Public Policy

  • August 13, 2026

    Arizona, Tribes Sign Deal To Offset Coal Economy Losses

    Arizona, the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo Nation have signed an agreement that aims to boost economic growth for tribal communities that lost thousands of jobs and millions in revenue after major coal mining companies stopped or scaled back operations in the Four Corners region.

  • August 13, 2026

    Groups Say Shuttered Fla. Detention Center Threatens Wildlife

    Environmental groups have accused wildlife officials of polluting protected land through an immigrant detention center in the Everglades, alleging in an updated complaint filed in Florida federal court that the now-shuttered site continues to threaten endangered species in the area.

  • August 13, 2026

    SEC May Vote To Ease Pay-To-Play Rules This Year

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has informed the White House that it could soon move forward with plans to loosen the rules around political contributions made by investment advisers, regulations that SEC Chair Paul Atkins has recently called "a trap for the unwary."

  • August 13, 2026

    White House Aims Customs AI Tool At Chinese Tariff Evasion

    The White House identified Thursday over 40 countries from which imports carry a heightened risk of transshipment, an illegal practice of misrepresenting goods entering the U.S. that originate elsewhere such as China, and government officials are working on a new artificial intelligence enforcement tool to address those concerns.

  • August 13, 2026

    CFPB Brass Accused Of 'Sham' Probe Of Union Leader

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is conducting a "sham" investigation into an employee who is active in the staff's union, the union's president said, taking the agency's new leader to task for its probe of the data scientist and National Treasury Employees Union local activist.

  • August 13, 2026

    FCC Told Foreign Drone Ban Could Hinder Public Safety Work

    A nonprofit that donates drones to public safety agencies and science programs has urged the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider a potential ban on foreign-made military-grade drones.

  • August 13, 2026

    NJ Takes Labor Peace Pact Fight In Pot Case To 3rd Circ.

    New Jersey cannabis regulators filed a notice Thursday that they would appeal a federal court's recent ruling that a state rule requiring marijuana businesses enter into labor peace agreements with unions in order to secure a license is preempted by federal law.

  • August 13, 2026

    Feds Can Release More Documents Under Epstein Law

    A New York federal judge granted the federal government's request to unseal documents in a 2015 civil lawsuit filed by the late Virginia Giuffre, a Jeffrey Epstein accuser who sued Ghislaine Maxwell a decade before her death last year.

  • August 13, 2026

    Trade Court Fine With Trump Ending De Minimis Tariff Break

    President Donald Trump's revocation of a de minimis exemption for low-value goods to enter the U.S. duty-free was allowed under a law that the U.S. Supreme Court separately determined could not otherwise authorize tariffs on its own, the Court of International Trade ruled Thursday.

  • August 13, 2026

    Wyo. Archaeologists Challenge Reach Of Native Graves Rule

    The Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists is asking a district court to block the transfer of six Indigenous collections to the federal government, arguing that an update to a law designed to protect Native American burial sites goes beyond what Congress intended.

  • August 13, 2026

    Shumaker Advisors Adds Principal To Fla. Gov't Affairs Team

    Shumaker Advisors, Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP's lobbying arm, announced Thursday that had it expanded its government affairs and public policy capabilities in Florida with a new principal from consulting firm Rutledge Ecenia.

  • August 13, 2026

    Wireless Cos. Want FCC Protection In Upper Microwave Bands

    Top wireless carriers are seeking assurance from the Federal Communications Commission that it will not craft new rules in the upper microwave spectrum bands that could lead to interference with their licensed use of the airwaves.

  • August 13, 2026

    DOJ Fraud Division To Reach 500 Staffers This Month

    By the end of the month, there will be about 500 attorneys and staff in the U.S. Department of Justice's new fraud division, with more to come as time goes on.

  • August 13, 2026

    Trade Court Backs Commerce On Russian Fertilizer Duty Redo

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's redone countervailing duty calculation for Russian phosphate fertilizer properly determined that a Russian company didn't benefit from unfairly priced mining rights, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled, blessing a decision to cut the duty rate by more than half.

  • August 13, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Revive Hemp Co.'s $2.75M Destruction Suit

    The Ninth Circuit won't reinstate a suit against the city of Tacoma, Washington, by the owner of a hemp company who alleges the city's police department illegally destroyed $2.75 million worth of industrial hemp as illegal cannabis, saying he failed to establish municipal liability.

  • August 13, 2026

    Judge Tosses DOJ's Antisemitism Case Against Harvard

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday threw out the Trump administration's suit alleging Harvard University failed to address antisemitism, finding the government lacked evidence of current civil rights violations on campus.

  • August 13, 2026

    Trump Picks Ex-Arkansas SG, Walmart Lawyer For 8th Circ.

    President Donald Trump has announced that he's looking to elevate Judge Lee Rudofsky of the Eastern District of Arkansas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

  • August 12, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Rejects Planned Parenthood's Immunity Appeal

    The full Fifth Circuit Wednesday tossed an appeal over whether Planned Parenthood is entitled to attorney immunity in a whistleblower suit accusing the organization of improper Medicaid billing, reversing a panel's decision that went in favor of Planned Parenthood.

  • August 12, 2026

    Lender Groups 'Wrong' On Interest Opt-Out Law, Ore. Says

    Oregon is pushing back against financial industry groups' request to halt the state's new law aimed at capping interest rates on loans from out-of-state banks, arguing the lender trade groups suing in federal court over this so-called opt-out law are trying to impose limits on it that Congress never intended.

  • August 12, 2026

    Trump Sued Over 'Corrupt' $100K Early Truth Social Access

    Online news outlet The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation sued President Donald Trump Wednesday in New York federal court, accusing him of violating the Constitution with an "extraordinary, corrupt, and unconstitutional" scheme by allowing paying customers to receive advance access to official presidential announcements through Truth Social.

  • August 12, 2026

    In 'Close' Call, 7th Circ. Backs FDIC In-House Enforcement

    In what the court called a "close and challenging call," the Seventh Circuit on Wednesday ruled the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. could use in-house proceedings to adjudicate claims of unsound banking practices, rejecting a former Illinois community bank chairman's contention that such proceedings violate his right to trial by jury.

  • August 12, 2026

    Wis. Hits Vape Co. With $630K Fine For Banned Products

    The Minnesota-based company behind the Loon vape brand is challenging in federal court a $630,000 fine that Wisconsin imposed after state regulators discovered banned e-cigarettes at two smoke shops, with the company arguing the penalty is unfair because it did not distribute the vapes to these retailers.

  • August 12, 2026

    DHS Can't Shake Suit Over Suspicionless Stops, Atty Access

    A California federal judge has allowed a lawsuit accusing federal immigration agents of stopping people without reasonable suspicion and preventing immigration detainees from speaking with attorneys to proceed.

  • August 12, 2026

    SpaceX On Hunt For More Spectrum

    SpaceX is hungry for more spectrum, telling the Federal Communications Commission it ought to set "aggressive, technology-agnostic" buildout milestones in order to get new wireless satellite services to market just as the company unveils plans to build its own terrestrial network.

  • August 12, 2026

    Texas Medical Board Says AG Can't Get In On Malpractice Suit

    The Texas Medical Board told a state court judge that the Texas Office of the Attorney General could not represent a doctor who tried to treat a COVID-19 patient with ivermectin, saying the office flouted ethics rules by first representing the board and then representing the doctor.

Expert Analysis

  • How Montgomery Ruling Will Affect Cos. Across Supply Chain

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court's May 14 decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, the immediate focus has been on freight brokers and negligent carrier-selection claims, but the ripple effects may extend to shippers, logistics providers, insurers, transportation managers and other participants in the supply chain, say attorneys at Quintairos Prieto.

  • High Court's FCC Fine Ruling Reframes Agency Enforcement

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T sweeps aside uncertainty about what kinds of regulatory enforcement trigger a Seventh Amendment right, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • How Maine's Expanded Health Deal Reviews Complicate M&A

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    A pair of recently approved Maine competition laws establish notice and approval requirements for certain healthcare transactions and expand state antitrust oversight, creating new hurdles for dealmakers as states take a more aggressive role in policing healthcare consolidation, especially involving private equity, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Resolve Growing Subchapter V Uncertainty

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    Congress must pass a bill to permanently restore the Subchapter V debt limit and clarify several other key points of the law to prevent a practical restructuring tool from becoming a costly procedural morass, says Ted Gavin at Gavin Solmonese.

  • CFTC Policy Substantially Expands Self-Reporting Incentives

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    A recent U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission policy moves from a mitigation-centered model to prioritizing declination for early self-reporting and full cooperation, reflecting a deliberate effort to harmonize voluntary self-disclosure incentives across the federal enforcement authorities, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Opinion

    Exxon Shareholders Were Right To Save New Voting Program

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    Following Exxon shareholders’ recent vote that rejected a bid to dismantle the company’s new retail voting program, other companies should replicate it as a way to lower the friction for shareholders who already vote with the board to keep doing so without wrestling a ballot every spring, says J.W. Verret at the Antonin Scalia Law School.

  • Series

    Choral Singing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Singing in the New York City Bar Chorus — a hobby partly inspired by the late U.S. District Judge Richard Owen, who infused my clerkship year with opera music — has improved my legal career by refining my abilities to listen, exude confidence and develop emotional intelligence, says Bonnie Baker at Friedman Kaplan.

  • What Ratings Overhaul May Mean For Banking Industry

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    Proposed revisions to the bank rating system commonly known as CAMELS could constrain examiner discretion and tie supervisory outcomes more closely to measurable financial risk, potentially saving compliance costs, reducing the frequency of ratings downgrades and spurring a more growth-oriented banking system, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Series

    Illinois Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The last three months were particularly consequential for Illinois banking law, with a federal court ruling reshaping the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, the state filling enforcement gaps, significant legislative activity and a revision to the community bank leverage ratio, say attorneys at Riley Safer.

  • 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.

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