Public Policy

  • January 27, 2026

    CBP's Medical Care Oversight Needs Improvement, GAO Says

    A report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that U.S. Customs and Border Protection sometimes failed to provide proper medical oversight for certain people in its custody, violating its own policies and guidance for medical care.

  • January 27, 2026

    Judge Taps Ex-CIA, Corrections Pro To Clean Up NYC's Rikers

     A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday named a former Vermont corrections commissioner and ex-CIA officer to take the reins of New York City's troubled Rikers Island jail system as a "remediation manager," after yearslong efforts to clamp down on incidents of excessive force against the jail population.

  • January 27, 2026

    Texas Gov. Freezes New H-1B Hiring By Agencies, Colleges

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed certain state agencies and public colleges Tuesday to stop sponsoring new nonimmigrant workers under the federal H-1B visa program until mid-2027, unless they have explicit permission from the state's employment agency.

  • January 27, 2026

    Wis. Homeowners Challenge Tribal Tax Ruling At 7th Circ.

    A group of Wisconsin homeowners is asking the Seventh Circuit to revive its claims that local political jurisdictions of the Menominee Indian Tribe joined forces to increase the homeowners' tax burden, arguing a lower court was wrong to dismiss the case.

  • January 27, 2026

    White House Pushed To Back PTAB Rule Change Proposal

    Two groups representing inventors and startups have thrown their support behind the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's proposal to limit America Invents Act patent reviews, saying it will give patent owners certainty and also protect against foreign challenges to domestic patents.

  • January 27, 2026

    Investors Say Teva Can't Get Early Win In Price-Fixing Suit

    Investors guided by Highfields Capital told a Connecticut federal court that Teva Pharmaceuticals can't escape their claims that its alleged collusion with other drugmakers to artificially inflate the price of generic drugs also inflated stock prices, reasoning that Teva executives falsely attributed the company's performance to factors other than the alleged price-fixing.

  • January 27, 2026

    Adhesive Cos. Push Back On FTC Merger Concerns

    The makers of Loctite and Liquid Nails told a New York federal court that the Federal Trade Commission will be unable to show their planned $725 million merger will hurt competition for construction adhesives.

  • January 27, 2026

    Trump Admin's 'Irrational' Block On Wind Project Lifted

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday lifted a Trump administration freeze on the nearly complete Vineyard Wind offshore energy project, saying the government had likely flouted federal law by failing to explain a "disconnect" between its stated concerns about national security and its willingness to allow completed turbines to continue operating.

  • January 27, 2026

    Ex-GOP Aide's Work Never Changed, Bias Suit Judge Told 

    The Connecticut General Assembly's House Republican Office on Tuesday urged a state court judge to issue quick wins on a former Republican press secretary's discrimination and retaliation claims, saying neither an adverse employment action nor discipline occurred before the aide took an approved medical leave and resigned.

  • January 27, 2026

    Korean Lawmakers Duel Over Trump Tariff Threat Response

    President Donald Trump's threat of a tariff hike on South Korea for "not living up to" its trade deal with the U.S. had South Korea's two major parties warring Tuesday over the pact's approval process.

  • January 27, 2026

    Feds Urge 1st Circ. To Nix 3rd-Country Removals Injunction

    The Trump administration told the First Circuit a Massachusetts federal judge overstepped by granting a "sweeping injunction" that required it to provide due process to a certified class of noncitizens facing removal to third countries they have no ties to.

  • January 27, 2026

    Iowa Church Says DEA Has Delayed Ayahuasca Application

    An Iowa church seeking approval for the religious use of a psychedelic has told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration continues to drag its feet on the organization's application for a religious exemption to the Controlled Substances Act.

  • January 27, 2026

    Churchill Downs Seeks To Void Maine Online Gaming Law

    Churchill Downs Inc. and its subsidiaries are asking a federal court to block the state of Maine from enforcing a law that will allow its four tribal governments to operate online gaming, arguing that the statute is race-based and deals "a gut-wrenching" blow to the state's other businesses and citizens.

  • January 27, 2026

    AGs' HPE-Juniper Hold Too Broad, Too Late, Judge Says

    A California federal judge explained his reasoning for refusing to block further integration between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks, while Democratic attorneys general challenge the Justice Department's controversial settlement permitting the merger.

  • January 27, 2026

    Sen. Kelly Bashes DOD's 'Alarming' Attempt At Punishment

    Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a retired U.S. Navy captain, says the U.S. Department of Defense is seeking to impose an "unprecedented" and "radical" view of military veterans' First Amendment rights in order to punish him for telling members of the military they don't have to follow unlawful orders.

  • January 27, 2026

    Kalshi Taps Ex-Amazon State Policy Pro For New DC Shop

    Trading platform Kalshi is expanding its policy efforts amid battles with state gambling regulators and tribes with a new office in Washington, D.C., staffed by government relations specialists, including a former Amazon executive who spent close to a decade with the Mississippi Attorney General's Office.

  • January 27, 2026

    FCC Asks Carriers To Keep Spanish In Emergency Alerts

    The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau on Monday reminded wireless providers that they must properly transmit and display Wireless Emergency Alerts that include Spanish-language characters, warning that altering or deleting those characters violates federal rules.

  • January 27, 2026

    BigLaw Firms Seek Partial Exec Order Appeal Consolidation

    The four BigLaw firms that sued the White House and Justice Department over executive orders against them related to the clients they represent have asked the D.C. Circuit that the cases be "partially consolidated" amid the government's appeals of its losses, while maintaining the ability to file individual response briefs.

  • January 27, 2026

    Nuke Discharge Law Isn't Preempted, NY Tells 2nd Circ.

    New York has told the Second Circuit that a federal judge wrongly concluded that a state law barring the release of radioactive materials into the Hudson River was federally preempted.

  • January 27, 2026

    Family Members Of Boat Strike Victims Sue Trump Admin

    The family members of two Trinidadian men killed in a U.S. boat strike in the Caribbean Sea sued the federal government in Massachusetts federal court Tuesday, claiming the attack was an unlawful extrajudicial killing.

  • January 27, 2026

    NY Schools Say Federal Threat Over Native Mascot Imminent

    A Long Island school district is asking a federal district court to alter its judgment dismissing a challenge to New York's ban on the use of Indigenous imagery, saying the district faces an "imminent and actual threat" of federal Civil Rights Act enforcement if it complies with the state law.

  • January 27, 2026

    EU, India Reach Major Free Trade Agreement

    The European Union and India have struck a deal on a free trade agreement including major tariff removals and reductions, culminating decades' worth of negotiations between the second- and fourth-largest economies in the world, the governments announced Tuesday.

  • January 27, 2026

    Trump's Greenland Tariff Threats Could Backfire On US

    The brief turmoil over President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff threats involving Greenland has abated for Europe and the global financial markets, but European governments may be more likely to retaliate with their own tariffs on the U.S. in the future, experts said.

  • January 27, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Snubs Google's 'Settled Expectations' Challenge

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday turned down Google's challenge to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's policy of denying patent reviews based on the owner's "settled expectations," marking the latest failed case disputing the agency's changes to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • January 27, 2026

    8th Circ. Won't Reinstate ICE Injunction In Minneapolis

    An Eighth Circuit panel has refused to reinstate a lower court's injunction barring federal immigration agents from retaliating against peaceful protesters in Minneapolis, ruling that it is unlikely to survive an appeal from the Trump administration.

Expert Analysis

  • 2025 Brought A New Paradigm For Federal Banking Regulation

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    A series of thematic shifts defined banking regulation in 2025, including a fundamental reform of prudential supervision, a strategic easing of capital constraints, steps to streamline merger reviews, and a new framework for fair access and entrants seeking to offer banking services, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • What 2025 Transpo And Logistics Legal Trends Mean For 2026

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    2025 was challenging for the transportation and logistics sector, with emergent trends including dramatic federal policy shifts, developments in tort risk, and a host of mergers and acquisitions — but a review of these themes offers a useful playbook for where the industry is headed in 2026, says Jonathan Todd at Benesch.

  • How Cos. Can Roll With NY's New Algorithmic Pricing Rules

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    Despite uncertainty from New York’s new ban on artificial intelligence and computer algorithms for setting rents, and efforts to further restrict individualizing prices based on consumers' personal data, property managers, software providers and merchants can take several steps to stay compliant, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • 2025 State AI Laws Expand Liability, Raise Insurance Risks

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    As 2025 nears its end, claims professionals should be aware of trends in state legislation addressing artificial intelligence use, as insurance claims based on some of these liability-expanding statutes are a certainty, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

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    Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

  • Crypto In 2025: From Federal Deregulation To State Action

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    The cryptocurrency enforcement landscape evolved in 2025, marked by federal deregulatory trends and active state attorney general enforcement, creating both opportunity and risk for businesses navigating the digital asset market, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • How CFTC Enforcement Shifted In 2025 And What's Next

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission pivoted sharply under acting Chairman Caroline Pham in 2025, resulting in a pared-back enforcement docket, sweeping policy changes intended to provide greater transparency, and a renewed focus on fraud prevention and maintaining market integrity for the CFTC's core markets, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Learning From 2025 FCA Trends Targeting PE In Healthcare

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    False Claims Act enforcement trends and legislative developments from this year signal intensifying state and federal scrutiny of private equity's growing footprint in healthcare, and the urgency of compliance, says Lisa Re at Arnold & Porter.

  • Reviewing 2025's State And Federal AI Regulations

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    In light of increasing state and federal action to oversee the use of artificial intelligence, companies that develop or deploy the technology should keep abreast of current and forthcoming AI laws and consider their applicability to their business activities, says Jessica Brigman at Spencer Fane.

  • Software Patents May Face New Eligibility Scrutiny

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    November guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, along with recent litigation trends from the Federal Circuit, may encourage new challenges in the USPTO and district courts to artificial intelligence and software patents that rely on generic computing functions without concrete details, say attorneys at Venable.

  • What Trump Order Limiting State AI Regs Means For Insurers

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    Last week's executive order seeking to preclude states from regulating artificial intelligence will likely have minimal impact on insurers, but the order and related congressional activities may portend a federal expectation of consistent state oversight of insurers' AI use, says Kathleen Birrane at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • Investment Advisers Should Stay Apprised Of New AI Risks

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently issued annual examination priorities reiterate a host of regulatory implications for investment advisers using artificial intelligence tools, highlighting that meaningful ongoing due diligence can help mitigate both operational and regulatory surprises amid AI's rapid evolution, says Christopher Mills at Sidley.

  • New Rule Shows NRC Willing To Move Fast To Reform Regs

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    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to forgo public comment and immediately rescind certain rules governing adjudicatory procedures, federal tort claims and disclosure of licensee information signals the agency's intent to accelerate the regulatory streamlining efforts ordered by the president this spring, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • AG Watch: Texas Junk Fee Deal Shows Enforcement Priorities

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    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent $9.5 million settlement with online travel agency website Booking Holdings for so-called junk fee practices follows a larger trend of state attorneys general who have taken similar action and demonstrates the significant penalties that can follow such allegations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

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