Public Policy

  • July 28, 2026

    Senate Confirms Jay Clayton As National Intelligence Chief

    The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, two weeks after Clayton, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, refused to answer who he thought won the 2020 election during his confirmation hearing.

  • July 28, 2026

    States Back Guam Group In High Court Disposal Permit Fight

    A coalition of states has told the U.S. Supreme Court that the U.S. Air Force must comply with separate, complementary environmental laws over its permit renewal application to detonate expired munitions in Guam, arguing the laws have distinct aims.

  • July 28, 2026

    Colo. Panel Questions If Concert Easement Appeal Is Moot

    A Colorado Court of Appeals panel Tuesday largely sidestepped the underlying statutory questions in a mountain town's appeal over the dismissal of its case seeking condemnation of an easement over a concert series, instead pondering why they were being asked to rule on the appeal at all.

  • July 28, 2026

    Musk's XAI Wants Minn. Ban On Image 'Nudification' Blocked

    Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI asked a federal court to shut down Minnesota's ban on image "nudification" technology, claiming the new law is an "overbroad, content-based ban on free speech" that runs afoul of the First Amendment.

  • July 28, 2026

    DC Sues Trump Administration Over HUD's Move To Virginia

    Washington, D.C., argued in a federal lawsuit Monday that the Trump administration's plan to move the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's offices to Virginia is illegal, citing congressional direction and a 1790 law.

  • July 28, 2026

    Calif. Warns SEC Against Preempting State REIT Registration

    California is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission not to adopt a proposal that could free certain real estate investment trusts and business development companies from registering with the states, saying it could leave retirees and the elderly vulnerable to fraud.

  • July 28, 2026

    Judge Bars Suit Over Alaska's Approved Land Transfers

    A federal judge refused to stop the transfer of nearly 1.4 million acres of federal public lands to Alaska, ruling the state is immune to the bulk of a lawsuit seeking to restore environmental protections and prevent future mining and natural gas development.

  • July 28, 2026

    DC Circ. Backs EPA's Pollution Review Regulation Process

    A D.C. Circuit panel sided with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its fight with environmental groups challenging rules for determining whether modifications to major pollution sources trigger new review, holding Tuesday the rule is neither inconsistent with the Clean Air Act nor arbitrary and capricious.

  • July 28, 2026

    Judge Pares Suit Challenging Empire Wind Project

    A D.C. federal judge has trimmed a lawsuit contesting federal approvals for a wind farm off the New York and New Jersey coasts while preserving claims that the government wrongly allowed the project to harm migratory bottlenose dolphin populations.

  • July 28, 2026

    Cannabis User Urges 8th Circ. To Rehear Gun Case

    A man convicted of possessing a pistol while using marijuana is urging the Eighth Circuit to rehear his case, arguing that its prior decision to uphold his guilt conflicts with the appeals court's prior ruling requiring the government to prove that a person's drug use caused their dangerous behavior.

  • July 28, 2026

    Senators Urge CFTC Rule Slowdown Over Tribal Concerns

    Leaders of the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee are urging the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to extend the public comment deadline for its proposed rule that could govern the way the agency oversees prediction markets, saying it's critical that Indigenous nations have time to evaluate its effects.

  • July 28, 2026

    Flawed NLRB Protections Can't Stop Case, Texas Judge Says

    National Labor Relations Board members' and judges' job protections are unconstitutional, but these flaws don't block the agency from prosecuting labor violations, a Texas federal judge said in a decision splitting with a recent ruling from a different district.

  • July 28, 2026

    Contempt Bid Denied In Guatemalan Kids Removal Order Case

    A D.C. federal judge rejected a bid to hold immigration officials in contempt for allegedly violating a court order prohibiting the removal of unaccompanied Guatemalan children, finding no evidence of any of the children actually being deported.

  • July 28, 2026

    8th Circ. Keeps Some Claims Alive In Jail Macing Suit

    The Eighth Circuit has partially revived a lawsuit brought by four incarcerated people in a St. Louis jail, finding that guards at the facility should not be granted complete qualified immunity from claims that they used excessive force.

  • July 28, 2026

    Trade Court OKs Canadian Lumber Duties Recalculation

    The U.S. Department of Commerce appropriately applied a new price differential test to calculate slight alterations of antidumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber exporters, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled.

  • July 28, 2026

    Judge Mulls Pausing Medicaid Work Rule For 'Frail' Recipients

    A Massachusetts federal judge said Tuesday he anticipates deciding by the end of the week whether the Trump administration will have to pause part of a new rule states must follow in determining whether medically frail Medicaid recipients are exempt from new work or school requirements.

  • July 28, 2026

    Calif. Judge Won't Toss Challenge To Homeless Camp Sweeps

    A California federal judge partially tossed a proposed class action challenging homeless camp sweeps conducted by California's Department of Transportation and local police working for San Diego County, the city of Santee and the city of Lakeside, but allowed many of the claims to proceed.

  • July 28, 2026

    Humanoids, Other Robotics Added To FCC's Nat'l Security List

    The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday that humanoids and other advanced robotics newly produced in foreign countries will be included on the "covered list" of products restricted from U.S. importation and marketing.

  • July 28, 2026

    Pa. Panel Narrows Test For Tax Exemption On Charities' Land

    A Pennsylvania appeals court panel held Tuesday that the Salvation Army was wrongly denied a real estate tax exemption for an outdoor retreat by the organization, saying that the entire property was operated in keeping with the group's charitable mission.

  • July 28, 2026

    ICE Facility's Appointed Monitor Reports Medical Neglect

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is failing to comply with a California federal judge's preliminary injunction order requiring it to provide an adequate healthcare system at a detention center in the western Mojave Desert, according to a report from a court-appointed monitor.

  • July 28, 2026

    Connecticut's ICE Arrest 'Obstacles' Can't Stand, Feds Say

    A Connecticut state law and a local executive order that limit cooperation with immigration authorities are preempted by acts of Congress and must be struck down, the U.S. government told a federal court.

  • July 28, 2026

    Ga. Justice Hopefuls Say Watchdog Violates Their Free Speech

    Two unsuccessful candidates for seats on the Georgia Supreme Court are urging a Georgia federal court to keep their suit alive, arguing that the state's judicial watchdog violated their freedom of speech when it publicly accused them of violating ethics rules days before the May election.

  • July 28, 2026

    Ex-FCC Officials Call Agency's ABC Station Probe 'Retaliatory'

    Several former top officials at the Federal Communications Commission called on FCC Chair Brendan Carr on Tuesday to abandon an early review of eight Disney-owned ABC stations' licenses, calling the action a "grave violation" of federal law and free speech protections.

  • July 28, 2026

    High Court Asked To Take Another Settled Expectations Case

    E-learning company Kahoot Inc. is pushing the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its challenge to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's practice of using settled expectations as a reason to deny patent reviews, marking the second petition before the high court on the issue.

  • July 28, 2026

    Texas Panel Says Sysco Can't Arbitrate Driver Injury Claim

    A Texas appeals court on Tuesday found that Sysco USA I Inc. cannot compel arbitration in a delivery driver's injury suit, as the driver is exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act as a transportation worker.

Expert Analysis

  • Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

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    As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

  • Md. Ruling Reflects Classic Administrative Law Principle

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    A Maryland federal court's recent decision in Columbus v. Kennedy significantly limits how far the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services can go in reshaping the Affordable Care Act through regulation, highlighting a principle that will likely be applied in similar Administrative Procedure Act challenges, says Michael King at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • DOJ China Container Indictments Signal Global Cartel Risk

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent announcement that it had indicted Chinese manufacturers for conspiring to drive up the price of shipping containers sold in the U.S. illustrates the Antitrust Division's interest in pursuing overseas cartel conduct, especially in China, signaling that multinational companies with employees abroad should strengthen antitrust compliance to avoid running afoul of U.S. national security policy, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • More Cos. Will Copy SpaceX's Shareholder Proposal Opt-Out

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    For more than 80 years, the shareholder proposal looked like a federal right guaranteed to all public company investors, but after SpaceX opted out before its recent initial public offering, other companies are likely to follow, says Mohsen Manesh at the University of Oregon School of Law.

  • How DOJ Is Approaching Monitorship After Signaling Limits

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    As the U.S. Department of Justice keeps more monitors in place than expected, a look at the matters in which prosecutors are maintaining oversight reveals the sort of companies enforcers might trust to self-remediate, and also those that may receive independent supervision, say attorneys at Kendall Brill.

  • Opinion

    DHS' World Cup Influencer Warning Overreads Visa Law

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    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s reported position that foreign influencers covering the 2026 World Cup need work visas if their content is monetized runs contrary to both legislative intent and long-standing precedent that structure the visa inquiry around labor market substitution, says Jun Li at Reid & Wise.

  • 3 Steps For Banks As Section 1071 Rule Finally Becomes Final

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    Some community banks and other lenders will get some breathing room in the final Section 1071 rule exempting them from small business lending reporting duties, but other reporting institutions should update applications, systems and staff training ahead of the 2028 compliance date, says Memrie Fortenberry at Jones Walker.

  • Why DOE Isn't Phasing Out Appliance Efficiency Regs

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    While the U.S. Department of Energy recently acted on President Donald Trump's 2025 executive order requiring it to consider sunsetting many energy regulations, the DOE has not proposed phasing out efficiency standards for appliances and industrial equipment — but it could pursue other approaches to ease such requirements, say attorneys at HWG.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

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    Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five recent rulings from cases involving allegations of internet data misuse, consumer fraud claims, immigration, insurance and First Amendment violation claims.

  • Justices' FCC Fine Ruling May Weaken Agency Leverage

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T upheld the commission's forfeiture framework as consistent with Jarkesy, but it is also likely to reduce the effectiveness of the commission’s forfeiture proceedings as a collection and deterrence tool, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Takeaways From 1st Del. Ruling Applying Moelis Amendments

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    Delaware corporations should carefully review contractual arrangements and governance documents following the Court of Chancery's recent enforcement of a non-Delaware forum selection clause in a CEO's employment agreement under 2024 amendments to the state's General Corporation Law, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

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    An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

  • Google Antitrust Case Puts Spotlight On De Facto Exclusivity

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    Mozilla's recent amicus filing in U.S. v. Google arguing that its agreement to make Google the default search engine did not amount to de facto exclusivity highlights the growing debate over traditional indicators of exclusivity, with implications for any business that uses rebates, preferred contracts or volume incentives, says Chris Gowen at WilmU Farnan School of Law.

  • Justices' Montgomery Ruling Doesn't Expand Shipper Liability

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    Whether negligent hiring liability claims against shippers will increase after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II is anyone's guess, but the ruling itself will have no impact on shippers' actual liability in personal injury claims relating to trucking accidents, says Ronald Leibman at McCarter & English.

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