Public Policy

  • July 30, 2026

    11th Circ. Revives Nonprofit's Bias Suit Over COVID Grants

    The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday revived part of a Florida nonprofit's suit challenging the denial of two COVID-19 relief grants, finding that the group had sufficiently alleged it was discriminated against because of racial bias and its association with a pan-African movement.

  • July 30, 2026

    Wash. Justices Say University Owed Duty In Hazing Death Suit

    The Washington State Supreme Court said in a 5-4 ruling Thursday that Washington State University had a duty to protect a student who died of alcohol poisoning following a hazing ritual at an off-campus party, including by taking steps to ensure fraternities were following rules against alcohol misuse and hazing.

  • July 30, 2026

    Polymarket Says Hidden Sports Bets Suit Must Be Arbitrated

    Polymarket is urging a New York federal court to send to arbitration users' claims that the prediction market company disguises its sports gambling offers as sports event contracts to get around regulations, arguing that its terms of use include an arbitration provision.

  • July 30, 2026

    4th Circ. Urged To Keep Trump Trans Health Orders Blocked

    A group of transgender individuals and advocacy groups urged the Fourth Circuit to uphold a nationwide injunction they won against Trump administration executive orders banning federal funding of gender-affirming care for individuals under the age of 19.

  • July 30, 2026

    Squires Erases PTAB Ax Of Dermatology IP Upheld At ITC

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has thrown out the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Biofrontera Inc. had shown that all the challenged claims of a Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. patent on a photodynamic dermatology device are invalid as obvious.

  • July 30, 2026

    Judiciary's Bid To Control Courthouses Gets Senate Push

    A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill on Thursday that would create a pilot program for the federal judiciary to obtain direct authority to maintain its buildings, which the judiciary says is desperately needed.

  • July 30, 2026

    Ease Broadband Buildout To Fuel AI Boom, Lawmakers Urged

    Lawmakers must put an end to delays in broadband deployment and renew a federal cybersecurity statute if they hope to feed the artificial intelligence boom while curtailing safety concerns, U.S. senators heard Thursday.

  • July 30, 2026

    8th Circ. Revives Iowa Vape Restrictions Law

    Iowa can start enforcing a state law that restricts the sale of some e-cigarettes, after the Eighth Circuit on Thursday determined that the policy was not preempted by federal tobacco law and overturned a lower court's ruling that blocked officials from implementing it.

  • July 30, 2026

    Resolution Copper Creates $54M Trust For Ariz., NM Tribes

    Resolution Copper Co. said it established a $54 million trust that will provide annual funding to 11 Indigenous nations that have cultural and ancestral ties to a sacred Arizona worship site that's facing destruction to make way for a multibillion-dollar mining operation.

  • July 30, 2026

    Renters Seek $120M Fee Award In RealPage Rent-Fixing MDL

    Renters in sprawling multidistrict litigation that reached nearly $360 million in preliminary settlements with building owners over their alleged use of RealPage's software to inflate rents asked a Tennessee federal judge to approve $119.9 million in attorney fees, saying they've expended over 100,000 hours on the case.

  • July 30, 2026

    OCC, FDIC Say Ore. Opt-Out Law Threatens Interstate Lending

    Top federal banking regulators have lined up behind the banking industry in a challenge to a new Oregon law aimed at capping interest rates on loans from out-of-state banks, warning in federal court filings that it threatens "confusion" and disruption for interstate lending.

  • July 30, 2026

    DOJ Wants Rethink On Apple's Peek Into Feds' Phone-Buying

    The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a special master to rethink his New Jersey federal court mandate giving Apple a look into how the Pentagon, CIA, State Department and other federal agencies purchase smartphones, arguing that the retired federal judge applied the wrong legal standard in the antitrust case.

  • July 30, 2026

    Conn. Bans Most In-Cell Restraints To Settle Prison Lawsuit

    Connecticut's prisons on Sept. 1 will stop using separate restraints on inmates locked in holding cells, the state's corrections commissioner announced Thursday, settling a lawsuit by disability rights advocates who said the state was inappropriately using shackles to deal with mental illness symptoms.

  • July 30, 2026

    Judge Questions TPS Work Permit Rule's Scope

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday questioned whether the Trump administration was in bounds in enforcing a retroactive cap on work authorization that may impact thousands of immigrant workers, suggesting during a hearing that the directive may have been imposed without adequate notice.

  • July 30, 2026

    FCC Official Calls E-Rate Review 'Long Overdue'

    A top official at the Federal Communications Commission said the agency's review of the E-Rate fund for schools and libraries will be a much-needed reexamination of a 30-year-old telecom program.

  • July 30, 2026

    OECD To Publish Comments On Services Draft In August

    The OECD plans to publish at the end of August the comments it received on draft revisions to transfer pricing guidelines dealing with intragroup services, an official said at a conference Thursday.

  • July 30, 2026

    CH Robinson's $604M Verdict Tests Freight Broker Defenses

    A Dallas County jury's $604 million verdict against C.H. Robinson over a fatal 2021 accident marks one of the first major tests of freight brokers' legal strategies since the U.S. Supreme Court reshaped their liability exposure, creating monumental stakes for the trucking industry's middlemen on how to navigate unpredictable duty-of-care standards and volatile verdicts.

  • July 30, 2026

    The Top Property Insurance Rulings Of The First Half Of 2026

    A California ruling boosting policyholders' prospects in water leak suits and a Texas Supreme Court decision compelling appraisal in a commercial property loss are among the biggest property insurance decisions of the year so far. Law360 has a midyear look at the top property insurance decisions.

  • July 30, 2026

    Colo. Recycling Law Unconstitutional, Trade Association Says

    A national trade association representing wholesale distributors sued Colorado's top environmental regulator Thursday to block enforcement of the state's extended producer responsibility recycling law, arguing the program unconstitutionally delegates regulatory power to a private organization controlled by the state's largest corporations.

  • July 30, 2026

    Squires Grants 6 Patent Petitions, Denies 4 In New Order

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has granted six requests for America Invents Act patent reviews and rejected four in his latest batch of decisions.

  • July 30, 2026

    FAA Proposes Waiving Regs To Get Faster Space Approvals

    The Trump administration said it's proposing a rule to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to waive "unnecessary environmental laws and regulations" for commercial space licenses and permits in a push to accelerate a critical industry.

  • July 30, 2026

    Europe Soccer Group To Boycott FIFA Over Investor Sale Plan

    The soccer federation representing 55 European countries announced Thursday that it will boycott World Cup competition in protest of FIFA's plan to sell billions of dollars in shares of the sport's premier international tournament to private investors.

  • July 30, 2026

    DOJ Debuts Terrorist Removal Court In Afghan Mother's Case

    An Afghan national with legal permanent resident status was accused of plotting an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on Election Day in 2024 in the first ever hearing Thursday morning at U.S. Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a court that has been unused since it was created in 1996.

  • July 30, 2026

    Trump May Renominate Blanche If GOP Holdouts Block Vote

    With Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., still on the fence about acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation to be attorney general, President Donald Trump said Thursday he might renominate Blanche next year when the two senators are no longer serving in the Senate.

  • July 30, 2026

    Army Asks 4th Circ. To Rethink Boarding School Burial Ruling

    The U.S. Army wants the Fourth Circuit to rethink a decision that says it must return the remains of two Indigenous children from a former Indian boarding school cemetery to a Nebraska tribe, arguing that if not reversed, it will cause confusion, likely spur more litigation and slow repatriation.

Expert Analysis

  • How Justices' TPS Ruling Affects Workforce Planning

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent holding in Mullin v. Doe that courts lack jurisdiction to review temporary protected status determinations greenlights the end of TPS for thousands of Syrian and Haitian nationals, and means employers must reevaluate TPS-designees' employability while avoiding discriminatory document practices, says attorney Richard Herman.

  • How State, Local Rules Are Expanding Debt Collection Reach

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    Consumer protection rules recently enacted by several states signal that the rules of debt collection are being rewritten at a pace that should command the attention of every creditor, servicer, debt buyer, collection agency and collection law firm operating across state lines, says Weldianne Scales at Reed Smith.

  • How Nixing Trade-Through Rule Would Alter Equity Markets

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent proposal to rescind the trade-through rule and the locked-and-crossed-markets prohibition represents one of the most significant potential changes to U.S. equity market structure in two decades, affecting exchanges, broker-dealers, and institutional and retail investors alike, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Reviving Prize Law Would Reshape Maritime Seizure Risks

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    Recent U.S. maritime interdictions of sanctioned tankers and shadow fleet vessels raise urgent questions about whether civil forfeiture or prize law — a framework that has not been meaningfully tested since the Spanish-American War — governs and the potential impacts on vessel owners, charterers and insurers, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • The Nuance Between The Atkins, Gensler SEC Strategic Plans

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    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins' recent draft strategic plan is a marked departure from that of former Chair Gary Gensler, portraying an intention to leave decisions to the market rather than steering corporate behavior through expansive disclosure mandates and regulatory enforcement, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Future Of Fed Independence Shaky After Justices' Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Trump v. Cook preserved the Federal Reserve's formal independence but could invite the president to remove board members with just modest protections, leaving the central bank's autonomy uncertain and potentially setting up fresh clashes over other agencies, says Steven Schwinn at the University of Chicago.

  • Series

    Mich. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter brought several notable financial services law developments to Michigan, including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on state tax foreclosures, progress on a money transmission modernization bill package, and continued legislative momentum on cryptocurrency and mortgage lending, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • How New FERC Orders Are Prepping Grid For Large Loads

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    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent show-cause orders to grid operators to justify how their rates and regulations account for the interconnection of large and colocated loads like data centers may be just the first step in FERC's efforts to address anticipated reliability and affordability challenges in the coming years, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • FDA Moves Leave Peptides In A Legal Gray Zone

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    While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken a concrete step forward on reclassifying certain peptides, the practical consequence of their interim status cannot be overstated — these substances are no longer designated as posing a significant safety risk, but they have not been affirmatively authorized for compounding, say attorneys at Sheppard.

  • Series

    Bass Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Landing a trophy striped bass and closing a big deal both require cultivating the patience to finesse — not force — your way to desired outcomes, changing course when your old approach isn’t working and learning from the ones that got away, says Jon Ruiss at Alston & Bird.

  • What Consent Decree Trends Mean For Deal Clearances

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    With merger remedies back on the table under the current administration, an analysis of recent Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice consent decrees reveals that prior approval and prior notice provisions are no longer a foregone conclusion, and companies may be able to negotiate narrowly tailored obligations, say attorneys at Weil.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The year's second quarter brought several notable banking law developments to New York, including a proposal to align state stablecoin rules with the federal Genius Act, fresh fair lending and cybersecurity guidance from state regulators, and a significant Second Circuit holding on preemption, say attorneys at Ashurst Perkins Coie.

  • How Reincorporating In Texas May Alter Earnout Disputes

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    While the DExit debate has focused on shareholder suits, far less attention has been paid to what reincorporating in Texas means for M&A disputes, making it particularly important to understand the nuances between Delaware and Texas earnout jurisprudence, say attorneys at Selendy Gay.

  • What To Know If DOL Raises Overtime Salary Floor

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    With the U.S. Department of Labor recently rescinding a 2024 rule that increased the minimum salary for the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime exemptions, employers should assess how a future increase would affect their workforce, paying particular attention to job duties requirements and state laws, says James Coleman at Constangy.

  • Roundup

    The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

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    This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

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