Public Policy

  • February 02, 2026

    'Doesn't Make Sense': DOJ Irks Judge In Merger Fight With AGs

    A California federal judge said Monday that the U.S. Department of Justice must hand over certain discovery materials to Democratic attorneys general challenging the DOJ's controversial settlement greenlighting the $14 billion merger of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks, telling the DOJ that its argument that discussions of alternative remedies are shielded from discovery "doesn't make sense."

  • February 02, 2026

    Calif. Cities Challenge DOJ Rules For Child Exploitation Funds

    San Diego and San Jose have sued the U.S. Department of Justice over new requirements for Internet Crimes Against Children program grant recipients, claiming that the federal government is unconstitutionally trying to force its immigration and diversity agendas on local governments and other grant recipients.

  • February 02, 2026

    EPA Slow To Intervene In Flint Water Crisis, Expert Tells Court

    A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official testified Monday in Michigan federal court that the agency should have intervened in the Flint water crisis a year before issuing its warning over high lead levels.

  • February 02, 2026

    Ex-Goldstein Employee Claims Accountants Made Mistakes

    Defense attorneys for SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein presented evidence Monday that his firm's tax accountants made serious mistakes in tax filings for Goldstein's wife, Amy Howe, in 2021.

  • February 02, 2026

    COVID-Era Eviction Pause Was Illegal, Wash. Landlords Claim

    Moratoriums that shielded Washington renters from eviction during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic unconstitutionally forced property owners to house tenants who otherwise had no right to remain in their units, according to a lawsuit removed to federal court in Tacoma Friday by one of the local governments being sued.

  • February 02, 2026

    DC Circ. Gets History Lesson As Tribe Fights For Utah Land

    The D.C. Circuit got a lesson in tribal history dating back to the 19th century as lawyers for the federal government and a Native American tribe argued Monday whether a congressional act gives the tribe compensable title to 1.5 million acres of Utah land where an oilfield lies.

  • February 02, 2026

    Nevada Judge Temporarily Halts Polymarket Sports Contracts

    A Nevada state judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting Polymarket from offering sports contracts in the state for two weeks, finding that the platform's offerings constitute "gaming" under state law.

  • February 02, 2026

    'Star Trek'-Citing Judge Says Moderna Can't Ax $5B Vax IP Suit

    Moderna Inc. will have to face most of a rival mRNA vaccine developer's $5 billion patent suit over the company's COVID-19 vaccines at a trial in Delaware, a federal judge ruled on Monday, invoking "Star Trek" in a summary judgment order that left issues like patent invalidity up to the jury.

  • February 02, 2026

    Mich. AG Can't Toss Fire Policy Challenge, Property Co. Says

    A property owner urged a Michigan federal court to allow its proposed class action over the constitutionality of the state's Fire Insurance Withholding Program to go forward, saying the state attorney general's bid to dismiss the suit is untimely and improper as an intervening party.

  • February 02, 2026

    First Woman Justice Elected To Wash. High Court To Retire

    Washington State Supreme Court Justice Barbara A. Madsen, the first woman to be voted onto the court and the second-longest serving justice in state history, said Monday she plans to retire this spring after 33 years on the bench.

  • February 02, 2026

    Custodians Tell NJ Justices COVID Law Doesn't Preempt CBA

    School custodians urged the New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday to reinstate an award of extra money for their in-person work during the pandemic, arguing an arbitrator had a reasonably plausible interpretation of a state statute when he determined it didn't preempt the custodians' collective bargaining agreement.

  • February 02, 2026

    Offshore Wind Crowns Courtroom Sweep With Sunrise Restart

    A D.C. federal judge on Monday lifted the Trump administration's halt of the Sunrise Wind project, the final victory for five East Coast offshore wind farms that all convinced courts to block the government's stop-work orders.

  • February 02, 2026

    Colo. Justices Strike Down Laws Governing County Appeals

    The Colorado Supreme Court found two sections of Colorado law unconstitutional Monday because they allowed final judgments in county court cases to be appealed directly to the Colorado Court of Appeals.

  • February 02, 2026

    Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

    U.S. enforcers reached three new merger settlements, while the Federal Trade Commission successfully blocked a $945 million heart valve deal and lodged an appeal for its case targeting Meta's past acquisitions.

  • February 02, 2026

    NHTSA To Redo Heavy-Duty Pickup Truck Fuel Economy Rule

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told auto manufacturers Friday that it's preparing to retool fuel economy standards for heavy-duty trucks, as the Trump administration presses ahead with its dismantling of Biden-era policies that sought to bolster the adoption of electric-vehicle fleets.

  • February 02, 2026

    FCC's Phone Subsidy Fund Aims To Improve Nat'l Verifier

    As the Federal Communications Commission responds to reports from its internal auditors of widespread fraud in Lifeline phone services, the program's administrator has said progress is underway to strengthen a national system to verify beneficiaries.

  • February 02, 2026

    2nd Circ. Partially Revives Suit Over NY Foster Care Rules

    A group of New York City children who were taken from their parents and placed into foster care have standing to challenge the legality of state rules preventing them from being placed with relatives with criminal histories, a Second Circuit panel determined on Monday.

  • February 02, 2026

    Curaleaf Can't Ditch All Ill. Whistleblower Act Claims

    An Illinois magistrate judge on Monday mostly denied a bid from Curaleaf Inc. to throw out a former regional director's Illinois Whistleblower Act claims, saying the complaint is sufficient to allege that he was retaliated against for reporting compliance violations to the state government.

  • February 02, 2026

    State Dept. Accused Of Overreach With 75-Country Visa Pause

    A group of U.S. citizens, nonprofits and foreign workers sued the Trump administration on Monday over its pause of immigrant visas for applicants from 75 countries over public charge concerns, arguing that the executive branch can't rewrite federal immigration law.

  • February 02, 2026

    FTC Says Bezos, Amazon Execs Hid Evidence Via Signal App

    The Federal Trade Commission asked a Washington federal judge to assume Amazon.com Inc. used auto-deleting Signal chats to hide the "anticompetitive nature" of rules that allegedly created an artificial pricing floor across online retail, escalating a long-simmering evidentiary fight that implicates Jeff Bezos and general counsel David Zapolsky.

  • February 02, 2026

    Oklahoma Governor Urges Repeal Of Medical Marijuana

    Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Monday called for voters to pass a measure repealing medical marijuana legalization in the state.

  • February 02, 2026

    DOJ Opposes Google's Bid For Partial Search Remedy Pause

    The U.S. Department of Justice and state enforcers are opposing Google's bid to pause parts of the remedies imposed after a D.C. federal court found it monopolized the search market, while the tech giant appeals the ruling to the D.C. Circuit.

  • February 02, 2026

    What Prison Killings Exposed About NY Death Reviews

    New York has moved to change how deaths in prisons and jails are investigated with a new law prompted by the killings of two men at the hands of prison guards, even as many government reports on custodial deaths raise different questions about care and oversight at correctional facilities.

  • February 02, 2026

    DOJ Defends NJ US Atty Office Funding Amid Scrutiny

    Defending the three-person leadership structure of New Jersey's federal prosecution operations since the departure of Alina Habba, an administrator told a federal court that two of the attorneys running the office are paid through the office's budget and the third is funded through the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • February 02, 2026

    Trump, Modi Say US-India Trade Deal Reached

    President Donald Trump said Monday he reached a trade deal with India following a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that includes lowering the tariff rate on Indian goods entering the U.S. from 50% to 18%.

Expert Analysis

  • Assessing Factors Behind Biosimilar Uptake And Competition

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    As biosimilar uptake remains uneven and questions linger over whether the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act can deliver robust competition between biologics and biosimilars, a case study of Humira and its biosimilars illustrates how many factors, including payor reimbursement and formulary strategy, collectively shape competitive dynamics, say analysts at Analysis Group.

  • State Of Insurance: Q4 Notes From Illinois

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    In 2025's last quarter, Illinois’ appellate courts weighed in on overlapping homeowners coverages for water-related damages, contractual suit limitation provisions in uninsured motorist policies, and protections for genetic health information in life insurance underwriting, while the Department of Insurance sought nationwide homeowners' insurance data from State Farm, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

  • How 3 CFTC Letters Overhauled Digital Asset Guidance

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently issued three letters providing guidance for the use of digital assets in derivatives markets, clarifying the applicability of CFTC regulations across numerous areas of digital asset activities and leading to the development of standards to allow market participants to post digital assets as collateral, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

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    Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

  • Ruling Helps Clarify FERC's Post-Jarkesy Enforcement Power

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    A North Carolina federal court's recent ruling in American Efficient v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may be a step in providing clarity on FERC's enforcement authority under the Federal Power Act in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Dispatches From Utah's Newest Court

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    While a robust body of law hasn't yet developed since the Utah Business and Chancery Court's founding in October 2024, the number of cases filed there has recently picked up, and its existence illustrates Utah's desire to be top of mind for businesses across the country, says Evan Strassberg at Michael Best.

  • Aerospace And Defense Law: Trends To Follow In 2026

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    Some of the key 2026 developments to watch in aerospace and defense contracting law stem from provisions of this year's National Defense Authorization Act, a push to reform procurement, executive orders that announced Trump administration priorities, the upcoming Artemis space mission and continuing efforts to deploy artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Aviation Watch: Busy Skies, Tough Market For Airlines In 2026

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    After a turbulent year in the U.S. commercial aviation sector, demand for air travel and premium service shows no signs of slackening in 2026, with airlines facing the need to compete in a saturated market, while seeking opportunities for consolidation and pursuing other avenues to profitability, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Viewing The Merger Landscape Through An HPE-Juniper Lens

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    If considerations beyond antitrust law were taken into account to determine whether Section 7 of the Clayton Act was violated in the Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks deal, then legal practitioners advocating deal clearance may now have to argue that deals should be justified by considerations not set forth in the merger guidelines, says Matthew Cantor of Shinder Cantor.

  • 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

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    Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

  • 3 Key Ohio Financial Services Developments From 2025

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    Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw particularly notable developments in 2025, including a significant Ohio Supreme Court decision on creditor disclosure duties to guarantors in Huntington National Bank v. Schneider, and some major proposed changes to the state's Homebuyer Plus program, says Alex Durst at Durst Kerridge.

  • Patent Eligibility Faces Widening Gap Between USPTO, Courts

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    The year 2026 opened with a profoundly altered Patent Act Section 101 ecosystem — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has pushed eligibility as far open as it can for artificial intelligence technologies, but the courts are not on the same page, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Keys To Effective Mental Health Mitigation In Sentencing

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    Instead of framing a defendant's mental health diagnoses as generalized grounds for leniency during sentencing, defense counsel should present them as objective clinical data that directly informs the risk assessment and rehabilitative questions judges are statutorily required to consider, say Joseph De Gregorio at JN Advisor and Richard Levitt at Levitt & Kaizer.

  • Key Policy Moves Are Powering Nuclear Growth

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    The past year has seen a shift toward strong federal support for new nuclear power generation, and both recent and anticipated policy developments are likely to encourage progress toward that goal — but making sure that this momentum continues may be the hard part, say attorneys at Balch & Bingham.

  • Rescheduling Cannabis Marks New Tax Era For Operators

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    As the attorney general takes steps to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, operators and advisers should prepare by considering the significant changes this will bring from tax, state, industry and market perspectives, says Michael Harlow at CohnReznick.

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