Habeas Cases Flood Courts After Immigrant Detention Shift

By Jack Karp

Federal courts have been inundated with a flood of cases stemming from the Trump administration's revised approach to the detention of unauthorized immigrants, with judges routinely ruling against the government as immigration attorneys scramble to keep up.

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Pretti Killing Highlights Free Speech And Gun Rights Tension

By Marco Poggio

The killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and lawful gun owner, by federal immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis last month brought to the fore a long-standing tension between two constitutional rights that the U.S. Supreme Court has never resolved, legal experts say.

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Goldstein Knew What Was On His Returns, Accountant Claims

By Jared Foretek

The top outside accountant handling tax returns for SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein and his law firm said Tuesday that Goldstein wasn't forthcoming about his gambling records and that he firmly believed the former U.S. Supreme Court attorney knew what was in his allegedly false tax returns when they were filed.

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1st Circ. Mindful Of Justices In 3rd Country Removal Case

By Julie Manganis

A First Circuit panel suggested Tuesday that a U.S. Supreme Court emergency docket stay may constrain its review of a district judge's decision requiring due process for deportees facing removal to so-called third countries where they may face torture.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Yew Warns Of Deepfake Evidence

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

After decades on the bench of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, Judge Erica Yew began to regard the future of courtroom evidence with some trepidation, as the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence made it easier to falsify documents, photos and videos.

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Feds Fight Cyberstalking Atty's Bid For Pretrial Release

By Adrian Cruz

The U.S. government has asked a Texas federal judge to reject a bid for pretrial release from a currently detained attorney charged with cyberstalking other attorneys at BigLaw firms.

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Senate Confirms Picks For Texas, Ark. District Court Seats

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate confirmed two U.S. district court judges, for Texas and Arkansas, on Tuesday.

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Trump Signs Funding Bills, DHS Reform Still To Be Addressed

By Courtney Bublé

The House voted 217-214 on Tuesday to pass the five remaining spending bills for fiscal 2026 and a continuing resolution for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which kicks off a 10-day sprint for lawmakers to work on reforms to immigration enforcement before triggering another government shutdown.

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'Sham' System Denies Ark. Parolees Counsel, Suit Claims

By Parker Quinlan

The Arkansas Department of Corrections and its parole board have been hit with a proposed class action in federal court, claiming the state agencies have been refusing to provide a public defender during what the suit calls "sham" parole revocation hearings.

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3rd Circ. Says Contractor Payments Not Payroll Costs For PPP

By George Woolston

The Third Circuit sided with the Small Business Administration on Tuesday in the case of an IT company seeking full forgiveness of a $7.2 million Paycheck Protection Program loan, ruling that the SBA was within its rights to deny forgiveness because the company's payments to independent contractors did not count as "payroll costs."

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FCC Says 8th Circ. Media Ruling Clears Path For Deals

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission made it clear Tuesday that broadcasters have more leeway to own two leading stations in a local market following the Eighth Circuit's toss last year of the agency's long-standing bar on owning more than one major network affiliate in a single market.

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ShopRite Mogul Wants Name Cleared After Mayoral Bid Row

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Grocery store owner and former Philadelphia mayoral hopeful Jeff Brown told a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel Tuesday he was entitled to a "name-clearing hearing" to set the record straight about allegations by the city's Board of Ethics that he improperly coordinated with a political action committee supporting his candidacy.

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Analysis

OCC Urged To Scrap Escrow 'Giveaway' To Banks

By Jon Hill

Consumer advocates are urging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to abandon proposals they say would let national banks unfairly profit off homeowners' escrowed money, warning the plan unlawfully revives a rejected deregulatory playbook.

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OCC's Ex-Chief Of Enforcement Joins Morgan Lewis In DC

By Katryna Perera

A former acting director of enforcement at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has joined Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP's financial regulatory and enforcement litigation and investment management practices in Washington, D.C., marking his first move into private practice following an extensive career in public service.

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Trump Admin Can't Gut CFPB Off The Books, DC Circ. Told

By Sarah Jarvis

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's employee union has urged the full D.C. Circuit to uphold a lower court order blocking sweeping cuts at the agency, arguing the Trump administration's legal theory for lifting the order would allow officials to dismantle an agency so long as they don't "put it in writing."

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FERC Members Say High Court Helped Speed Up Gas Reviews

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision last year that curtailed federal environmental reviews has translated to faster Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals of gas infrastructure projects, commissioners told a congressional energy panel Tuesday.

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Feds Look To Trim Cross-Claims In Yellowstone Bison Suit

By Joyce Hanson

The Interior Department has asked a Montana federal judge to toss the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center's challenge to the government's bison population management plan in Yellowstone National Park, saying it does not have a legally protectable interest in the case.

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Trump's Iron Ore Pollution Exemption Is Unlawful, Enviros Say

By Tom Lotshaw

Environmental groups asked a D.C. federal judge to overturn a Trump administration decision to exempt low-grade iron ore processing facilities from new emission standards for mercury and acidic gases, alleging the president abused a provision in the Clean Air Act.

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Analysis

4 Things To Know As DOL Pitches Transparency For PBMs

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's proposal to require pharmacy benefit managers to give employer-provided health plans detailed information on fees and compensation is a welcome development, benefits attorneys on both sides of the bar say. Here, Law360 looks at four things to know about the proposed regulations.

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Analysis

Squires And Stewart's Patent Office, By The Numbers

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has seen sweeping changes under Director John Squires and Deputy Director Coke Morgan Stewart, ranging from pro-patent owner policies at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to employment shake-ups that have prompted departures from the agency.

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TikTok, Cellspin Duel On Effects Of Sale In Patent Challenge

By Adam Lidgett

TikTok has told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the sale of its majority stake in its U.S. operations to a new joint venture should eliminate a patent owner's argument that the app's alleged relationship with the Chinese Communist Party should tank its patent challenges.

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Brief

USPTO, With Squires' Signature, Seeks 'Board Of Peace' TMs

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has filed a pair of applications for trademarks covering President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, with Director John Squires listed as the attorney pursuing the marks. 

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5th Circ. Unsure Child Online Safety Law Tramples Speech

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Tuesday of a tech media trade group's stance that a Mississippi internet safety law is unconstitutional, suggesting that the challenged statute may not implicate speech. 

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Netflix, Warner Bros. CEOs Defend Merger Before Congress

By Courtney Bublé

In a congressional hearing Tuesday, the CEO of Netflix distanced himself from any notion President Donald Trump has undue influence in the review process of the streaming company's proposed $82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros., despite the president's assertion that he will be "involved" with the merger review.

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En Banc 5th Circ. Wipes Out Airline Fees Disclosure Rule

By Hailey Konnath

The full Fifth Circuit on Tuesday vacated a Biden-era rule requiring airlines to more clearly disclose add-on fees upfront, this time holding that the U.S. Department of Transportation's failure to properly consider public comments warrants doing away with the rule altogether.

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NY-NJ Commission Sues Over Frozen Hudson Tunnel Funding

By Linda Chiem

The bi-state commission overseeing the $16 billion rehabilitation of aging commuter train tunnels under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey has sued the Trump administration, alleging it's illegally withholding federal funds and jeopardizing the project, which is days away from having to shut down construction.

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House Dems Press Bessent About IRS Retirement Pay Delays

By Asha Glover

Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee demanded answers Tuesday about substantial delays in processing retirement applications for Internal Revenue Service employees who participated in the government's deferred resignation program.

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Guam Defends Bid To Appeal Loss Of Military Leave Suit

By Madeline Lyskawa

A retirement fund for Guam government employees fired back at the federal government's attempt to prevent it from appealing an order finding the fund and Guam liable for shortchanging pension contributions for employees who take paid leave while serving in the military. 

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DOJ, AGs Lodge Cross-Appeal Over Google Search Remedies

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice and state enforcers on Tuesday launched an appeal of a D.C. federal judge's scaled-back remedies in their case targeting Google's search monopoly, after the tech giant filed its own appeal to knock out the penalties.

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Online Betting Co. Beefs Up Penalties For Harassing Athletes

By David Steele

Online betting platform BetMGM will now suspend the accounts of users who harass or direct abuse toward an athlete, coach or other participant in a sporting event, potentially solving a problem leagues and players have tried to address recently.

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1st Circ. Pushes For Settlement In Mass. 'Right-To-Repair' Suit

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit suggested Tuesday that major automakers and the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office should work together to resolve a suit over compliance with a state law requiring open access to vehicle telematics systems.

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Wash. Justices To Review Restaurant's $1M COVID Penalty

By Rachel Riley

The Washington State Supreme Court has decided to take up a restaurant's appeal of nearly $1 million in fines that regulators imposed against the eatery for offering indoor dining services during the COVID-19 pandemic, in violation of the governor's emergency proclamation.

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NC County Faces Suit For Obstructing State Housing Benefit

By Abigail Harrison

A North Carolina county misapplied state law and violated the state's constitution in retroactively deeming adult care home residents ineligible for state benefits based on a county commissioner's former ownership of those homes, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in North Carolina federal court.

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Ex-Fed Adviser Acquitted Of Espionage Conspiracy Charge

By Lauren Berg

A Washington, D.C., federal jury Tuesday acquitted a former senior adviser to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors of conspiring to steal confidential data for Chinese intelligence.

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IRS Floats Clean Fuel Credit Rules With Foreign Restrictions

By Kat Lucero

The Internal Revenue Service released long-awaited proposed regulations Tuesday clarifying how domestic transportation fuel producers can qualify for the clean energy fuel tax credit under changes made by Republicans' 2025 budget law, including new foreign restrictions on business owners and feedstock sources.

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Kan. Bill Would Allow Liquor Tax Hike For Property Reduction

By Jaqueline McCool

Kansas would allow localities to increase their liquor tax rates if approved by voters in order to offset revenue losses from lowering property tax rates in the area under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.

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Kan. Bill Would Increase School Property Tax Exemption

By Jaqueline McCool

Kansas would increase its school property tax exemption for 2027 under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives. 

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Md. Lawmaker Pitches Urban Agriculture Property Tax Credit

By Sanjay Talwani

Maryland would allow more properties to qualify for local-option tax breaks for urban agriculture under legislation pitched to a state House of Delegates panel Tuesday.

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7th Circ. Probes Due Process For Ill. ICE Detainees

By Celeste Bott

A Seventh Circuit judge Tuesday asked the Trump administration to square its position that immigrants unlawfully in the United States have no due process rights with Supreme Court rulings that held otherwise, as the appellate court mulls the bid to block two orders addressing warrantless arrests of hundreds of immigrants.

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Dem Lawmakers Win Block On New ICE Detention Visit Policy

By Tom Lotshaw

A D.C. federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration policy that had required Congress members to provide a week's notice before making oversight visits to immigrant detention facilities, ruling the policy will likely be found unlawful.

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Trump Admin Sued Over 'Pay-To-Play' Gold Card Program

By Rae Ann Varona

Immigrants and an academic professionals union filed suit Tuesday to block President Donald Trump's "gold card" visa program, telling a D.C. federal court that the "pay-to-play" program unlawfully takes visas away from professionals the existing employment-based visa system prioritizes.

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Md. Judge Says Most Of ICE Church Raids Suit Can Proceed

By Tom Lotshaw

A Maryland federal judge on Tuesday largely rejected the Trump administration's push to escape a coalition of religious organizations' claims that it unlawfully enacted a policy to allow immigration enforcement at churches and other sites that had been largely off-limits.

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Tribes Accuse Coinbase Of Siphoning Ill. Gambling Revenue

By Joyce Hanson

The Indian Gaming Association, tribal gambling groups and 23 Native American tribes have urged an Illinois federal judge to toss cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase's suit against the state as it tries to prohibit the company from offering event contracts to consumers as a form of sports betting.

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Brief

Cruz Calls Hearing On FCC's 39% Media Ownership Cap

By Christopher Cole

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Tuesday the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a Feb. 10 hearing on media ownership rules, homing in on the Federal Communications Commission's limit on a single broadcaster reaching more than 39% of national audience share.

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Brief

FCC Hunting For New Cyber Trust Mark Administrator

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission will give companies more time to get their bids in to serve as the new administrator of the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark program, after the first one quit in December.

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Calif. Justices Rule Loose Pot Is Not 'Open Container'

By Mike Curley

The California Supreme Court has ruled that the mere presence of loose cannabis in a vehicle doesn't trigger the state's "open container" law, but instead it must be in a usable quantity and readily accessible to the driver to create probable cause that justifies a search.

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Md. Cannabis Licensure Unconstitutional, 4th Circ. Told

By Sam Reisman

A California cannabis entrepreneur has urged the Fourth Circuit to revive her constitutional challenge to Maryland's social equity marijuana licensure program, saying the U.S. Constitution's dormant commerce clause must apply to federally unlawful marijuana.

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Clark Hill Expands Energy, Lobbying Teams With Hinshaw Atty

By James Boyle

An attorney with more than 20 years of experience advising clients on energy litigation matters and policy has moved her practice to Clark Hill PLC's Washington, D.C., office after nearly three years with Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP.

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Can OCC State Banking Law Preemption Survive The Courts?

While two December proposals from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency seek to foreclose pending consumer litigation against national banks related to residential mortgage lending, it's unclear whether this aggressive approach will withstand judicial scrutiny under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 rulings in Cantero and Loper Bright, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

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4 Lessons From FTC's Successful Bid To Block Edwards Deal

The Federal Trade Commission's recent victory in blocking Edwards Lifesciences' acquisition of JenaValve offers key insights for deals in life sciences and beyond, including considerations around nonprice dimensions and clear skies provisions, say attorneys at Orrick.

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How Selig May Approach CFTC Agricultural Enforcement

As the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission begins a new chapter under recently confirmed Chairman Michael Selig's leadership, a look back at the agency's actions in agricultural markets over the past six years sheds light on what may lie ahead for enforcement in the area, say attorneys at Latham.

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Limiting Worker Surveillance Risks Amid AI Regulatory Shifts

With workplace surveillance tools becoming increasingly common and a recent executive order aiming to preempt state-level artificial intelligence enforcement, companies may feel encouraged to expand AI monitoring, but the legal exposure associated with these tools remains, say attorneys at MoFo.

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Opinion

Minn. Can Still Bring State Charges In Absence Of Fed Action

After two fatal shootings by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota's role isn't waiting to see if the federal government brings criminal charges, but independently weighing state homicide charges and allowing the judiciary to decide whether the subject conduct falls within the narrow protections of supremacy clause immunity, says Sheila Tendy at Tendy Law.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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Ex-Pentagon GC Joins Bradley Arant's National Security Team

By Jack Rodgers

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has hired the former legal adviser to the National Security Council, who is joining the team in Nashville, Tennessee and Washington, D.C., to work with the firm's Government Enforcement & Investigations and Defense & National Security teams, the firm announced Tuesday.

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Cooley, Ropes & Gray Transactional Attys Move To Latham

By Andrea Keckley

Latham & Watkins LLP announced Tuesday that it has hired two partners to help the firm meet evolving capital and growth demands — a Los Angeles-based emerging companies attorney from Cooley LLP and a New York-based capital markets attorney from Ropes & Gray LLP.

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Wachtel Missry Settles Liability In $26M Atty Malpractice Case

By Emily Sawicki

A dispute over who is liable for a former Wachtel Missry LLP partner's alleged exploitation of an elderly client has been settled on the eve of trial, while the Brooklyn federal judge declined to consider recusing himself despite "inadvertently" meeting with the firm's founding partner before the matter was fully put to rest.

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Fla. Judge Can't Nix Death Penalty Ethics Case, Panel Says

By Madison Arnold

A Florida judicial ethics panel has pushed back on an appellate judge's effort to dismiss ethics charges over her purported attempt to influence postconviction litigation in a death penalty case via text messages with a state attorney, rejecting her argument that the charges violate her First Amendment rights.

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Ex-DLA Piper Partner Aims To Toss Claim He Raped Associate

By Jack Karp

Allegations that an ex-DLA Piper partner raped a former Boston-based associate in Delaware in 2022 should be tossed since the Massachusetts state court the case was filed in has no jurisdiction over the Delaware claim, according to the accused former partner.

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Baker McKenzie To Downsize Business Professional Jobs

By Tracey Read

Baker McKenzie, which has a legal services hub in Tampa, Florida, is in the process of downsizing business professionals' jobs, a firm spokesperson confirmed to Law360 Pulse on Wednesday.

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Ex-Top Public Corruption Prosecutor Rejoins King & Spalding

By Alison Knezevich

The former chief public corruption prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice has returned to King & Spalding LLP, where he worked early in his career, the firm announced Wednesday.

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O'Melveny Supreme Court Ace Joins Hecker Fink

By James Mills

Litigation firm Hecker Fink LLP is expanding its appellate team, announcing Wednesday that an O'Melveny & Myers LLP Supreme Court expert is joining as of counsel.

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Trump Bid To Move NY Appeal Faces 'Fatal' Error, Judge Says

By Frank G. Runyeon

A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday repeatedly aired doubts that President Donald Trump can upend the pending New York state appeal of his hush-money conviction by moving the case to federal court.

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Ex-Fox News Host Decries Judge Pick's Arbitration Stance

By Courtney Buble

Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News anchor and a leading advocate for ending forced arbitration of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, has come out against a federal judicial nominee for Louisiana for her past comments on the issue.

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Analysis

Clemency Was 'Broken' Long Before Trump. Can It Be Fixed?

By Phillip Bantz

President Donald Trump has transformed what has historically been a bureaucratic process for seeking federal pardons and commutations into a more freewheeling affair with few clear rules — and no easy solutions for reform, experts say.

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Atty Nonprofit Claims Denver Police Withheld Discovery Info

By Zach Dupont

An attorney nonprofit organization claimed the Denver Police Department is not complying with Colorado open record laws, arguing in Colorado state court that the department denied a records request seeking information about discovery that wasn't shared with defendants in hundreds of criminal cases.

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DiCello Levitt Taps SEC Vets For Whistleblower Practice

By Emilie Ruscoe

DiCello Levitt has acquired a boutique practice that represents U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblowers, bringing on a pair of former SEC attorneys whose clients have helped the government secure more than $2 billion in monetary sanctions, according to the firm.

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