Public Policy

  • February 17, 2026

    Colo. Utility Advocates Dispute Energy Financing Program

    The Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate, or UCA, claimed in Colorado state court Friday that a recent decision to approve a tariffed on-bill financing program to help customers purchase energy efficiency upgrades violates state law.

  • February 17, 2026

    FCC Investigating Possible Lifeline Fraud In Calif., Beyond

    Lifeline providers in states that were allowed to opt out of the federal verification process might soon find themselves in the hot seat, as the Federal Communications Commission revealed Tuesday it has launched investigations into certain providers from three states.

  • February 17, 2026

    Wash. Governor Demands Changes To Millionaires' Tax Bill

    A proposal for a nearly 10% tax on income above $1 million that has passed the Washington state Senate is a good start, but it needs significant changes before it gets his signature, Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson said Tuesday.

  • February 17, 2026

    No Need To Reopen Asbestos Suit, Insurance Exchange Says

    An insurance exchange for the trucking industry has told a California federal judge he does not need to reopen its case against a group of reinsurers as the parties battle whether to remove a "side-switching" arbitrator, explaining that a New York state court will likely rule soon on the issue.

  • February 17, 2026

    Judge Trims Moderna's Defenses In COVID Patent Suit

    A federal judge sitting in Delaware on Tuesday ruled that Moderna could not use obviousness to defend itself from patent claims brought by a rival vaccine developer since it already used that as a defense in related Patent Trial and Review Board proceedings, saying that Moderna had offered expert opinions to support a defense that the patents don't sufficiently teach about the claimed invention.

  • February 17, 2026

    Harvard Beats Suit By Prof Denied Tenure After Viral Incident

    Harvard University scored a pretrial win Tuesday in a Massachusetts state court suit brought by a professor who said the school wrongly denied him tenure after several incidents, including emails to a Chinese restaurant over a $4 overcharge that went viral.

  • February 17, 2026

    9th Circ. Clears Way For Nev. Gaming Action Against Kalshi

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday denied Kalshi's request to keep its sports event contracts safe from Nevada gaming regulators, clearing the way for the state to bring a civil enforcement action against the online trading platform.

  • February 17, 2026

    FCC's Equal Time Stance Blasted As Colbert Tanks Interview

    Progressives called the Federal Communications Commission's rollout of equal-time policies against late-night talk shows slanted after Stephen Colbert blamed the FCC for being forced to move an interview with a Democratic Senate candidate off the air.

  • February 17, 2026

    DOJ Cites Gun Ban For Mentally Ill In Cannabis User Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice told the Eighth Circuit not to excuse a man's conviction for possessing a firearm while being an unlawful cannabis user, arguing federal law limiting his rights is constitutional since it's analogous to historical laws preventing the mentally ill or dangerous drunkards from owning guns.

  • February 17, 2026

    Union Foe Can't Fight Ore. Impostor Ban, Court Told

    Accepting a conservative think tank's challenge to an Oregon law that threatens fines for impersonating public-sector unions would clash with decades of precedent on the state's exposure to enforcement challenges, a union attorney said Tuesday in arguments on its bid to toss the suit.

  • February 17, 2026

    Judge Rips Drugmakers' Borderline 'Disingenuous' Appeal Bid

    A Connecticut federal judge has rejected generic-drug makers' request for a quick appeal of his ruling denying them summary judgment on states' claims they engaged in an "overarching conspiracy" to fix prices, slamming the request for being borderline "disingenuous," mischaracterizing his reasoning and ignoring direct evidence of alleged wrongdoing.

  • February 17, 2026

    Ga. Panel Says Union Shorted Cop's Defense Over Shooting

    A Georgia appellate panel on Tuesday upheld a trial court's ruling that a police union breached its contract with a former Atlanta officer by failing to furnish him with legal representation after a high-profile shooting, clearing the way for the case to proceed to trial.

  • February 17, 2026

    SEC's Atkins Floats Litigation 'Safe Harbor' For Public Cos.

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins on Tuesday put forth a raft of ideas for encouraging shorter corporate disclosures, including a possible "safe harbor" for publicly traded companies looking to avoid shareholder lawsuits for failing to report the impact of highly publicized events on their businesses.

  • February 17, 2026

    County's Tourism Tax Use Was Reasonable, NC Justices Told

    Counsel for a coastal North Carolina county told the state's Supreme Court justices Tuesday that commissioners' decision to spend occupancy tax dollars on public safety and infrastructure wasn't arbitrary and capricious, while opining that buying carnival equipment for their own pleasure might be.

  • February 17, 2026

    Immigration Judge Halts Student's Deportation Over Speech

    An immigration judge has ended the Trump administration's attempt to deport Columbia University student and green card holder Mohsen Mahdawi, dinging the government for failing to authenticate evidence that he's removable for threatening U.S. foreign policy goals.

  • February 17, 2026

    Law Professors Sue EEOC For Firm DEI Letter Records

    Two professors at law schools in Michigan and Florida have sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in D.C. federal court, seeking documents related to 20 letters the agency sent to law firms over their purported diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

  • February 17, 2026

    FCC Threatens To Nix Mich. Radio Licenses Over Unpaid Fees

    The Federal Communications Commission said it will yank the licenses for seven Michigan radio stations if the company that holds the licenses fails to pay the regulatory fees it has been delinquent on for several years.

  • February 17, 2026

    States Say FEMA Ignoring Disaster Mitigation Funding Order

    Two months after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's cancellation of a federal disaster mitigation program was illegal, the government has not shown any signs of restoring it, a coalition of states said Tuesday.

  • February 17, 2026

    Minn. Justices Urged To Uphold Hilton Valuation Cuts

    A county assessor overvalued a Minneapolis Hilton hotel and convention center, the property owner told Minnesota's justices, urging the high court to uphold the state tax court's proper valuation.

  • February 17, 2026

    Navajo Nation Supports NM Bill For Native ID Designation

    The Navajo Nation's tribal council members are throwing their support behind a New Mexico bill that will allow for Native American designations on state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards.

  • February 17, 2026

    NY Regulators, Cannabis Biz Challenge Town's Zoning Policy

    New York cannabis regulators and a licensed cannabis business have urged a state appellate court to find that the state's marijuana law preempts localities from enforcing more stringent location policies for marijuana stores than what is found in state law.

  • February 17, 2026

    Aviation, Wireless Biz Work On 'Consensus' For C-Band

    Federal aviation experts are working closely with the wireless industry to develop a "consensus framework" for next-generation aircraft safety gear to avoid congestion of 5G and flight signals in the C-band, a carriers' group says.

  • February 17, 2026

    DC Judge Won't Halt Bidding Process For New Dulles Terminal

    A D.C. federal judge refused to stop the bidding process for a private luxury terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport, finding that a company in the running can't show that it was injured if the contract hasn't been awarded yet, undercutting its injunction request.

  • February 17, 2026

    Meeks Presses Rubio For Info On Venezuela Oil Money

    Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., demanded that Secretary of State Marco Rubio turn over documents and answer questions concerning the Trump administration's decision to place approximately $200 million in Venezuela oil revenues in an account in Qatar.

  • February 17, 2026

    Ex-IRS Official Drops Suit Over Private Info Leak

    The former commissioner of the IRS' Large Business and International Division asked a D.C. federal court to drop her suit accusing the agency of unlawfully leaking information on her employment status to the media, according to a filing.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • When Bankruptcy Collides With Product Recalls

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    The recent bankruptcy filing by Rad Power Bikes on the heels of a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warning about dangerously defective batteries sold by the company highlights how CPSC enforcement clashes with bankruptcy protections, leaving both regulators and consumer litigants with limited options, says Michael Avanesian at Avian Law Group.

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