Public Policy

  • April 15, 2026

    Squires Passes On 10 Patent Challenges, Takes On 2 Others

    The newest bulk order from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has rejected 10 petitions for America Invents Act patent reviews while granting a couple others, including a Google challenge to a patent owned by Headwater Research LLC.

  • April 15, 2026

    Ga. Panel Backs Railroad In Residents' Land Seizure Suit

    A Georgia appellate panel Wednesday backed a railroad's win in a fight with local residents opposing the condemnation of their property for new construction, finding insufficient evidence to overturn a ruling from the state's utility regulatory body that greenlighted the taking.

  • April 15, 2026

    Risk Agency Drops Munich Re Suit Over Sex Abuse Coverage

    A Connecticut municipal risk financing agency has dropped a short-lived federal lawsuit seeking coverage from Munich Reinsurance America Inc. in an underlying sexual abuse lawsuit against a local school board.

  • April 15, 2026

    What To Know About DOL's Benefits Enforcement Update

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm recently issued updated enforcement guidance that highlighted the agency's goal of shifting to focus more on breaches of the fiduciary duty of loyalty under federal benefits law. Here are three things experts said stood out about the DOL's update.

  • April 15, 2026

    Denver Seeks Atty Fees After Win On Sanctuary Laws

    The city of Denver asked a Colorado federal judge to award it attorney fees after the court tossed the Trump administration's challenge of sanctuary laws in Colorado and Denver in March.

  • April 15, 2026

    Denver Seeks To End Strip Clubs' Wage Theft Suit

    Strip club operators that repeatedly failed to halt Denver's $14 million wage theft investigation in state court cannot relitigate those same challenges in federal court, the city told a Colorado federal court Wednesday.

  • April 15, 2026

    DOL's Warning For Proxy Advisers Acts On A Trump Order

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits division cautioned Wednesday that proxy advisory firms may be providing advice that could make them fiduciaries under federal law, following through on a directive that President Donald Trump issued in December.

  • April 15, 2026

    Trump Plan To Remake DC Golf Course Is In Rough Legal Shape

    President Donald Trump's plans to renovate a public Washington, D.C., golf course and turn it into a championship venue faces strong legal headwinds as experts say the administration skipped several regulatory steps when it started work on the project.

  • April 15, 2026

    USPTO Eying Older Patent Apps, Busier Tech For New Pilot

    A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leader on Wednesday clarified when the agency plans to flag patent applications that have already gone through the Patent Cooperation Treaty international review process, in a pilot program to cut down on the examination backlog. 

  • April 15, 2026

    KC Moves Closer To Approving $1.9B Ballpark Plan For Royals

    Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas announced the city's Parks and Recreation Board of Commissioners had authorized a plan that would help the Royals baseball team build a new $1.9 billion stadium downtown.

  • April 15, 2026

    US Says It Will Stay Out Of Calif. Monument Venue Dispute

    The U.S. Department of the Interior won't weigh in on whether a dispute between a miner, tribal nations and conservation groups over the Chuckwalla National Monument's establishment in California should stay in a Michigan district court.

  • April 15, 2026

    Chair Says FTC Shouldn't Be 'All-Purpose AI Regulator'

    Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson told lawmakers Wednesday that the agency is committed to using its existing authorities to protect Americans from deceptive artificial intelligence claims and AI-facilitated fraud, while arguing the FTC shouldn't serve as an overarching regulator for the technology.

  • April 15, 2026

    Enviro Groups Back Garden State's Bid To Block ICE Facility

    A coalition of environmental groups and community residents asked a New Jersey federal court for permission to file an amicus brief supporting the Garden State's bid to halt the conversion of a warehouse to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, offering their perspective on the local environmental threats of the project.

  • April 15, 2026

    NJ Towns Urge 3rd Circ. To Revive Suit Over Housing Law

    A group of New Jersey municipalities and elected officials told the Third Circuit they have Article III standing for their tossed suit against the state government over a 2024 law that they claim unfairly forces them to rezone areas for affordable housing.

  • April 15, 2026

    Firings Over Vax Refusals Arbitrable, Police Union Tells Court

    The union representing Massachusetts state police troopers told an intermediate appellate court Wednesday that disagreement over the meaning of "just cause" triggers a right to arbitrate disciplinary actions, including the firings of 13 officers over their refusal to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

  • April 15, 2026

    Importer Wins Gov't Deposition Over Steel Tariff Exclusion

    Two federal agencies have been ordered to undergo depositions regarding their roles in granting exclusions to steel tariffs, the U.S. Court of International Trade said Wednesday, largely approving an importer's motion while significantly narrowing the scope of information it sought.

  • April 15, 2026

    Trump's 8th Circ. Pick Pressed On Leonard Leo Ties

    President Donald Trump's nominee for the Eighth Circuit, who represented Trump in the two cases brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, came under scrutiny Wednesday for his affiliation with groups linked to longtime Federalist Society executive and Republican fundraiser Leonard Leo.

  • April 15, 2026

    Ad Agencies Settle FTC's 'Brand Safety' Boycott Claims

    The Federal Trade Commission reached a deal on Wednesday with WPP, Publicis and Dentsu over concerns that "brand safety" standards allowed them to collude to steer ad money away from disfavored platforms.

  • April 15, 2026

    Nadine Menendez Seeks Bail Pending 2nd Circ. Appeal

    Nadine Menendez urged a Manhattan federal judge to keep her free while she challenges her conviction, arguing that prosecutors deprived her of her constitutional right to the counsel of her choice.

  • April 15, 2026

    Jury Finds Live Nation Monopolized Concert Ticketing

    Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary harmed competition in the live entertainment sector by willfully monopolizing ticketing services to major concert venues and unlawfully tying artists' use of large amphitheaters to Live Nation's promotional services, a Manhattan federal jury found on Wednesday.

  • April 15, 2026

    Colo. Gov. Says Local DA Can't Sue Over State Visa Law

    Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has urged a Colorado federal court to toss two county officials' constitutional challenge over a state law regulating the certification process for special visas available to victims of crime who assist law enforcement, arguing the local officials lack standing.

  • April 15, 2026

    Rhode Island To Appeal Order Freezing Cannabis Licensure

    Rhode Island cannabis regulators will ask the First Circuit to reconsider a court order halting social equity and adult-use cannabis licensure, according to a notice of appeal filed Wednesday.

  • April 15, 2026

    Pa. Justices Hint Union Row Hinges On Arbitrator's Power

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday considered if an arbitrator had the authority to waive deadlines in a dispute involving union-represented Allegheny County Jail employees, with one justice suggesting that deadlines are a procedural matter within her control, rather than a contract provision that she couldn't ignore.

  • April 15, 2026

    Leo Says Missteps Sank $50M SpaceX Investment In Appeal

    The Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday grappled with whether a fund manager's handling of a failed $50 million SpaceX investment crossed the line into fiduciary misconduct, as attorneys for both sides clashed over causation, fairness and a controversial $16 million fee award stemming from the dispute.

  • April 15, 2026

    ICE Arrest Memo Switch Looks 'Specious,' Judge Says

    A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday revived an effort by civil rights groups to block immigration courthouse arrests, citing what he called an apparently deceptive Trump administration move to disclaim its earlier litigation position.

Expert Analysis

  • Human Authorship Is Still Central To Copyright Eligibility

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    In declining to review the D.C. Circuit's ruling in Thaler v. Perlmutter — holding that a work purely generated by artificial intelligence cannot be copyrighted — the U.S. Supreme Court has reinforced the human authorship requirement, so it is critical for creators of AI-assisted projects to document their involvement, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Recent Bank Resolution Filings Stress Readiness Over Docs

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    Against the backdrop of banking regulators' recent emphasis on institutional readiness in the event of a bank failure, a review of more than a dozen public resolution plan submissions points to an immediate future in which regulators and banks alike prioritize operational preparedness over extensive documentation, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Alpine Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skiing has shaped habits I rely on daily as an attorney — focus, resilience and the ability to remain steady when circumstances shift rapidly — and influences the way I approach legal strategy, client counseling and teamwork, says Isaku Begert at Marshall Gerstein.

  • 3 Federal Policy Trends Shaping Data Center Power

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    With the White House, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Congress each pushing energy policies that will influence how data centers are sited, powered and interconnected for years to come, industry stakeholders should understand compliance obligations, consider possible downstream effects, and evaluate off-grid and self-supply energy options, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • NY Tax Talk: Calculating Tiered Partnership Income

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    Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland discuss how the potential impact recent New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal decision in Matter of Cantor Fitzgerald holding that the entity approach should be used by tiered partnerships to compute unincorporated business tax liability, why the issue of the proper approach remains unsettled and the broader implications for federal conformity and administrative agency deference.

  • FDA Guidance May Move Goalposts For Form 483 Responses

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    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides formal insight on how drug manufacturers are expected to respond to Form 483s, raising some concerns about the agency's timelines and expectations, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Understanding The SEC's Consequential Crypto Guidance

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent interpretive release — its most comprehensive statement ever on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto-assets — reimagines the Howey test to resolve long-standing questions over what is a security, but leaves many issues unresolved, say attorneys at Cahill.

  • Ohio Case Reflects States' Aggressive Criminal Antitrust Turn

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    The Ohio Attorney General's Office’s recent bid-rigging indictment of an online auctioneer is the latest signal that states, through attorneys general pursuing more kickback cases and legislators expanding the reach of antitrust laws, are shedding their historical reluctance to wield their criminal antitrust enforcement powers, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Justices' Geofence Ruling May Test 4th Amendment's Future

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    When the U.S. Supreme Court decides in Chatrie v. U.S. whether law enforcement may use geofence warrants to compel Google to disclose location history data, the ruling is likely to become an important statement about the future of Fourth Amendment law in data-driven investigations, says Duncan Levin at Levin & Associates.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    In the first quarter of 2026, New York's banking developments were headlined by initiatives to expand oversight of financial institutions and strengthen consumer protection laws, including a new framework for buy now, pay later lenders, a sweeping debt collection rule and a revised corporate self-disclosure program for financial crimes, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Seeking A Policy Fix As Merger Reporting Fight Continues

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    A recently announced request by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice for public comment on the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger reporting requirements, as litigation challenging the commission's updated requirements continues, suggests the government's willingness to address how best to support modern merger enforcement without unduly burdening filing parties, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • What New Fla. Citizens Bill Means For Surplus Lines Insurers

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    A Florida bill recently passed by the Legislature as part of a continued effort to depopulate Citizens Property Insurance, the state's insurer of last resort, creates an additional pathway for commercial policies to be written by surplus lines insurers, but also presents concerns of unnecessary regulation, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • What Voluntary Calif. Carbon Reports Show About Compliance

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    While the enforcement of California's S.B. 261 is currently paused due to a Ninth Circuit injunction, more than 130 companies have nonetheless chosen to voluntarily publish climate-related financial risk disclosures, providing a useful snapshot of how the market is interpreting the law's requirements in practice, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • PTAB Memo Recenters Discretion On US Manufacturing

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    Read alongside recent Federal Circuit decisions, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires' memo on patent denial considerations emphasizes domestic manufacturing in a way that the International Trade Commission does not require, says Brandon Theiss at Volpe Koenig.

  • Why MDLs Slow Down — And How To Speed Them Up

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    Multidistrict litigation has become central to mass tort practice, but as MDLs grow in size and complexity, so do delays and costs — so tools like the new federal rule governing MDLs, targeted use of special masters and strategically deployed Lone Pine orders are more essential than ever, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

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