Public Policy

  • October 20, 2026

    Judge Rejects DOJ Bid To End NAACP Suit Over XAI Pollution

    The Trump administration can intervene in a NAACP citizen suit alleging X.AI Corp. unlawfully installed dozens of polluting gas turbines to power a data center, but cannot unilaterally dismiss the suit as it claimed, a Mississippi federal judge has ruled.

  • October 20, 2026

    REIT Says Narcan Dispenser Spiked Crime Near Apartments

    A real estate investment trust sued a Boston suburb Tuesday, blaming drug activity near its 146-unit apartment building on a public health initiative to provide a vending machine nearby for the overdose treatment Narcan. 

  • October 20, 2026

    Conn. High Court Snapshot: Justices May Refine Anti-SLAPP

    The Connecticut Supreme Court will hear cases in its new term that could change the procedure for winning a strategic lawsuit against public participation and clarify what it means to be "in custody" for the purposes of habeas jurisdiction.

  • October 20, 2026

    FCC Making 'Zero' Plans To Ease Political Robocall Rules

    The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday it does not intend to float changes to its anti-robocall rules to allow AI-generated political calls to consumers ahead of the midterm elections after a conservative group made the proposal in August.

  • October 20, 2026

    Samoan Groups Challenge Planned Deep-Sea Mining Leases

    A Samoan council of chiefs and leaders from American Samoa's Manu'a Islands and two community groups are asking a Hawaiian federal court to block a plan to sell leases that will allow deep-sea mining of more than 31 million acres of seabed off the coast of American Samoa.

  • October 20, 2026

    Google Makes Last DC Circ. Push Against DOJ's Search Win

    Google took one final swing Monday at upending a D.C. federal judge's rulings faulting it for monopolizing online search and forcing it to prop up search engine rivals with data and syndicated results, telling the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Department of Justice's case targets earned market dominance.

  • October 20, 2026

    Sinclair Says 5G Broadcast Bid Rests On 'Speculation'

    TV station chain Sinclair Inc. has opposed a petition before the Federal Communications Commission that would allow low-power TV stations to use the emerging 5G Broadcast standard, saying petitioners haven't provided evidence that would help the agency evaluate the technology's risk of potential interference. 

  • October 20, 2026

    Fla. Judge Recuses Self In GOP's Suit Over Dems' Attack Ad

    A Florida state judge on Tuesday recused herself in a lawsuit brought by the Republican Party of Florida, which is trying to stop its Democratic counterpart and others from running a television political attack ad telling viewers that grand jurors determined state officials had misappropriated $10 million.

  • October 20, 2026

    New Rule On Invoking Defendant's Past Convictions Hits Snag

    A yearslong effort to make it harder for prosecutors to invoke a criminal defendant's past convictions appeared to be gaining traction — until the senior executive arm of the Judicial Conference recently intervened and the U.S. Department of Justice abruptly withdrew its support for the proposal.

  • October 20, 2026

    EU Lawmakers Seek Stronger Coordination Against VAT Fraud

    The European Parliament wants the European Union to step up coordination against value-added tax carousel fraud, including with binding information-sharing protocols, automatic interagency referrals and making more fraud cases count as EU criminal matters, according to a nonbinding resolution adopted Tuesday.

  • October 20, 2026

    LA Tells 9th Circ. DOJ Pot Shift Can't Revive License Appeal

    The city of Los Angeles is urging the Ninth Circuit to throw out a challenge to its social equity cannabis licensure program, saying the Constitution's dormant commerce clause doesn't apply to marijuana regardless of recent changes to federal cannabis policy.

  • October 20, 2026

    Split DC Circ. Revives Faith Groups' Challenge To ICE Raids

    A split D.C. Circuit panel ruled Tuesday that a collection of faith groups likely have standing to challenge the Trump administration's rescission of a decades-old policy shielding houses of worship from immigration raids, holding that the congregations face a "credible threat" of enforcement, enough to be heard in court.

  • October 20, 2026

    Ore. Dept.'s Discovery Request Denied By Tax Court

    The Oregon Department of Revenue has not adequately explained the relevance of its discovery request for a couple's financial records in a dispute over expenses reported on their income tax return, the state tax court said.

  • October 20, 2026

    Calif. Eyes Updating Pregnancy Leave, Workplace Protections

    Pregnant workers in California could gain expanded protections for taking leave and receiving workplace accommodations, including remote work, under proposed regulations announced by the state's Civil Rights Council.

  • October 20, 2026

    Rural Telecom Providers Worried Over IP Transition Costs

    Carriers serving rural areas told the Federal Communications Commission they support the changeover to all-internet phone systems but cannot disproportionately bear the cost burden while larger carriers reap the benefits.

  • October 20, 2026

    Albertsons Says It Offered $800M To Save Kroger Deal

    Albertsons Cos. Inc.'s general counsel testified Tuesday that The Kroger Co. passed on proposed store divestitures that could have helped save their $24.6 billion merger, while Kroger's lawyers pointed to information shared with Albertsons and challenged its complaints about the process.

  • October 20, 2026

    Mass. High Court Backs Ban On Under-21s Carrying Guns

    Massachusetts' highest court on Tuesday upheld a law prohibiting anyone under 21 from possessing guns, finding the restrictions are consistent with historical regulations on youth and firearms.

  • October 20, 2026

    Retired Judges Say DOJ's Ethics Complaint Is Meritless

    A coalition of 61 retired federal judges has admonished the U.S. Department of Justice for filing a complaint against federal judges in Minnesota for speaking to a newspaper about the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in their state.

  • October 20, 2026

    NY Plans To Let Schools Set Native Mascot Apparel Rules

    The New York State Board of Regents has put forth a recommendation to drop part of the state's ban on the use of Native American imagery in public schools, after a Second Circuit order vacated and remanded the dismissal of a Long Island school board member's First Amendment challenge.

  • October 20, 2026

    Ore. Court Says No Excuse For Taxpayer To Miss Deadline

    An Oregon property owner failed to challenge an assessment at a local board before seeking judicial relief, the state tax court said, rejecting his arguments that he was busy with the property's rehabilitation and working with the local assessor for a resolution.

  • October 20, 2026

    Ohio Justices Say Moratorium Ends Data Center Site Plan

    The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously rejected a data center developer's call to force Lordstown, Ohio, to consider a plan for a project submitted days before the village council enacted a ban on the construction of any new data centers.

  • October 20, 2026

    FCC Urged To Maintain Radio Station Ownership Caps

    Two organizations representing musical artists have asked the Federal Communications Commission to keep media ownership limits on radio station groups in place.

  • October 19, 2026

    Colorado Official Says Rule Can't Sink Graduated Tax Measure

    A battle over a Colorado ballot initiative to raise taxes on the state's wealthiest residents underwent a 10-hour evidentiary hearing Monday, featuring testimony from a state official who told the court that rules around ballot initiatives don't allow for signatures to be invalidated.

  • October 19, 2026

    Trump Fights Jack Smith Subpoena In $10B BBC Suit

    President Donald Trump on Monday slammed the British Broadcasting Corp.'s subpoena to Jack Smith, who brought election interference and classified document-hoarding charges against the president, saying the former special counsel's testimony is "entirely irrelevant" to the $10 billion defamation lawsuit over the broadcaster's documentary on the 2021 U.S. Capital attack.

  • October 19, 2026

    Rogoff Tells 9th Circ. Firing Furthers 'Evil' Framers Opposed

    Roger Rogoff urged the Ninth Circuit to affirm a lower judge's order reinstating him as Seattle's top federal prosecutor, asserting in a filing Friday that he's entitled to keep the court-appointed U.S. attorney position until President Donald Trump fills the role with a Senate-confirmed nominee.

Expert Analysis

  • $95M Nev. Case Provides Clues On Wound Care Enforcement

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    Federal prosecutors’ recent U.S. v. Dubin indictment, charging a Nevada physician with healthcare fraud over an alleged $95 million Medicare billing scheme involving amniotic wound allografts, provides a clearer picture of an increasingly data-driven enforcement strategy that follows the entire wound care transaction, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

  • DOJ Fraud Memo Highlights Trade Enforcement Playbook

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    A recent U.S. Department of Justice memo that outlines the Fraud Enforcement Division's priorities demonstrates that customs and trade fraud enforcement has entered a new and far more aggressive phase, with recent cases highlighting how the False Claims act is driving the new push, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • HPE-Juniper Settlement Teaches Key Tunney Act Lessons

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    A California federal court's recent approval of the U.S. Department of Justice's settlement with Hewlett Packard over its Juniper Networks acquisition offers legal practitioners some crucial lessons, including on unique tech-sector remedies for mergers and acquisitions and the continued viability of the Tunney Act, says Shubha Ghosh at Syracuse University College of Law.

  • What Opt-In Framework Means For Novel Space Activities

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    The U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Space Commerce is advancing a voluntary certification framework for commercial space activities not covered by existing licenses — but it's unclear whether this approach becomes a durable mission authorization regime, and separate legal permissions from agencies may still be necessary, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Negotiating The Scope Of The Stablecoin Customer ID Rule

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    Though comments on bank regulators’ proposed rule for stablecoin issuers under the Genius Act generally agree that oversight would help prevent illicit activity, agencies must reconcile disagreement over whether to extend customer identification requirements from issuers' primary-market relationships to secondary-markets activity, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How To Improve Hiring Transparency Amid Ghost Job Scrutiny

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    Recent regulatory and state law scrutiny of ghost job postings for roles that don't exist or aren't being filled signals a shift toward hiring transparency, and employers that fail to adapt risk enforcement actions, consumer protection claims and financial penalties, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • FTC Push May Create Dual Origin-Claim Risks For Contractors

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    Recent Federal Trade Commission actions involving Made in USA advertising requirements offer a preview of enforcement themes that may impose dual compliance burdens on government contractors that are also subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation Buy American restrictions, says Amy Hoang at Seyfarth.

  • Series

    Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

  • FCC Robotics Restrictions Raise AI Compliance Risks

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    A recent "covered list" update from the Federal Communications Commission places restrictions on foreign-produced advanced robotic devices’ ability to obtain new authorizations, creating a framework that is poorly suited to continuous artificial intelligence updates, and raising several transactional and contractual challenges, says Kim Larsen at Stinson.

  • Navigating Employer Obligations Under NY Personnel File Law

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    In light of a New York law that will soon give private sector employees the right to review and comment on their personnel files, employers should understand where their exposure lies and be mindful of where records are stored, and for how long, among other things, says attorney Jason Tenenbaum.

  • Banks Should Stay Disciplined As OCC, FDIC Ease Oversight

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    Despite a newly issued Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rule that narrows the range of conduct that regulators may require institutions to remediate, prudent risk management suggests banks should still document how they arrive at their risk determinations, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Tracking Trends In State-Level Regulatory Enforcement

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    State-level enforcement now increasingly involves antitrust, artificial intelligence and data privacy issues, and the key for organizations to reducing risk is having the ability to respond across governance, public affairs, discovery and remediation in multiple states simultaneously, say consultants at FTI Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Time Is Right To Simplify Overlapping Broker-Dealer Regs

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has made an important start to simplifying its rules, legislators should follow and expand on the commission's example by reexamining and removing the unnecessary overlap between SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and state broker-dealer regulations, says Howard Spindel at Integrated Solutions.

  • What Cos. Must Know As Fast Energy Permitting Gains Steam

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    A recently approved geothermal project in Nevada may be the first authorized by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management under a new 14-day expedited environmental review process — but project developers may find that a more thorough environmental analysis will provide better protection against litigation challenges, says Jill Yung at Allen Matkins.

  • Opinion

    Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

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    California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

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