Public Policy

  • June 23, 2026

    USPTO Shortens Time Period When Delays Need Justification

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says delays of more than a year in filing certain documents tied to patents need to come with an explanation, shortening the period of time that had been two years.

  • June 23, 2026

    Customs Announces Second Phase Of Tariff Refund System

    The second phase of a system for importers to claim refunds for tariffs struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court will become available June 29 for certain entries that have been subject to the reconciliation process, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Tuesday.

  • June 23, 2026

    Judge Flags Flaws In Rule Capping Health Student Loans

    A D.C. federal judge appeared to agree with health worker organizations challenging new federal student loan caps that there were problems with how the U.S. Department of Education defined "professional degrees" in a recent rulemaking, but suggested that "taking over the job" of the department would be inappropriate.

  • June 23, 2026

    Colo. Justices Say Courts Can Order Condemnation Discovery

    The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that trial courts have discretion to order discovery before immediate possession hearings in condemnation proceedings, finding a lower court erred in concluding it lacked that authority.

  • June 23, 2026

    Judicial Noms Still Say Biden Won In 2020 — Technically

    A group of judicial nominees, who earlier this month were the first of the Trump administration's nominees to say President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, reiterated in follow-up statements that Biden won the election "as a matter of law" — doubling down on what critics say is an equivocation on the election's outcome.

  • June 23, 2026

    New Mexico Tribe Says Land Suit Targets Survey, Not Title

    A New Mexico tribe is fighting attempts to dismiss its bid to block the federal government from altering the boundaries of a Lincoln-era 34,700-acre land patent, telling the court that the defendants can't frame the litigation as a quiet title action.

  • June 23, 2026

    SSA Says Court Has No Jurisdiction Over FOIA Fee Dispute

    The Social Security Administration told the D.C. federal court that the Freedom of Information Act does not authorize the court to override the fee determinations the agency made when producing public records related to its involvement with technology company Palantir.

  • June 23, 2026

    Pa. Town Wants Out Of 'Forever' Sewer Deals With Neighbor

    A Pittsburgh-area township is suing a neighboring borough and sewer authority, asking a Pennsylvania state court to declare that the township has authority to update or terminate decades-old sewer service agreements that locked in rates that no longer reflect the cost of maintaining the system.

  • June 23, 2026

    BioNTech Accused Of Firing Nurse Over Drug Trial Concerns

    A former senior clinical trial manager at BioNTech US Inc. told a North Carolina federal court Monday that she was wrongfully fired after complaining to higher-ups about an "epidemic of safety issues and protocol deviations" in clinical trials.

  • June 23, 2026

    Green Groups Drop Pipeline Permit Appeal After Stay Is Refused

    Environmental groups' challenge to a discharge permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for work on a natural gas pipeline stretching across several Eastern states was voluntarily dismissed Monday at the Fourth Circuit.

  • June 23, 2026

    Feds Tout AI's Role In $6.5B Healthcare Fraud Crackdown

    Federal authorities said Tuesday that artificial intelligence and sophisticated data analysis helped them detect and prosecute healthcare fraud as part of a national crackdown that resulted in charges against 455 defendants.

  • June 23, 2026

    Judge Who Denied Goldstein Retrial Says It Wasn't Close Case

    A Maryland federal judge has elaborated on her decision to deny SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein's bid for an acquittal or new trial, saying that the evidence presented at trial either supersedes or invalidates his claims of issues with jury instructions and insufficient or excluded evidence.

  • June 23, 2026

    Telecom Biz Sees Robust Competition, Think Tank Says

    As the Federal Communications Commission evaluates competition in the telecom sector, a think tank urged the agency not to adopt regulatory policies that treat the market as unfairly skewed toward a few large players.

  • June 23, 2026

    NC Becomes First State To Ban Outside Funding Of Civil Suits

    North Carolina has become the first state in the country to ban outside investors from funding civil litigation, after Democratic Gov. Josh Stein signed into law a bill that outlaws third parties from footing the bill for civil suits in exchange for a cut of the payout at the finish line.

  • June 23, 2026

    DC Judge Pulls Plug On Feds' Voter Citizenship Database

    A D.C. federal judge blocked the Trump administration's expansion of a database that allows states to screen voters, saying it "haphazardly combined and repurposed" information on millions of Americans, including unreliable citizenship information, and violated multiple laws.

  • June 23, 2026

    NY Rule Rewrite Drops 30-Day Pause For Atty Soliciting

    New York's Appellate Division has adopted new rules of professional conduct on attorney advertising and solicitation, deleting a ban on soliciting clients less than 30 days after an incident.

  • June 23, 2026

    FCC Spectrum Auction Pulls In More Than $3.5B

    The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday it had raised more than $3.5 billion in gross winning bids in its recent spectrum auction, the first sale of wireless licenses by the federal government in years.

  • June 23, 2026

    Several Democrats Challenge FCC Political Ad Guidance

    Democratic candidates and officeholders, including former Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen. Jon Ossoff, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, have asked the Fourth Circuit to strike down Federal Communications Commission guidance they say unlawfully expands discounted political advertising rates to party committees and joint fundraising groups.

  • June 23, 2026

    New York Mask Ban For Federal Agents Sparks Dueling Lawsuits

    New York state and the U.S. Department of Justice have filed dueling lawsuits over the state's new laws banning federal law enforcement officers from wearing face masks and seeking to rein in immigration enforcement in the Empire State.

  • June 23, 2026

    US Bars Jordan Cos.' Imports Over Forced Labor Concerns

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday announced it would bar shipments of any garments produced by a pair of Jordanian companies due to indications that they are being produced with forced labor.

  • June 23, 2026

    US Blocks WTO Appellate Body Selection Process Again

    The World Trade Organization failed again to begin the process of selecting members to the appellate body designed to settle disputes over WTO decisions, marking the 98th time that the initiative has been blocked by U.S.-led efforts, according to a news release Tuesday.

  • June 23, 2026

    Ill. Feds Drop More Charges For Grand Jury 'Irregularities'

    A third federal prosecution has unraveled over "serious irregularities" in grand jury proceedings at Chicago's federal courthouse, with U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros personally moving Monday to permanently dismiss arson charges against four defendants after improper communications between a prosecutor and grand jurors came to light.

  • June 23, 2026

    UK Aims To Modernize Tax Framework For Distributions

    The United Kingdom is aiming to modernize its tax system on distributions, including by aligning the treatment of dividends from foreign companies with domestic companies, the government said Tuesday.

  • June 23, 2026

    EU Parliament Panels Advance Mexico Trade Agreement

    Two European Parliament committees signed off Tuesday on a reworked trade deal with Mexico that would remove nearly all tariffs on European agricultural goods imported into the country, setting up a full vote by Parliament.

  • June 23, 2026

    Texas, DOJ Get Judge To End Biden Immigration Rule In 1 Day

    A Texas federal court has approved a deal between Texas and the Trump administration to vacate a Biden-era rule allowing immigration courts to temporarily close cases, the same day Texas filed a lawsuit alleging the policy had created a "de facto amnesty program."

Expert Analysis

  • Checking For AI Errors Is Now A Two-Way Street

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    A handful of recent federal and state cases demonstrate the importance of checking for errors generated by artificial intelligence not only in your own court submissions, but also your opponent's, as well as when catching opposing counsel's AI mistakes could result in an award for attorney fees, says Tamara Barago at Hollingsworth.

  • Opinion

    SEC Enforcement Reforms Must Address Post-Wells Limbo

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent changes to how it notifies companies of a potential enforcement action fail to address what happens after the Wells process is over, highlighting the need for meaningful process reform that includes a formal closure determination, says Kimble Cannon at Mahdavi Bacon.

  • Green Card Memo Warps Long-Standing Adjustment Process

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    A recent policy memorandum that treats a nonimmigrant visa holder’s decision to seek adjustment of status in the U.S., rather than at a U.S. consulate, as an adverse factor reinterprets existing discretionary frameworks, compounds risks for applicants required to apply abroad and changes practitioner approaches to application preparation, says attorney Jack Jrada.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Bolster Wrongful Conviction Framework

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    The Trump administration's recent decision to abandon its flawed “anti-weaponization” fund should not end the conversation about compensating those wronged by the U.S. justice system, — it should open the door for Congress to build a principled system that strengthens and expands the existing framework, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Shoring Up Corporate Law In Maryland

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    Launched more than 20 years ago to improve complex corporate adjudication, Maryland's Business and Technology Case Management Program has been a solid success in some areas, but there always is room for improvement, says Bill Krulak at Miles & Stockbridge.

  • How End Of SEC 'Gag Rule' Affects Free Speech Certiorari Bid

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    The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent rescission of the so-called gag rule, which forbade defendants in settlements from denying the SEC’s allegations, may sway the outcome of a petition to the Supreme Court in a case challenging the rule on First Amendment grounds, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • 7 Ways Va. Employers Can Prep For New Noncompete Limits

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    As of July 1, Virginia noncompete agreements with employees fired without "cause" must provide "severance benefits" — but with those key terms undefined, employers should implement several flexible but defensible compliance strategies to limit their exposure once the rule is rolled out, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Data Collection Push Signals New Era For Bank Compliance

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    An executive order pushing for broad bank collection of beneficiary data and a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network geographic targeting order in Minnesota should prompt financial institutions to run checks on customer diligence and privacy controls, as these directives may be part of a wider compliance shift, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Federal Officer Removal After Justices' La. Pollution Ruling

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    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Chevron USA v. Plaquemines Parish, companies seeking to use federal officer removal to move litigation out of state court should ask three questions, focusing on government contract language, federally directed activity and related conduct, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

  • Series

    Competing At Poker Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing poker in male-dominated rooms taught me to treat skepticism as background noise when my opponents seem to underestimate me, to apply pressure when it matters and to adapt without losing strategic discipline — skills that are all indispensable in restructuring and insolvency matters, says Alexis Gambale at Pashman Stein.

  • FTC Sweep Signals Increased 'Made In USA' Claim Scrutiny

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    After the Federal Trade Commission's recent enforcement sweep targeting allegedly deceptive "Made in USA" claims, companies should expect continued scrutiny of both traditional and digital marketing channels, coupled with sustained focus on supply chain transparency and claim substantiation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • 5 Things Associates Must Ask About Their Firm's Merger Plan

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    The associates who navigate law firm mergers best ask the right questions early, such as inquiring about partners' plans, to assess how the merger could affect their workflow and career path, says Jackie Bokser-LeFebvre at Major Lindsey.

  • CFTC Trading Rule Can't Police Prediction Markets Yet

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    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s recent efforts to police insider trading in prediction markets through a post-Dodd-Frank anti-fraud rule exposes doctrinal gaps around misappropriation theory, leaving platforms to fill the void with win-rate-based surveillance, says attorney Tamara de Silva.

  • FinCEN World Cup Warning Raises Trafficking Risks For Cos.

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    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent warning of human trafficking risks during the World Cup games signals heightened scrutiny ahead of the upcoming tournament, and suggests regulators increasingly expect businesses beyond financial institutions to maintain effective trafficking-risk controls, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    Immigration Appeals Rule Would Prevent Meaningful Review

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    Justice Stephen Breyer’s book “Making Our Democracy Work” offers a useful lens through which to consider what is at stake for the Executive Office for Immigration Review's legitimacy as the government asks the D.C. Circuit to revive an interim final rule that would have fast-tracked decisions by Board of Immigration Appeals, says Tara Kennedy at Kennedy Law.

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