, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

  • Texas AG Wields Consumer Protection Law Against Tech Cos.

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    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has targeted technology companies using the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a broadly worded statute that gives the attorney general wide latitude to pursue claims beyond traditional consumer protection, creating unique litigation risks, say attorneys at Yetter Coleman.

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