Analysis

Immigration Policy Marked By Uncertainty So Far In 2026

By Britain Eakin

Immigration policy in the first half of 2026 was confusing and unpredictable as attorneys navigated sudden and drastic policy shifts, including a requirement for green card hopefuls to apply from abroad and a freeze on immigration benefits for people from countries under a travel ban.

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Immigrant Groups Seek Block On TPS Work Permit Curbs

By Tom Lotshaw

Immigrant advocacy groups are asking a Massachusetts federal court to temporarily block a series of allegedly unlawful Trump administration policies that threaten to hinder the ability of thousands of temporary protected status holders and asylum-seekers to work and remain in the U.S.

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2nd Circ. Backs Judge's Immigration Cooperation Condition

By Tom Lotshaw

A Second Circuit panel on Tuesday said a New York federal judge reasonably imposed a supervised release condition that would require a Salvadoran citizen sentenced to prison in connection with an MS-13 gang shooting to cooperate with immigration authorities.

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US Illegally Sharing Asylum Seekers' Info With Iran, Suit Says

By Rae Ann Varona

The Trump administration is giving the Iranian government the confidential information of Iranians seeking asylum in the United States, ignoring risks to the asylum-seekers' safety, a legal advocacy group alleges in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in D.C. federal court.

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NC Gov. Signs Delayed Budget Gutting Civil Legal Aid Grants

By Hayley Fowler

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Tuesday signed into law the state's long-overdue budget, which includes a provision that largely strips funding for civil legal aid services provided by the state's Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts program.

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Connecticut And New Haven Deny Interfering With ICE Agents

By George Woolston

Connecticut and the city of New Haven said a suit from the federal government challenging policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement should be tossed, arguing that the policies do not interfere with or prevent federal immigration officers from carrying out their duties.

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5th Circ. Says Gov't May Be Liable For Steward's Truck Hit

By Braden Campbell

A Fifth Circuit panel said Tuesday that the government may owe damages to a woman a Customs and Border Protection agent and union officer struck with his truck, reversing a ruling that he was on an errand outside the scope of his work.

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7th Circ. Rejects Internet Scammer's Phone Search Appeal

By Lauraann Wood

Federal border agents did not need a warrant or probable cause before manually searching a fraudster's cellphone for evidence upon his return flight to the United States, the Seventh Circuit said Monday, keeping the evidence a part of his case.

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DHS Says Warrantless Entry Challengers Lack Injury

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security hit back at a lawsuit from three immigrant advocacy groups challenging a policy memo authorizing ICE officers to enter private homes without a judicial warrant, saying the groups have not been personally harmed.

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Justices Stand On Statutory Specifics In Cisco And Landor

With its June 23 decisions in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe and Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, the U.S. Supreme Court doubled down on the critical point that the statute invoked in a federal claim must authorize a private lawsuit and the remedy sought, says Patrick Judd at Phelps Dunbar.

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Mitigating Employer Risk In Immigration Compliance Visits

As Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate site visits become an increasingly important tool to verify that the details in employment-based immigration petitions match the reality of the workplace, employers can reduce their risk by treating preparedness as part of their immigration compliance program, says Morgan Bailey at Mayer Brown.

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Ohio Fuels Litigation Funding Debate As Foreign Ban Is Enacted

By Ryan Boysen

Ohio has enacted a sweeping law that bans all foreign litigation funders from doing business in the Buckeye State, drawing praise from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and outrage from the litigation finance industry.

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ABA Seeks Trump Docs In Suit Alleging Law Firm Intimidation

By Emily Sawicki

The Trump administration cannot rely on the presidential communications privilege to block disclosure of communications related to allegations that the president sought to intimidate BigLaw firms into conforming with his policy initiatives, the American Bar Association told a D.C. federal judge.

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Trump's SDNY Pick Steps In As Clayton Focuses On DC

By Pete Brush

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's pick to succeed him, James McDonald, will assume a leadership role as Clayton works on his own nomination for director of national intelligence in Washington.

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Judge Says Warning 'Sufficient Deterrent,' Nixing AI Sanctions

By Emily Sawicki

A Kentucky federal judge has declined to sanction two attorneys who filed a brief that included errors generated by artificial intelligence amid a fraud case against a notary public, finding the lawyers had no history of misconduct and had shown sufficient remorse.

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Wis. Judge Avoids Prison Time In ICE Obstruction Sentence

By Nate Beck

A former Wisconsin state judge on Wednesday was fined $5,000 but will not serve prison time for obstructing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest of a defendant in her courtroom by directing him down a private hallway away from agents before he was later captured.

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Del. Judge Recuses Herself From Apollo $570M Payout Suit

By Katryna Perera

The Delaware vice chancellor presiding over litigation regarding a $570 million payout to Apollo Global Management Inc. insiders has disqualified herself from the case after a possible conflict of interest arose due to her former role as an attorney with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, which was involved in a merger with ties to the payout.

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Ga. Judge Rejects UPS Plaintiff's Bid To Force Recusal

By Madison Arnold

A Georgia federal judge reportedly disciplined for having sexual intercourse in her chambers and attending a political event has opted not to recuse herself in the case of a former UPS employee in his dismissed racial discrimination lawsuit.

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McCarter Trial Judge Has 'Serious Doubts' About NY Expert

By Brian Steele

The Hartford judge presiding over a $22.5 million lawsuit against McCarter & English LLP and a former partner said Wednesday he had "serious doubts" about allowing testimony from a defense expert, but let him proceed as long as he did not claim to interpret New York law.

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Morgan & Morgan Malpractice Fight Won't Get Another Review

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals has rejected Morgan & Morgan PA's bid to challenge a trial court ruling denying the firm's summary judgment motion in a legal malpractice case brought against it by clients seeking representation in a personal injury action.

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Day Pitney Can't Be Cut Off From New Counsel, Client Says

By Aaron Keller

A former Connecticut chief justice's ethics gaffe cannot preclude fellow lawyers at Day Pitney LLP from communicating with new counsel for John B. Clinton, a private equity management firm owner locked in a 13-year-old, $1.3 million corporate windup lawsuit, Clinton has urged a Connecticut state court judge to conclude.

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