Public Policy

  • March 31, 2026

    11th Circ. Won't Revisit Order Keeping Migrant Facility Open

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday denied a request from environmental nonprofits to allow a lower court's order halting operations of a Florida immigrant detention facility, saying in a split decision that new issues were improperly raised for the first time. 

  • March 31, 2026

    US Bipartisan Bill Will Extend Key Tribal Housing Program

    U.S. lawmakers have proposed bipartisan legislation that will update and extend the key law for tribal housing support through 2032, arguing that for too long Indigenous communities have gone without the resources they need to build and maintain affordable housing.

  • March 31, 2026

    Pot Opponents Seek To Block CMS Hemp Benefit Program

    A coalition of anti-cannabis activists is suing federal health regulators to block a program designed to reimburse Medicare beneficiaries for the use of federally legal hemp products that have small amounts of THC.

  • March 31, 2026

    Tariff Refunds On Liquidated Goods To Come, Customs Says

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection will enable refunds for imports already liquidated that were subject to tariffs struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, but that functionality still requires more time to develop, according to an official's declaration filed Tuesday in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

  • March 31, 2026

    OCC Scraps Recovery Planning Standards For Big Banks

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Tuesday that it is dropping its requirements for large banks to keep contingency plans for handling severe financial stress scenarios, finalizing the withdrawal of guidelines that date back to the Obama administration.

  • March 31, 2026

    Feds Ask For Early Win In Hookless Cactus FOIA Suit

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior have asked a federal judge for an early win in a conservation nonprofit's suit over withheld records about a proposed rule to remove the Colorado hookless cactus from the endangered species list.

  • March 31, 2026

    70+ Republicans Ask Justices To Review NY Gun Liability Law

    More than 70 Republican lawmakers from both the House and Senate have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appellate court decision that upheld New York state's public nuisance statute, which allows lawsuits against gun manufacturers that cause public harm.

  • March 31, 2026

    NC Attys Oppose DOJ Interference In State Ethics Complaints

    A group of North Carolina lawyers is opposing the U.S. Department of Justice's proposed rule allowing the attorney general to review state-level ethics complaints against the department's attorneys, saying such a change would undercut the Tar Heel State's ability to regulate government lawyers.

  • March 31, 2026

    Wash. Gov. Signs Bills Expanding Powers Of State AG

    Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson has signed two bills requested by the office of the state attorney general, including one aimed at enhancing its ability to demand document production and testimony in civil matters, allowing prosecutors to seek documents from elected officials and law enforcement agencies.

  • March 31, 2026

    Atlanta, Ex-IG Freed From Lobbyist's Bank Subpoena Suit

    A Georgia federal judge freed the city of Atlanta and its former inspector general from a lobbyist and city contractor's suit accusing them of illegally issuing subpoenas for the lobbyist's bank records to bolster a frivolous corruption probe.

  • March 31, 2026

    Admin Says Apple Had Own Reasons To Ax ICE Tracking App

    The Trump administration told a D.C. federal court that an app maker cannot support his claims that the administration coerced Apple to remove an app letting users report sightings of immigration enforcement authorities, noting Apple had independent authority to do so.

  • March 31, 2026

    US Blames Brazil, Turkey For Sinking E-Commerce Duty Deal

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said an extension of a 28-year prohibition on e-commerce duties at the World Trade Organization was blocked by just two of the 166 members — Brazil and Turkey — and criticized the broader ministerial conference as disappointing.

  • March 31, 2026

    4th Circ. Revives Va. Worker's OT Retaliation Suit

    A worker's suit accusing a production supervisor at a packaging company of firing him after he reported violations for unpaid overtime should have stayed alive, the Fourth Circuit ruled, saying a Virginia federal court erroneously ruled that he couldn't support his claim and that he fraudulently joined an in-state supervisor.

  • March 31, 2026

    Ariz. Seeks Pause In Voter ID Fight Pending High Court Order

    Arizona and its top lawmakers are asking a district court to stay a dispute on remand from the Ninth Circuit over state legislation that allows for ineligible voter roll purges until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the overall litigation.

  • March 31, 2026

    IRS Can Collect $371M From Convicted Ex-Atty, 7th Circ. Says

    The Internal Revenue Service can assess and collect restitution against a former attorney who served prison time in connection with $7 billion in tax fraud, making the amount immediately due and payable, the Seventh Circuit ruled, saying it was the first circuit court to address the issue.

  • March 31, 2026

    Sanctions Nixed In Suit Over Calif. County's Hemp Destruction

    A California federal judge has vacated sanctions imposed on Kern County's attorney in a suit alleging the county and state law enforcement illegally destroyed 500 acres of legal hemp owned by Apothio LLC, saying a magistrate judge didn't follow the proper rules in imposing those sanctions.

  • March 31, 2026

    Pa. Restitution Pay Can't Be Docked For Unpaid Fines, Costs

    A Pennsylvania court can't withhold or redirect restitution owed to a victim in a criminal case to cover fines and court costs the victim owes in other cases, a state appellate court ruled Tuesday.

  • March 31, 2026

    Ex-FirstEnergy Execs' Bribe Trial Ends After Jury Hits Impasse

    An Ohio judge on Tuesday dismissed a jury weighing charges that two former FirstEnergy Corp. executives bribed a utility regulator to help secure a controversial $1.3 billion bailout for two of the company's nuclear plants, after the jury reported an impasse following more than a week of deliberations.

  • March 31, 2026

    Justices Reject Colorado's LGBTQ+ 'Conversion' Ban

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a Colorado ban on therapy intended to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity amounts to viewpoint discrimination against a Christian therapist, a finding that split the court's liberal wing and crossed ideological lines.

  • March 30, 2026

    Newsom Tightens AI Contract Rules Over Safety Fears

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered state agencies to strengthen guardrails for all contracts connected to generative AI tools, highlighting what he sees as risks to free speech, voting rights and mass surveillance, and at the same time encouraging statewide adoption of safe forms of the technology. 

  • March 30, 2026

    HPE Seeks Fix After States Expose Confidential Bidding Info

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. urged a California federal judge to order a dozen states and Washington, D.C., to take corrective measures after they publicly filed thousands of pages of confidential documents related to the company's $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks Inc.

  • March 30, 2026

    FTC's Meador Eyeing Platform Design In Kids' Safety Reviews

    While the Federal Trade Commission isn't interested in "telling companies how to run their businesses," the agency will continue to police online hazards facing children and adults, including those that may be caused by the way that websites are designed, and could impose more "extreme" remedies when necessary, Republican Commissioner Mark Meador said Monday.

  • March 30, 2026

    Feds Urge 9th Circ. To Pause Immigration Bond Ruling

    The Trump administration Monday urged the Ninth Circuit to pause a lower court's declaration that immigration judges have the authority to hear detained immigrants' bond requests, slamming the ruling as a "frontal assault" on the government's authority to detain immigrants and arguing it's creating "judicial chaos" across the country.

  • March 30, 2026

    Trump, Biden Changes To Endangered Species Regs Vacated

    A California federal judge on Monday threw out Endangered Species Act regulation changes from the first Trump administration and Biden administration for being unlawful, saying the regulations contradicted the animal and habitat conservation law, including by paring back federal agency duties and narrowing the scope of the law's protection.

  • March 30, 2026

    Forest Service Beats Suit Over Timber Targets

    A D.C. federal judge on Monday ruled against environmental groups challenging the U.S. Forest Service's timber harvesting program, holding that annual timber targets aren't discrete agency actions for purposes of judicial review, and that the government sufficiently assessed the environmental impact of logging projects.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Opinion

    CFIUS Must Adapt To Current Foreign Investment Realities

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    To continue protecting the U.S.’ long-term strategic and economic interests, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States should implement practical enhancements that leverage technology, expertise and clear communication, and enable it to keep pace with evolving demands, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

  • Texas AG Wields Consumer Protection Law Against Tech Cos.

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    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has targeted technology companies using the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a broadly worded statute that gives the attorney general wide latitude to pursue claims beyond traditional consumer protection, creating unique litigation risks, say attorneys at Yetter Coleman.

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