Public Policy

  • August 03, 2026

    VoIP Provider Didn't Pay USF Bills, FCC Says

    A Louisiana VoIP provider will pay the Federal Communications Commission $25,000 to get out from under an investigation probing whether the company failed to pay as much as it was supposed to into the Universal Service Fund.

  • August 03, 2026

    GOP Sens. Back FCC Cellphone 'Unlocking' Rules

    Republican senators have endorsed the Federal Communications Commission's effort to adopt a uniform standard for mobile device "unlocking" rules.

  • August 03, 2026

    Dem Senators Float Expanded Paid Leave For Fed. Employees

    Federal workers would receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave to address their own serious health conditions or care for family members under legislation introduced by a group of Democratic senators.

  • August 03, 2026

    How State SG Offices Became A Judicial Pipeline

    The rapid growth of Missouri's solicitor general's office illustrates the import of top state appellate roles, which offer young lawyers a chance to gain courtroom experience they might never acquire in BigLaw. The gig is also, for young conservatives especially, one of the fastest paths to the federal bench.

  • August 03, 2026

    DOJ Renews Bid To Oust Susman From ABA Trump EO Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice renewed its call for a D.C. federal judge to disqualify Susman Godfrey LLP from representing the American Bar Association in its challenge to the Trump administration's law firm executive orders, saying Susman Godfrey's attorneys could potentially have to serve as fact witnesses in the case.

  • August 03, 2026

    Workers Say OPM Unlawfully Nixed Gender-Affirming Benefits

    A group of federal employees on Monday accused the Trump administration of unlawfully eliminating coverage of gender-affirming care from their health insurance benefits, forcing thousands of transgender workers and their dependents to pay out of pocket for treatment.

  • August 03, 2026

    Fla. Judge Faces Hearing Over Political Donation Penalty

    A Florida state court judge was unable to reach an agreement over how she will be sanctioned for violating a rule regarding political donations, so her disciplinary case will be sent back for a hearing before the state's Judicial Qualifications Commission.

  • August 03, 2026

    Judge Sinks Bid To Block Border Barrier Over Levee Concerns

    A D.C. federal judge rejected an economic development district's request to temporarily block the Trump administration from proceeding with plans to build border barriers near flood control levees along the Rio Grande in Texas, noting no construction has occurred yet.

  • August 03, 2026

    Trump, Copyright Chief Spar Over Justices' Removal Rulings

    The Trump administration and U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter have each told a D.C. federal judge that U.S. Supreme Court rulings in June regarding presidential removal power bolster their side in the fight over her firing, with Perlmutter saying they leave intact her statutory challenge and the government saying they confirm President Donald Trump's authority to oust her.

  • August 03, 2026

    Canada Imposes Temporary Cabinet Tariff But Exempts US

    Certain wood cabinets and vanities will be subject to a 25% surtax when imported into Canada under a temporary provision designed to protect the country's softwood lumber industry, though the Canadian government said a number of countries' imports — including the U.S. — are exempt.

  • August 03, 2026

    Blanche's Nix Of Trump's $1.8B Fund Wins Over GOP Sens.

    Two holdout GOP senators said Monday that they would support confirmation of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the permanent role after he gave assurances that President Donald Trump's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, created as part of a settlement with the IRS, would not move forward.

  • August 03, 2026

    Trump Admin Appeals Order To Improve Adelanto ICE Site

    The Trump administration is seeking to overturn an order from a California federal judge instructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to improve conditions at its Adelanto ICE Processing Center East and West.

  • July 31, 2026

    Law360 Names 2026's Top Attorneys Under 40

    Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2026, our list of more than 160 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.

  • August 02, 2026

    Mich. Justices Say Enbridge Line 5 Permits Need Reevaluation

    The Michigan Supreme Court threw out state regulators' approval of Enbridge Energy LP's proposed Line 5 tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, ruling that the Michigan Public Service Commission failed to properly analyze the project's environmental impacts under the Michigan Environmental Protection Act and must reconsider the application. 

  • August 02, 2026

    Trump Orders Quartz Tariffs Following ITC Recommendation

    President Donald Trump ordered new tariffs to begin Aug. 15 on imported quartz surface products and increased the maximum rate to 50% for goods in excess of an annual quota, according to an executive order.

  • July 31, 2026

    Oil Cos. Say Estate Can't Expand Heat Wave Death Theory

    Exxon, Chevron and other oil conglomerates have accused a Washington woman suing over a 2021 heat wave death of seeking to retroactively push the boundaries of the legal theory she's posited to the court, while she fired back on Friday that the petroleum companies continue to mischaracterize her claims.

  • July 31, 2026

    Fed Pitches New Rules On Loans To Bank 'Insiders'

    The Federal Reserve Board on Friday proposed updates to its rule limiting the loans a bank can offer its executives, board members and major shareholders who could influence the bank's lending decisions, saying the updates to outdated monetary thresholds aim to help community bank leaders.

  • July 31, 2026

    Migrant Kids Headed For 'Cliff' As Legal Services Contract Ends

    A government contract that provides lawyers to unaccompanied children in federal custody expired Friday, leaving legal aid organizations helping children navigate the immigration system alone wondering whether anyone can fill the void.

  • July 31, 2026

    Colo. Judge Urged To Rule On No-Bond Policy For Noncitizens

    A Salvadoran national who has filed a class action challenging the Trump administration's mandatory detention policy is urging a Colorado federal judge to rule on the stayed case now that the Tenth Circuit has, in a different case, rejected the government's authority to detain all noncitizens without bond.

  • July 31, 2026

    Appeals Courts Upheld Similar E-Cig Regs, Pa. Tells Court

    There's no good reason to block Pennsylvania from enforcing a statewide ban on most vape products, the commonwealth has told a Pennsylvania federal court, saying many appeals courts across the country have come to the same conclusion that such laws are constitutional.

  • July 31, 2026

    Case Challenging Ban On 'Conversion Therapy' Reopened

    A Washington federal judge has partly revived a family therapist's constitutional challenge of the state's prohibition on a practice commonly known as conversion therapy in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's March decision finding that a similar Colorado ban amounted to viewpoint discrimination against a Christian counselor.

  • July 31, 2026

    3rd Circ. Backs Trust In Pa. Game Commission Title Dispute

    The Pennsylvania Game Commission constitutes a Pennsylvania citizen, the Third Circuit ruled Friday in a land title dispute between the commission and a trust, rejecting the commission's "Hail Mary" change in position that it's instead an "arm" of Pennsylvania, which would erase the court's diversity jurisdiction.

  • July 31, 2026

    FTC, Southern Glazer Need More Time To Finalize Settlement

    The Federal Trade Commission has told a California federal judge that it needs a little more time to work out the finer points of its settlement with Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, which would end the agency's first Robinson-Patman Act case in decades.

  • July 31, 2026

    Hotel Booking Cos. Ink $1.1M Deal To End Wash. AG's Suit

    Hotel booking companies Lexyl Technologies LLC and Bookonline.com LLC agreed to pay nearly $1.1 million to resolve claims from Washington's attorney general that the platforms deceptively added a "refund protection fee" to users' reservations, according to a settlement announced Friday.

  • July 31, 2026

    NC Judge Deems Alleged $55M Medicare Clawbacks Unfair

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services didn't give a hospital operator fair notice of its interpretation of the term "provider" in Medicare regulations that HHS relied on to claw back millions of dollars in reimbursements, a North Carolina federal judge ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • Community Bank Order Signals Fintech Partnership Scrutiny

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent consent order against Community Federal Savings Bank for deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance programs offers clear and urgent lessons for community banks pursuing revenue growth through fintech partnerships and payments services, say attorneys at Bradley.

  • House-Passed KIDS Act Spurs Child Data Practices Audit

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    Graham Dean, Brian Roper-Nelson and Will Quick at Brooks Pierce discuss the noteworthy sections of the U.S. House of Representatives' recently passed Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act, the potential revisions as the law moves through the U.S. Senate and the significant business changes that the House law would require.

  • Calif. Recycle Label Order Imperils Product Responsibility Law

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    A California federal court's injunction blocking enforcement of the state's truth-in-recycling law gives companies racing to remove chasing arrows and other recyclability labels from their packaging a reprieve — and the court's action may also hobble implementation of the state's extended producer responsibility law, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • FTC Focus: Enforcing Vertically Integrated Operating Systems

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    As digital platforms increasingly pair operating systems with commerce, advertising, content and data, antitrust scrutiny will turn on whether those integrations create private bottlenecks that foreclose rivals through access, ranking, interoperability or defaults, pushing courts and enforcement agencies to adapt traditional utility and merger frameworks more aggressively, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Challenging Detention After 5th Circ. Ends Bond Clocks

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    After the vacatur of the Fifth Circuit’s holding that the U.S. Constitution requires bond hearings for detained noncriminal noncitizens, practitioners should go back to filing habeas petitions, pending the court's en banc rehearing, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • Patent Eligibility Bulletin: New USPTO Guidance And AI Risks

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    In the second quarter of 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its subject matter eligibility declarations in line with its increasingly permissive patent eligibility stance, while the Federal Circuit rigorously applied the Alice framework in a decision that highlighted risks facing patent claims that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning, say attorneys at Banner Witcoff.

  • A Shift In How Policymakers Are Approaching PBM Regulation

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    Recent federal and state legislative and regulatory activity involving pharmacy benefit managers represent a change in focus from transparency to PBM compensation structures, vertical integration and competitive effects, say attorneys at Barclay Damon.

  • Workplace Menopause Laws Demand New HR Playbooks

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    A recent wave of state and local legislation that makes menopause an expressly protected condition in the workplace creates new compliance obligations amid an already ambiguous federal framework, and demands a workplace culture where employees feel safe asking for support, says Elliot Griffin at Ballard Spahr.

  • How State Actions Are Reshaping Surveillance Pricing Risk

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    Amid heightened state enforcement activity and expanding legislative action to curb surveillance pricing concerns related to transparency, fairness and discrimination, businesses should closely examine how consumer data is used in pricing decisions, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • State Of Insurance: Q2 Notes From Illinois

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    The second quarter of 2026 featured a trio of auto insurance opinions from Illinois' appellate courts, addressing a notice requirement, narrowing insurers' exposure for delayed payment of underinsured motorist claims, and creating a district split on coverage for employee-drivers under employers' policies, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

  • Tips For Issuers Left In Lurch Without Genius Act Final Rules

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    The compliance runway envisioned by the Genius Act is steadily shrinking after regulators failed to finalize all the required implementing regulations by July 18, so stablecoin issuers should begin implementing "no-regrets" compliance measures and securing outside vendors before the law takes full effect in January, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Why Courts Are Pushing Back On Greenwashing Laws

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    Recent Fourth Circuit and California federal court decisions blocking state greenwashing statutes on First Amendment grounds reveal a tension at the heart of environmental marketing regulation — while states want clarity, courts aren't prepared to let legislatures flatly ban categories of truthful commercial speech, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • What NYC Bridge Crash Signals About Micromobility Liability

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    A recent fatal crash between a cyclist and a man riding a high-powered electric scooter on New York City's Queensboro Bridge highlights how litigation over accidents involving micromobility devices may increasingly shift away from ordinary negligence and toward product liability, says Jeff Korek at Gersowitz Libo.

  • 3 Ways Tokenization Is Moving To Traditional Finance

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    Recent initiatives reflect efforts to integrate distributed ledger technology into existing regulatory frameworks for securities, banking and payments settlements while preserving the underlying rights and obligations of market participants, say attorneys at Hughes Hubbard.

  • At The Intersection Of Right-To-Repair Laws And IP Rights

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    Right-to-repair legislation passing through Congress highlights a broad tension between manufacturers' security measures and consumer autonomy, with important repercussions for the automotive industry's intellectual property rights, says Keith Noe at Lando & Anastasi. 

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