Public Policy

  • October 16, 2026

    Wash. Justices Void Vague Release Term For Sex Offender

    The Washington Supreme Court has reversed a convicted child molester's community custody condition that he not possess or access "sexually exploitive materials" because the term is not clearly defined in state law, and could potentially mean many things.

  • October 16, 2026

    NORML Urges 6th Circ. To Reconsider Pot Illegality Ruling

    The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a leading cannabis consumer advocate, is urging the Sixth Circuit to rehear its decision throwing out a $31.8 million jury verdict for a Michigan marijuana grower, arguing federal illegality should not categorically bar contract damages against a cannabis purchaser that breached a supply deal.

  • October 16, 2026

    Suing The Trump Admin Can Have Massive Impact, Attys Say

    Lawyers representing clients against the federal government spoke Friday about the challenges and rewards of such litigation in the Trump era, with plaintiff-side powerhouse Elizabeth Cabraser pointing to the potential for massive impact, including one case in which she successfully got more than a billion dollars in grant funding reinstated.

  • October 16, 2026

    State Telecom Roundup: Clearing The Way For BEAD Funds

    Nearly five years after the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program was signed into law by then-President Joe Biden, states have finally started disbursing funds to subgrantees who will carry out the projects that are supposed to end the digital divide.

  • October 16, 2026

    DC Circ. Questions Trump Records Ownership Claim

    Judges on the D.C. Circuit hounded a Trump administration attorney over the White House's attempt to do away with the Presidential Records Act on Friday, as they searched to find the limit on the president's authority over his own work documents.

  • October 16, 2026

    Permitting Bill Gives FERC A Bigger Enforcement Hammer

    Recently introduced U.S. Senate permitting legislation proposes an unprecedented extension of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's enforcement reach into areas of electricity grid planning policy that have been traditionally overseen by states, experts say.

  • October 16, 2026

    Frontier Settles Connecticut's Data Breach Probe For $625K

    Frontier is going to pay $625,000 to end a Connecticut state investigation into a data breach that compromised the Social Security numbers of nearly 60,000 people in the state two and a half years ago.

  • October 16, 2026

    Fla. Localities Seek To End Sex Offender Registry Challenge

    The state of Florida and dozens of cities and counties are urging a Florida federal court to toss an advocacy group's lawsuit that claims state and local laws governing registered sex offenders violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

  • October 16, 2026

    Denver Pot Shop Says City Can't Revoke Approved License

    A would-be marijuana shop is looking to force Denver to honor the final approval of a retail store license, claiming the city licensing director unlawfully withdrew authorization and ordered a redundant hearing, which will risk tens of thousands of dollars it has already spent.

  • October 16, 2026

    GAO Wants Better Federal Office Occupancy Data Collection

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office told the General Services Administration that the GSA needs to do a better job of collecting occupancy data for federal office space, saying that improved data collection would allow the federal government to cut waste.

  • October 16, 2026

    Conn. Agency Prevails Against Estate's $20M Infant Death Suit

    The estate of a slain infant did not prove Connecticut Department of Children and Families workers caused the 7-month-old boy's death by failing to take him away from his father, who threw him into the Connecticut River from a 90-foot-high bridge, a state judge has ruled after a bench trial.

  • October 16, 2026

    GAO Finds Workforce Slump In Nuclear Weapons Agency

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a new report Friday finding that the agency responsible for managing the country's nuclear weapons stockpile has seen its number of mission-critical employees continue to drop amid the highest workload since the Cold War.

  • October 16, 2026

    CFPB Looks To Collect $144M In CashCall Bank Row

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has asked a California federal judge to order Merchants Bank of Indiana to hand over $144 million in collateral it has held for lender CashCall, arguing the bank acted in bad faith by delaying enforcement of the judgment against CashCall by retaining the funds.

  • October 16, 2026

    10th Circ. OKs EPA's Okla. Indian Country Programs Approval

    The Tenth Circuit rejected a Native American tribe's challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to approve Oklahoma's request to extend the state's administration of federal environmental regulatory programs to Indian Country, ruling Friday that a provision of a 2005 transportation bill controls the outcome.

  • October 16, 2026

    FCC Eyes 'All Options' As 5th Circ. Orders Subsidy Fee Redo

    The Federal Communications Commission said Friday it was exploring all options for managing the $9 billion Universal Service Fund after a Fifth Circuit panel ruled the FCC lacked authority to create the funds' private oversight company.

  • October 16, 2026

    Michigan State Must Face Claims In Public Records Fee Fight

    Michigan State University must face claims that it improperly charged nearly $3,900 to fulfill a public records request and deliberately delayed releasing documents concerning alleged financial irregularities and university oversight, a Michigan Court of Claims judge has ruled, allowing two claims to proceed while dismissing five others.

  • October 16, 2026

    Target Says It Warned Investors About Pride Merch Backlash

    Target Corp. told a Minnesota federal court it should be released from a class action alleging it "betrayed" investors with Pride-themed merchandise that they claim was "exceptionally offensive," saying the company sufficiently warned investors about the potential backlash to the campaign.

  • October 16, 2026

    Attys Can Still Protect Voting Rights During The Midterms

    With the midterm elections approaching, local and national nonprofits are seeking volunteers, especially lawyers, to safeguard the vote during an election with more states in play as battlegrounds and growing anxiety about federal interference in local elections.

  • October 16, 2026

    Jail Walls Block The Ballot. Advocates Try To Bring It Inside

    For eligible people detained before trial, the right to vote can depend on a tenuous chain of requests to the institution holding them. Across the country, however, election officials and advocates are working to ensure eligible voters can cast a ballot from jail.

  • October 16, 2026

    FTC Can Bring Debt Relief Scam Suit Before Jury

    A California federal judge has ruled that the Federal Trade Commission can bring its case against a telecommunications company over its marketing voicemails before a jury.

  • October 16, 2026

    FCC Says Five Eyes Allies Share Cybersecurity Info

    The Federal Communications Commission is working with foreign counterparts in the Five Eyes security alliance to share data on cyber risks, the U.S. agency said Friday.

  • October 16, 2026

    Voter Groups Sue DHS Over Alleged Voter Data Dragnet

    The League of Women Voters and two other groups are suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to stop what they call the agency's "secretive effort" to compile voter records in an effort to identify alleged fraud, arguing the actions are a "massive invasion of privacy."

  • October 16, 2026

    Md. Lacks Standing To Seek ICE Facility Records, Judge Says

    A federal judge denied Maryland's attempts to secure records concerning the conditions of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Baltimore, finding the state law used in its subpoena did not authorize a civil rights investigation of federal agencies.

  • October 16, 2026

    Temu Inks $3M Settlement To End Data To China Claims

    Online bargain retailer Temu on Friday agreed to pay $3 million to settle claims brought by the Texas Office of the Attorney General accusing the company of secretly stealing customer data and exposing it to the Chinese Communist Party.

  • October 16, 2026

    TI, Intel Say Ukrainians Still Show No Link To Russian Strikes

    Technology companies including Texas Instruments Inc. and Intel Corp. are again urging a Texas federal court to throw out a set of consolidated suits alleging they allowed their components to get into Russian weapons used to target civilians, saying a second amended complaint still fails to link their conduct to injuries.

Expert Analysis

  • What Cos. Should Do During Stay Of Nasdaq Delisting Rule

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved — and subsequently stayed — Nasdaq's $5 million market value threshold for continued listing, giving companies additional time to evaluate financing opportunities, communicate with investors and consider strategic alternatives, says Joseph Lucosky at Lucosky Brookman.

  • NC Dental Review Change Counters Tougher National Trend

    Author Photo

    North Carolina’s elimination of its prior review requirement for dental management agreements departs sharply from the national trend toward expanded corporate practice of medicine oversight, but stakeholders should not view this regulatory shift as a relaxation of compliance expectations, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Prepping To Use Crypto Collateral Under Ohio Ownership Law

    Author Photo

    Ohio's digital asset law should ease the path to using cryptocurrency as collateral, and as the October effective date approaches, lenders should update their loan documentation and diligence processes to take advantage of the new control-based perfection rules, say attorneys at Kegler Brown.

  • NY Bill Would Boost Litigation Risk For Cosmetics Cos.

    Author Photo

    The Beauty Justice Act, now pending in the New York Legislature, would not only present compliance challenges for companies making cosmetics and personal care products, but could also be used by private plaintiffs to bring consumer fraud, false advertising, toxic exposure and product liability claims, says Kadeejah Kelly-Previl at Faegre Drinker.

  • Appellate Vape Rulings May Expand State Regulation Powers

    Author Photo

    Two recent federal appeals courts decisions rejecting Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act preemption challenges to state electronic nicotine delivery systems directory laws signal an emerging appellate consensus that could significantly expand states' power to regulate vaping product sales where federal enforcement falls short, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Parsing Gov't Scrutiny Of Lending To Unauthorized Workers

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Mayer Brown explain guidance recently issued by three banking regulators that addresses risks associated with lending to so-called non-work authorized individuals and discuss what the regulatory update could mean for fintech companies.

  • Discovery Into Insurers' AI Use Should Stay Proportional

    Author Photo

    As insurers increasingly use artificial intelligence to make claim decisions, plaintiffs in first-party coverage litigation should seek discovery that tracks how materially the automated system influenced the challenged decision, not whether the insurer used AI somewhere in its operations, says attorney Joe Zaid.

  • How FCC Covered List Blitz Is Sidelining Commerce Dept.

    Author Photo

    The swath of recent Federal Communications Commission rulemakings raises serious questions about the purpose and future of Commerce's Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, and how the U.S. government will go forward in imposing national security regulation on domestic applications of adversary-linked technologies, says Peter Jeydel at Troutman.

  • DOJ Healthcare Declination Offers Self-Disclosure Checklist

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Justice's declination of criminal charges against Campus Eye Management signals that its new self-disclosure policy provides a real path for healthcare companies to avoid criminal exposure, but that path is paved with speed, transparency and operational remediation, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • SEC Rulemaking Radar: The Rubber Meets The Road

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rulemaking agenda shows its regulatory reset taking shape, with sweeping crypto proposals that could bring the biggest changes it has made to broker-dealer, exchange and trading compliance in decades, says Christopher Grobbel at Goodwin.

  • Monitor Exposure, Stay Flexible Amid Tariff Uncertainty

    Author Photo

    To navigate an unstable trade environment, businesses must evaluate their exposure to new tariffs invoked under a patchwork of statutory authorities and be prepared to adapt to further changes that may be on the horizon, says Bhargav Prajapati at Capital Trade.

  • CFPB Complaint Portal Overhaul Signals Changing Priorities

    Author Photo

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's updates to its consumer complaint portal and decision to cease publishing consumer complaint narratives should be viewed by companies as one component of a larger recalibration of how the CFPB collects information and allocates its supervisory and enforcement resources, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Opinion

    Correctional Healthcare Requires Clearer Legal Standards

    Author Photo

    As the correctional healthcare industry increasingly faces financial instability due to litigation, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons should develop clear standards for constitutionally adequate care for incarcerated patients, says Susanne Moore at Blackstone Trial Group.

  • 6 Risk Areas Future Fla. Stablecoin Issuers Should Plan For

    Author Photo

    Companies hoping to issue stablecoins under Florida’s new supervision regime should prioritize constructing robust risk management architecture across key areas before the Oct. 1 effective date so they can secure licenses, avoid a web of potential liabilities, and operate sustainably as state and federal regulations evolve, says Elizabeth Brusa at Shumaker.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.