Public Policy

  • October 15, 2026

    Pa. E-Cigarette Law Survives Vape Companies' Challenge

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has upheld a state law limiting electronic cigarette sales to products that have received or are pending approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, finding the state law fell into an exception to the federal tobacco law's preemptions.

  • October 15, 2026

    PhRMA Again Seeks To Join 340B Rebate Pilot Fight

    The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America on Thursday asked a Maine federal court to let it join a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's proposed rebate system in the 340B drug discount program, arguing the litigation could directly affect its members' approved plans and financial interests.

  • October 15, 2026

    Innocent Spouse Tax Relief Bid Timely Filed, 5th Circ. Told

    The U.S. Tax Court improperly concluded that a Texas woman narrowly missed a statutory filing deadline in seeking innocent spouse relief on federal income taxes and shouldn't have dismissed her case, she told the Fifth Circuit, arguing the deadline isn't jurisdictional.

  • October 15, 2026

    Missouri AG Alumni Make Their Mark In Trump 2.0

    Missouri is hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C., but the legal community of the Show-Me State has taken a significant hold in the second Trump administration.

  • October 15, 2026

    Justices Stay 4th Circ. Mandamus In FCC Political Ad Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed an order from a Fourth Circuit panel that would have required the full Federal Communications Commission to review agency staff guidance requiring broadcasters to offer discount ad rates to political committees tied to candidates.

  • October 15, 2026

    Muscogee Chief Says Court Can't Grant Freedmen Citizenship

    Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David Hill is asking an Oklahoma federal court to dismiss a challenge that looks to block the tribe from denying citizenship to descendants of people once enslaved by the Indigenous nation, arguing that it can be achieved only through a constitutional amendment and legislative process.

  • October 15, 2026

    Colo. Chamber Can't Join Tax Plan Challenge, Court Says

    A court Thursday denied the request of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce to intervene in suit alleging that a proposal to replace the state's flat income tax rate with a graduated system failed to gather the signatures needed to reach the November ballot.

  • October 15, 2026

    DOJ Defends Government-Funded Trump Ad Campaign

    A D.C. federal judge declined to immediately join a New York federal court in blocking the Trump administration's government-funded campaign-style ads from airing after a Justice Department attorney said the campaign was over, but appeared to agree with a Democratic National Committee attorney who called the ads propaganda and not public service announcements as the government has claimed.

  • October 15, 2026

    Nonprofits Sue Over NC Budget Gutting Civil Legal Aid Grants

    Three nonprofits are mounting a legal challenge to a provision of the North Carolina state budget that strips funding for civil legal aid services historically provided by the state's Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts program, saying the maneuver flouts directives by the Tar Heel state's top court and violates the First Amendment.

  • October 15, 2026

    Gov't Urges Justices To Reject Google, Intel Fight Over Fintiv

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Intel Corp. and Google LLC's challenge to a precedent allowing Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions to be denied based on related litigation.

  • October 15, 2026

    Trade Court Sustains Malaysian Wind Tower Duty Calculations

    The U.S. Department of Commerce has now properly justified various decisions it made during a countervailing duty administrative review of a Malaysian utility wind tower producer, the U.S. Court of International Trade found, rejecting many of the company's objections as baseless.

  • October 15, 2026

    DHS Can't Waive Laws For Big Bend Wall, Texas Judge Says

    A federal judge in Texas halted construction of a border wall in the Big Bend sector, finding that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security likely exceeded its authority to waive legal requirements in an area with comparatively low illegal entry.

  • October 15, 2026

    Cyber Incident Halts Bankruptcy Court Noticing Nationwide

    The nationwide system for providing notice to creditors in bankruptcy cases has been disrupted by a cybersecurity incident, and it is not currently known when the outage will end.

  • October 15, 2026

    Commerce Finalizes Duty Rates For Brazilian, Norwegian Pulp

    The U.S. Deparment of Commerce on Thursday finalized its determinations that high-purity dissolving pulp imported into the country from Brazil and Norway are being sold at unfair prices, setting up possible duty rates.

  • October 15, 2026

    FCC To Vote On Adding $162M To Boost Alaska Connectivity

    The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote on a proposal to pump an additional $162 million into ongoing efforts to expand high-speed internet connectivity in Alaska.

  • October 15, 2026

    Tesla Says Gov't Brief Shows USPTO Wants 'Absolute Power'

    Electric carmaker Tesla told the U.S. Supreme Court that it should take a case over the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leadership's discretionary standards for granting or denying patent review, saying a recent government brief illustrates how the office wants "absolute power" when it comes to restricting such reviews.

  • October 15, 2026

    GKN Says Insurers Owe Defense In Overheated Tank Suits

    GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems Inc. told a California federal court Thursday that its insurers are improperly refusing to honor their duty to defend the company in lawsuits and a civil investigation stemming from the overheating of a storage tank and subsequent evacuation of residents in Orange County.

  • October 15, 2026

    Sweden's Biggest Bank To Pay $33M NY Fine Over AML Gaps

    New York's financial services regulator has ordered Sweden's largest bank to pay a $33 million fine to resolve findings of past anti-money laundering deficiencies at its Baltic subsidiaries that allegedly exposed U.S. banks to heightened financial crimes risk.

  • October 15, 2026

    NYC Mayor Mamdani Taps New Risk Management Director

    New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that he appointed a former Manhattan assistant district attorney to lead the Mayor's Office of Risk Management and Compliance, a role that will put her at the forefront of efforts to eliminate the presence of lead in the city alongside several local agencies.

  • October 15, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Ga. Can Enforce Social Media Age Check Law

    The Eleventh Circuit struck down an injunction Thursday that blocked Georgia from enforcing its age verification law for social media platforms, finding that internet trade group NetChoice hadn't shown it was likely to prevail on its legal challenge to the statute.

  • October 14, 2026

    Unions, Nonprofits Get USDA Reorganization Plan Blocked

    A California federal judge has temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture from closing offices and reshuffling staff, saying the department's planned reorganization likely amounted to "reprogramming" prohibited by statutory spending restrictions.

  • October 14, 2026

    OCC Says Big Banks Cut Off Customers Over Reputation Risk

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is leveling fresh criticism at the biggest U.S. banks over so-called debanking, releasing a report that finds their use of reputational risk policies led to numerous instances of customers being "disadvantaged" based on their ideological views.

  • October 14, 2026

    Justices Appear Wary Of Broad Reach For Video Privacy Law

    Several U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed hesitant Wednesday to take a more expansive view of the online activities protected by the Video Privacy Protection Act, raising concerns that such an approach would buck the statute's original intent and invite a flood of litigation against a wide range of companies.

  • October 14, 2026

    Kushner Is Unlawfully Serving As Envoy, Watchdog Says

    Jared Kushner is unlawfully wielding power on behalf of the United States government, an ethics watchdog alleged Wednesday, asking a Washington, D.C., federal judge to block the president's son-in-law from acting as a top diplomat without disclosing his personal finances and potential conflicts of interest.

  • October 14, 2026

    State Dept. Ordered To Open 2027 Diversity Visa Program

    A California federal judge ordered U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday to swiftly open up registration for the 2027 diversity visa program and to make a public announcement of the registration period "no later than midnight" Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Improve Hiring Transparency Amid Ghost Job Scrutiny

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    Recent regulatory and state law scrutiny of ghost job postings for roles that don't exist or aren't being filled signals a shift toward hiring transparency, and employers that fail to adapt risk enforcement actions, consumer protection claims and financial penalties, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • FTC Push May Create Dual Origin-Claim Risks For Contractors

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    Recent Federal Trade Commission actions involving Made in USA advertising requirements offer a preview of enforcement themes that may impose dual compliance burdens on government contractors that are also subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation Buy American restrictions, says Amy Hoang at Seyfarth.

  • Series

    Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

  • FCC Robotics Restrictions Raise AI Compliance Risks

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    A recent "covered list" update from the Federal Communications Commission places restrictions on foreign-produced advanced robotic devices’ ability to obtain new authorizations, creating a framework that is poorly suited to continuous artificial intelligence updates, and raising several transactional and contractual challenges, says Kim Larsen at Stinson.

  • Navigating Employer Obligations Under NY Personnel File Law

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    In light of a New York law that will soon give private sector employees the right to review and comment on their personnel files, employers should understand where their exposure lies and be mindful of where records are stored, and for how long, among other things, says attorney Jason Tenenbaum.

  • Banks Should Stay Disciplined As OCC, FDIC Ease Oversight

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    Despite a newly issued Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rule that narrows the range of conduct that regulators may require institutions to remediate, prudent risk management suggests banks should still document how they arrive at their risk determinations, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Tracking Trends In State-Level Regulatory Enforcement

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    State-level enforcement now increasingly involves antitrust, artificial intelligence and data privacy issues, and the key for organizations to reducing risk is having the ability to respond across governance, public affairs, discovery and remediation in multiple states simultaneously, say consultants at FTI Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Time Is Right To Simplify Overlapping Broker-Dealer Regs

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has made an important start to simplifying its rules, legislators should follow and expand on the commission's example by reexamining and removing the unnecessary overlap between SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and state broker-dealer regulations, says Howard Spindel at Integrated Solutions.

  • What Cos. Must Know As Fast Energy Permitting Gains Steam

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    A recently approved geothermal project in Nevada may be the first authorized by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management under a new 14-day expedited environmental review process — but project developers may find that a more thorough environmental analysis will provide better protection against litigation challenges, says Jill Yung at Allen Matkins.

  • Opinion

    Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

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    California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

  • The Preemption Gap In Prediction Market High Court Petitions

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    The Supreme Court is considering three certiorari petitions following a split in prediction market litigation between the Third and Ninth circuits, but one of the petitions would not allow the court to reach the express preemption question, which would leave the dispute half-resolved, says Jordan Garman at Withers.

  • How Data Center Projects Can Navigate Wyo. Siting Process

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    As opposition to data center development grows nationwide, the way that Wyoming is handling the issue through its industrial siting process offers a counterintuitive lesson: More process, not less, can provide both meaningful scrutiny and a clear path forward for projects, says Jeffrey Pope at Holland & Hart.

  • Tips From Apex Ruling On Handling Workers' Public Criticism

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    A National Labor Relations Board judge’s recent finding that Apex Fintech Services illegally reined in an employee’s public criticism on LinkedIn should caution employers that overbroad policies and reflexive responses may not only fail to defend the company’s reputation, but compound risks of federal labor charges, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

  • 4 Paths To AI Safety Coordination Amid Antitrust Debate

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    Frontier artificial intelligence companies have more room for collective safety work than the debate over an antitrust waiver suggests, with several existing avenues providing different degrees of protection and oversight, says Evan Miller at V&E.

  • How Cannabis Rescheduling Is Reshaping Bankruptcy

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    As broader cannabis rescheduling awaits a recommended decision, cannabis companies continue to test the boundaries of the Bankruptcy Code, with the recent Cannabist Chapter 15 recognition order suggesting that governmental resistance may be reduced in future filings, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

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