Public Policy

  • March 25, 2026

    USPTO To Launch AI Image Search, Description Tools For TMs

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is launching artificial intelligence tools to help trademark attorneys look up images and write descriptions for their registrations, officials said at a webinar Wednesday, where they also discussed efforts to tackle certain pendency issues.

  • March 25, 2026

    Insurers, Brokers Can't Exit Medicare Advantage Steering Suit

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday largely rejected a bid by insurers and brokers to toss claims that they colluded in a kickback scheme to steer Medicare Advantage customers to certain companies and to push away disabled individuals.

  • March 25, 2026

    Judge Upholds Texas Gun Ban In Bars As Historically Sound

    A Texas federal judge has tossed a challenge to the constitutionality of state laws barring people from carrying guns in places like bars and at sporting events, saying the Texas public's right to limit firearm access in sensitive locations does not violate the Second Amendment.

  • March 25, 2026

    Ulta Seeks Quick Appeal To Challenge Wash. Antispam Statute

    Beauty retailer Ulta asked a Washington federal judge this week for permission to immediately appeal a February ruling that upheld the validity of a state law barring commercial emails with false or misleading subject lines, a move that could have sweeping implications for dozens of pending lawsuits brought under the statute.

  • March 25, 2026

    Starbucks Roasts Consumers' Suit Doubting Ethical Sourcing

    Starbucks is urging a Seattle federal judge to throw out a proposed class action accusing the java giant of playing up its "ethical sourcing" commitment despite supply chain labor violations, saying customers cannot sue based on mere disappointment with the company's coffee farm certification standards.

  • March 25, 2026

    Truck Makers Say Calif. Can't Ditch 'Clean Trucks' Pact Suit

    Heavy-duty truck manufacturers have told a California federal judge that state officials cannot be allowed to circumvent federal law and saddle manufacturers with stringent emissions standards and stiff penalties for noncompliance, saying the Golden State's regulations are unequivocally preempted.

  • March 25, 2026

    Lawmakers Aim To Advance Bills Bolstering Patent Rights

    A bipartisan pair of lawmakers said at a conference Wednesday that they plan to make a push to pass legislation aimed at establishing stronger patent rights in the coming year, including bills limiting patent challenges and setting rules on which inventions are eligible for patents.

  • March 25, 2026

    Mich. County Beats Class Claims Over Jail Release Delays

    People alleging they were detained too long at a county jail in Detroit saw their suit against Wayne County and its employees dismissed Wednesday by a Michigan federal judge who found their constitutional rights weren't violated, since there wasn't a right to be released in any particular time frame.

  • March 25, 2026

    House Panel Advances Bill To Re-Up FirstNet Until 2037

    U.S. House committee lawmakers voted unanimously Wednesday to reauthorize the First Responder Network Authority for more than a decade past its current sunset next February while adding two seats to the board for public safety experts.

  • March 25, 2026

    NJ Gov. Sherrill Signs Trio Of Bills To Protect Immigrants

    New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed on Wednesday three bills intended to limit state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, strengthen privacy protections and require law enforcement officers — including federal agents — to identify themselves during public interactions.

  • March 25, 2026

    Warren Grills Fed's Ex-BigLaw Supervision Chief On Conflicts

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on Wednesday asked former Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP veteran Randall Guynn, a recent addition to the Federal Reserve, to explain how he is dealing with potential conflicts of interest stemming from his previous role chairing the BigLaw firm's financial institutions group.

  • March 25, 2026

    Okla. High Court Says Fed Suit Will Decide Tribal Hunting Row

    The Oklahoma Supreme Court denied a bid by the governor to overturn a formal opinion by Attorney General Gentner Drummond that says U.S. law prohibits the state from citing tribal members for hunting and fishing on reservation lands, saying a federal lawsuit in the dispute will settle its legality.

  • March 25, 2026

    PBMs Say Mich. Price-Fixing Suit Lacks Specifics

    For the second time, pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts Inc. and Prime Therapeutics LLC asked a Michigan federal judge on Monday to toss a price-fixing suit filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, arguing that the state has no standing to file the suit.

  • March 25, 2026

    Judge Backs USPTO's Ax Of Art Project Patent App

    A Virginia federal judge has tossed a challenge to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision to terminate a patent application from an art kit company after the agency found its filings had been signed by an attorney without her authorization or permission.

  • March 25, 2026

    8th Circ. Backs No-Bond Detention For Unauthorized Migrants

    A split Eighth Circuit panel on Wednesday sided with the Trump administration's position that it can detain noncitizens who crossed the border without authorization, no matter how long they've been in the U.S., without bond.

  • March 25, 2026

    Herschel Walker Campaign, Media Firm Wrap Up Contract Suit

    The campaign for former NFL star Herschel Walker's losing U.S. Senate bid and a Texas-based media firm that the campaign accused of charging inflated costs for advertising buys have reached an agreement to end their legal battle in Georgia federal court. 

  • March 25, 2026

    Ramp Up Router Power Levels, Electronics Biz Tells FCC

    Consumer electronics-makers want the Federal Communications Commission to ramp up allowed power levels for routers as one way to boost Wi-Fi performance in the U.S.

  • March 25, 2026

    Conn. Atty Faces Civil Arrest Bid In $10M Trust Account Probe

    A city housing authority and its corporate development arm have asked a Connecticut Superior Court judge to order the civil arrest of an attorney accused of funneling nearly $10 million in unauthorized loan proceeds into his lawyer trust account.

  • March 25, 2026

    Nicotine Pouch Maker Sues FDA Over Rejected Application

    A nicotine pouch manufacturer is asking a D.C. federal judge to force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to review its "Zone" pouch products, claiming it spent nearly four years in regulatory limbo before the agency said the application was incomplete.

  • March 25, 2026

    Judge Lets NY Cannabis Licensing Challenge Proceed

    Following a recent Second Circuit ruling that the dormant commerce clause applies to marijuana, a New York federal judge Wednesday rejected state cannabis regulators' bid to dismiss a constitutional challenge to their licensure program.

  • March 25, 2026

    FSOC Seeks To Rein In Too-Big-To-Fail Labels In Latest Pivot

    Federal regulators moved Wednesday to curb their authority to subject large asset managers, insurers and other nonbank firms to heightened, bank-like supervision, proposing guidelines that would reinstitute tougher standards for these too-big-to-fail designations.

  • March 25, 2026

    After Overhaul Nixed, FTC, DOJ Mull New Merger Rulemaking

    The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice are not giving up on attempting to overhaul the "insufficient" half-century-old merger notification form after its replacement was just struck down by a Texas federal judge, with the agencies now seeking public comment as they mull "a new rulemaking process."

  • March 25, 2026

    DOE Worker Who Took Buyout Admits To Attempted Bribery

    An ex-U.S. Department of Energy employee who accepted the Trump administration's "fork in the road" deferred resignation offer last year pled guilty Wednesday to trying to bribe a former co-worker to steer contracts to his new company, federal prosecutors announced.

  • March 25, 2026

    Trade Court Nom Regrets Past Tweets Critical Of GOP Sens.

    Kara Westercamp, associate counsel to the president, who was nominated for the U.S. Court of International Trade, said Wednesday she regretted her past social media posts critical of Republican senators.

  • March 25, 2026

    FBT Gibbons Lands Public Finance Pros From BigLaw Firms

    FBT Gibbons LLP has added two public finance partners, one from Bracewell LLP in Houston and another from Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Columbus, Ohio.

Expert Analysis

  • What's At Stake In Possible Circuit Split On Medicaid Rule

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    A recent Eleventh Circuit decision, reviving Florida's lawsuit against a federal rule that reduces Medicaid funding based on agreements between hospitals, sets up a potential circuit split with the Fifth Circuit, with important ramifications for states looking to private administrators to run provider tax programs, say Liz Goodman, Karuna Seshasai and Rebecca Pitt at FTI Consulting.

  • How States Are Advancing Enviro Justice Policies

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    The federal pullback on environmental justice creates uncertainty and impedes cross‑jurisdictional coordination, but EJ diligence remains prudent risk management, with many states having developed and implemented statutes, screening tools, permitting standards and more, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • 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.

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