Public Policy

  • August 14, 2026

    4 Questions On Excess Manufacturing Capacity Tariffs

    Stakeholders anticipate new tariffs on key trading partners stemming from allegations that excess manufacturing capacity is causing harm to U.S. businesses, but several open questions remain about the extent to which duty burdens will increase and whether countries will retaliate in response. Here, Law360 considers four such questions.

  • August 14, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Cops Forcing Man To Pee In His Yard Unlawful

    A Michigan man who was forced to urinate on his front lawn because police, who were conducting a search of his home, would not allow him to use his own bathroom had his Fourth Amendment rights violated, a Sixth Circuit panel determined on Thursday.

  • August 14, 2026

    Mich. Panel Gives Dog New Chance In Euthanasia Fight

    A Michigan appeals court has overturned an order requiring a Port Huron woman to euthanize her dog after he bit off a guest's nose, ruling that a lower court applied the wrong standard when deciding whether the guest provoked the dog by putting her face inches away from the dog's face.

  • August 14, 2026

    10th Circ. Backs $5M Verdict In Fight Over Toll Lanes Contract

    The Tenth Circuit on Friday unanimously upheld a Denver federal jury's award of $5.25 million to construction design firm Aecom, wholly rejecting a contractor's request for a new trial in a contract dispute over a Colorado toll lanes project.

  • August 14, 2026

    Conn. City Settles Wrongful Conviction Suits For $30.5M

    After the mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, publicly announced a $30.5 million settlement, a federal judge dismissed two lawsuits accusing the city of civil rights violations tied to two wrongful murder convictions, for which each plaintiff spent nearly 20 years in prison.

  • August 14, 2026

    SEC Staff Halt Responses To Proxy Proposal Exclusion Bids

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday made permanent a previous decision to step back from responding to companies' bids to exclude shareholder proposals from their ballots, following comments from the agency's chairman that the most recent proxy season saw none of the "dire predictions" some had forecast after the retreat.

  • August 14, 2026

    Idaho Abortion Ban Needs Health Exceptions, Judge Finds

    An Idaho federal judge barred the state from criminalizing abortions in cases where continuing a pregnancy puts a patient at risk of lasting harm or death via self-harm, finding that the 14th Amendment establishes a fundamental right to health- and life-preserving abortion care.

  • August 14, 2026

    Calif. Tribe Failed To Show Harm Over 40-Acre Land Transfer

    A California tribe can't block the U.S. Department of the Interior from transferring 40 acres into trust for a fellow tribe's casino project, a D.C. district court judge has determined, saying action on the contested land isn't imminent and there's no demonstrable irreparable harm.

  • August 14, 2026

    Can Texas, Nevada Replicate Delaware's Corporate Edge?

    Texas and Nevada have spent the past few years rewriting corporate laws and building specialized business courts in an effort to challenge Delaware's long-standing dominance as the preferred home for U.S. companies. While a handful of high-profile corporations have already made the move, corporate law experts say creating another Delaware will require far more than new statutes and judges.

  • August 14, 2026

    Colo. Taxpayer Says $490M Court Project Violates TABOR

    A Colorado county's decision to build a half-billion-dollar judicial center required voter approval under the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, a county council member said in a suit, attempting to halt the project.

  • August 14, 2026

    1st Circ. Becomes 7th To Reject Trump's No-Bond Policy

    The First Circuit became the seventh appellate court to reject the Trump administration's argument that noncitizens arrested in the interior U.S. can be detained without bond, ruling that immigrants who entered the country unlawfully years earlier can seek release on bond.

  • August 14, 2026

    USPTO Wants Input On Southwest Outreach Office

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is looking to increase its community outreach in the Southwest and is asking for public input on where it should set up offices in the six-state region.

  • August 14, 2026

    Law Student's Race Bias Claim Survives In Kirk Discipline Suit

    A Texas federal judge on Friday allowed a former Texas Tech law student to proceed with her claim that the university board was discriminatory in disciplining her over comments she made allegedly celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk because non-Black students who spoke about the assassination weren't investigated.

  • August 14, 2026

    Chicago Auto Lease Tax Is Unconstitutional, Suit Says

    A Chicago tax applied monthly to leased vehicles violates the state's constitution, a taxpayer told a state court, arguing the levy flouts the uniformity clause.

  • August 14, 2026

    IRS Expands Carbon Capture Tax Credit's Safe Harbor

    A safe harbor for the carbon sequestration tax credit's reporting requirements will apply to a method that uses carbon oxide used as a tertiary injectant in qualified oil and gas extraction projects, the IRS announced Friday, expanding earlier guidance for the incentive.

  • August 14, 2026

    White House, BigLaw Atty Picked For Tenn. Federal Bench

    President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is nominating a White House attorney and former BigLaw associate to serve as a Tennessee federal judge.

  • August 14, 2026

    Trump Hits Imported Drones With Up To 100% Tariffs

    Large drones and those with certain capabilities "that are particularly sensitive for national security purposes" and their components will face a 100% ad valorem tariff starting in September, President Donald Trump ordered, with smaller drones and other components facing a 25% tariff.

  • August 14, 2026

    Trump Asks Justices To Raze Block On Ballroom Construction

    President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to lift a ban on construction of a new White House ballroom, arguing a federal judge who ordered the work to stop overstepped his authority by vetoing national security officials' determinations that the ballroom is "vitally required." 

  • August 14, 2026

    UN Seeks Input On Draft Tax Convention And Protocols

    The United Nations is seeking input on a draft version of its proposed framework international tax convention, a protocol on taxing cross-border services and conventions on dispute prevention and resolution, the body's Department of Economic and Social Affairs said Friday.

  • August 14, 2026

    CFPB Will No Longer Post Narratives In Complaint Database

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Friday it will stop publishing consumer complaint narratives and data visualizations, a move consumer advocates warn will limit public visibility into patterns of alleged financial company misconduct.

  • August 14, 2026

    NRA Sues Denver Over Gun Carry Ban For Visitors

    The National Rifle Association and two out-of-state gun owners have sued Denver and Colorado state officials in federal court, arguing that the combined effect of the state's residency requirement for concealed carry permits and the city's ban on open carry leaves nonresident visitors with no lawful means to carry a handgun for self-defense.

  • August 13, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Moots Challenge Of Trump's Use Of Enemies Act

    The full Fifth Circuit Thursday tossed three Venezuelan nationals' lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's use of a 1798 wartime law to try to deport them and other Venezuelans, saying the proposed class case was now moot after the government deported them without invoking the law.

  • August 13, 2026

    Fed Shouldn't Have State Banking 'Veto,' High Court Told

    Custodia Bank has received support from a pair of current and former senators and two other digital asset organizations in its fight with the Federal Reserve pending before the U.S. Supreme Court over a "master account."

  • August 13, 2026

    5th Circ. Restores Parts Of Hotly Contested Texas Voter Law

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday reversed a lower court ruling that blocked several provisions of Texas' 2021 election law on the grounds they make voting harder for those with disabilities, holding the plaintiffs had failed to establish standing for most of their claims and rejecting the remaining claim on the merits.

  • August 13, 2026

    Supreme Court's Apple App Store Pause Lifted After 24 Hours

    Following the expiration of a roughly 24-hour pause on the App Store dispute between Apple and Epic Games, Apple put a 15% commission on the table Thursday to try to comply with a mandate forcing it to dramatically cut what it charges for App Store sales.

Expert Analysis

  • How Home Infusion Providers Can Adapt To Enrollment Pause

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    Recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services moratoria on new enrollments of home health agencies, medical equipment companies and hospices make home infusion providers' compliance obligations more complex and ambiguous, requiring new careful consideration of specific enrollment requirements and limitations, say attorneys at Quarles & Brady.

  • Opinion

    Birthright Citizenship Dissents Belie Originalist Interpretation

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    The three dissents in the U.S. Supreme Court's recent birthright citizenship decision clashed with originalist readings of the Constitution, applying the 14th Amendment more narrowly than its drafters, and by applying contemporary and living document approaches to constitutional interpretation, says Ediberto Roman at Florida International University.

  • NYDFS Swedbank Order Offers Lessons On Candor

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    The New York State Department of Financial Services' consent order with Swedbank reflects the department's broad view of its investigative authority, emphasizes transparency, and underscores the risks of intrusive investigations that can occur if a regulator believes that it was misled, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • 3 Rulings Show High Court's Transnational Litigation Stance

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's most recent term closed with three consequential decisions for transnational litigation that illustrate the court's readiness to enforce a Congress-created cause of action for overseas conduct and unwillingness to create this liability itself, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Managing Data Center Power Issues, Public Pushback

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    The many risks associated with data center construction include power availability, government regulations and public opinion, and contractual disputes — but these can be mitigated with careful project controls, planning and targeted contract drafting, say Randa Adra and Lily Geyer at Crowell & Moring, and Natasha Dahl at Ankura.

  • California FAIR Plan Is Outgrowing Last-Resort Role

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    With a recent rate increase, a litigation win and pending legislation to reshape operations, the California FAIR Plan is being regulated and reinforced as an apparent fixture of California's insurance market, rather than the temporary safety net originally intended, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Data Center Risks Include Schedules, Supply Chain, Labor

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    Managing the dynamic technical and legal risks related to data center development requires sophisticated strategies for dealing with compressed schedules and liquidated damages, supply chain and long-lead equipment challenges, and labor shortages and productivity issues, say Randa Adra and Lily Geyer at Crowell & Moring, and Natasha Dahl at Ankura.

  • How 'Markedly Different' Test Shapes Patent Eligibility Debate

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    Following last month's U.S. Senate hearing on the proposed Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, it is important to examine how courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have applied the 46-year-old "markedly different characteristics" framework to determine eligibility of composition-of-matter claims, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • 5 Antitrust Lessons On Bundled Discounts After Medtronic

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    The recent California federal court decision upholding a $381.7 million verdict against Medtronic offers practitioners a clearer road map for navigating bundled discount claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, and the practical implications are substantial, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Calif. OppFi Suit Outlines Key Criteria For Bank Partnerships

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    A California state court's recent ruling in OppFi v. Hewlett offers fintech-bank partnerships a blueprint for structuring lending programs to withstand future true lender challenges, while signaling that enforcement theories may face added scrutiny under the state's ban on underground regulations, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

  • AG Watch: Va. Auto Renewal Law Clears Enforcement Path

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    The most consequential aspect of recent amendments to Virginia's automatic renewal law is the enforcement authority it creates, giving the attorney general a clear statutory pathway to pursue cases involving subscription-related compliance failures under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, says Chuck Slemp at Cozen O'Connor.

  • A New Era Of Scrutiny For China-Linked Pharma Deals

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    As Congress considers bipartisan legislation that would heighten regulatory scrutiny for life sciences deals involving Chinese biotech entities, companies should reassess the risks and due diligence requirements that will come with using heavily China-dependent pipelines, says Jen Maki at Ankura.

  • Justices' FTC Ruling Weakens Qui Tam's Constitutional Base

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Trump v. Slaughter, expanding presidential control over those exercising executive power, suggests that courts may be receptive to arguments challenging the constitutional foundations of the False Claims Act’s qui tam mechanism, says Daniel Passeser at Wiggin.

  • 9th Circ. Rule Block Unlikely To Deter FinCEN Cartel Focus

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    The Ninth Circuit recently blocked the Financial Crimes Enforcement Unit's border cash reporting rule, interpreting it as an impermissible use of an emergency anti-money laundering tool, but regulators are more likely to see the opinion as a road map for building a more defensible rule, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • What Cos. Must Know About EPA Water Monitoring Proposal

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's newly proposed rule that would require public water systems to monitor for 30 unregulated drinking water contaminants does not impose new obligations on companies, but the data collected could affect future policy, investigations and litigation, says Ayodeji Ayolola at Gordon Rees.

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