Public Policy

  • August 07, 2026

    Del. Senator Sues To Stop Permanent Absentee Voting System

    A Delaware state senator has sued the state's election commissioner and the Department of Elections in the Delaware Chancery Court to strike down the state's permanent absentee voting system as unconstitutional.

  • August 07, 2026

    Coinbase Can't Dodge Michigan Rules On Sports Contracts

    Federal law does not preempt Michigan's authority to regulate sports-based derivatives, a Michigan federal judge said in a Thursday order denying Coinbase Financial Markets' request for a preliminary injunction against Michigan state officials.

  • August 07, 2026

    NY Court Says Town's Cannabis Zoning Rule Preempted

    A New York intermediate appellate court has found that the state's marijuana law preempts localities from enforcing more stringent location policies for marijuana stores than what is found in state law.

  • August 07, 2026

    Former NTIA Acting Chief Confirmed To Cyberspace Post

    The U.S. Senate Friday confirmed a former acting chief of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration as the U.S. Department of State's ambassador at large for cyberspace and digital policy.

  • August 07, 2026

    Senate Clears Russia Sanctions Bill With New Tariff Authority

    The U.S. Senate approved legislation Friday that would enhance President Donald Trump's economic tools to pressure Russia, including new tariff authorities that raised concerns for Democratic lawmakers.

  • August 07, 2026

    DC Courts Add 8 Judges, But Funding Crunch Persists

    Eight judges for local Washington, D.C., courts were confirmed Friday, significantly easing the courts' vacancy crisis. Nevertheless, a top court official says funding is still a problem.

  • August 07, 2026

    Fla. Justices Say They Can't Force Gov.'s Judge Picks

    The Florida Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a former state appellate judge's petition to appoint a successor is moot because the vacancy was filled while the case was pending, adding that only the governor has the power to pick replacements. 

  • August 07, 2026

    Ghost Gun Supplier Dodges $7.7M Penalty In Conn. AG Battle

    The Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act only applies to trade and commerce conducted in the state, and not to entities operating websites that are merely accessible in Connecticut, a state court judge has ruled in declining to impose a $7.7 million civil penalty against a Florida-based company that sells ghost gun parts online.

  • August 07, 2026

    Senator Considers Ethics Complaint Against 3rd Circ. Judge

    Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., has indicated he is weighing whether to pursue ethics charges against U.S. Circuit Judge Jennifer Mascott of the Third Circuit in the wake of a news report stating she operated a public affairs agency from the bench.

  • August 07, 2026

    Nat'l Science Org. To Review Judiciary's Nixed Climate Chapter

    The National Academy of Sciences will review the process used to develop a controversial chapter on climate science that has been removed from the federal judiciary's guide to scientific evidence, according to a Friday announcement.

  • August 07, 2026

    US Bancorp Is Latest To Flag Debanking Scrutiny From Feds

    U.S. Bancorp has become the latest big bank to formally disclose to investors that multiple federal authorities are scrutinizing it in connection with President Donald Trump's push to crack down on so-called debanking, or account closures perceived as politically biased.

  • August 07, 2026

    Trump Orders Polysilicon Tariffs, Price Floor For December

    President Donald Trump has ordered a 15% ad valorem tariff on polysilicon and derivative products to start in early December, along with the implementation of minimum prices for imports of these products, which are most closely associated with semiconductors and solar power.

  • August 07, 2026

    18 State AGs Urge Feds To Block OppFi's BNC Bank Acquisition

    A coalition of 18 state attorneys general led by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul urged federal regulators to block Opportunity Financial's proposed acquisition of BNC National Bank, saying the deal would allow the online lender to sidestep state interest rate limits and expand its high-cost lending nationwide.

  • August 07, 2026

    Confirmations To Labor Board Set Up Policy Shift

    The National Labor Relations Board is set to begin rethinking a pile of union-friendly precedents set under former President Joe Biden after the U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed two nominees, including a third Republican member.

  • August 07, 2026

    Hanford Site Caused Delivery Driver's Cancer, Son Claims

    The son of a delivery driver who died of cancer hit the U.S. government with a $10 million suit claiming it negligently failed to protect his father from radiation and toxic substance exposures at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington.

  • August 07, 2026

    Trump Picks FCC Lawyer As Agency's 3rd Republican

    President Donald Trump on Friday picked Danielle Thumann Severs, an in-house lawyer at the Federal Communications Commission, to fill an open seat on the regulatory board.

  • August 07, 2026

    Commerce Kicks Off Duty Probe Into Pipes From 3 Countries

    The U.S. Department of Commerce is investigating claims that stainless line and pressure pipes from India, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are being sold at unfair prices in the U.S., it said Friday.

  • August 07, 2026

    DHS Increases Screening Fees For Larger H-1B Employers

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that businesses with more than 50 employees, at least half of whom are H-1B or L-1 visa holders, must pay a biometric screening fee anytime they file an application to extend the workers' visas.

  • August 07, 2026

    Key Senator Backs Blanche, Likely Securing AG Confirmation

    Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears to have locked down the votes needed for his bid to be attorney general after Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said Friday that he would support the nomination.

  • August 06, 2026

    Updated 'Slush Fund' Suit Challenges Trump's Audit Immunity

    The IRS workers' union Thursday joined litigation in Virginia federal court challenging what the plaintiffs call President Donald Trump's proposed $1.8 billion "slush fund," adding claims that a side-order granting Trump, his family and businesses immunity from federal audits could expose IRS workers to criminal liability.

  • August 06, 2026

    Feds Ordered To Pay Millions In Funds For Migrant Kids' Attys

    A California federal judge ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration is in violation of her preliminary injunction ordering it to continue paying dozens of nonprofits that represent tens of thousands of migrant children in immigration proceedings, saying new data requirements imposed by the government violate "the plain language" of her order.

  • August 06, 2026

    DA Says Appellate Insight Needed In Judge Recusal Battle

    DeKalb County, Georgia's district attorney asked a trial court judge for a green light to appeal his decision not to boot a judge accused of ethics violations from the DA's office's cases, saying the situation called for guidance from the Georgia Supreme Court. 

  • August 06, 2026

    Dems Slam Skadden's 'Nothing To See Here' Trump Deal Reply

    Three Democratic lawmakers on Thursday criticized Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's response to their request that the firm disclose details of its pro bono arrangement with the Trump administration, saying the firm's "three sentence letter essentially saying 'nothing to see here'" is "not going to cut it."

  • August 06, 2026

    DHS, ICE Held In Contempt Over Asylum-Seeker Deportations

    A Maryland federal judge held U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in civil contempt for wrongfully deporting more than 50 unaccompanied minors with a blanket court order barring their removal, writing that the subsequent efforts to bring some of the minors back didn't right the initial wrong.

  • August 06, 2026

    TitleMax Rebuffed In 4th Circ. Bid To Halt Pa. Usury Case

    The Fourth Circuit has cleared Pennsylvania's banking regulator to continue its pursuit of $52.7 million in penalties from TitleMax for alleged interest-rate violations, rejecting a bid by the title lender's South Carolina arm to block the out-of-state enforcement proceeding. 

Expert Analysis

  • Why Courts Are Pushing Back On Greenwashing Laws

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    Recent Fourth Circuit and California federal court decisions blocking state greenwashing statutes on First Amendment grounds reveal a tension at the heart of environmental marketing regulation — while states want clarity, courts aren't prepared to let legislatures flatly ban categories of truthful commercial speech, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • What NYC Bridge Crash Signals About Micromobility Liability

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    A recent fatal crash between a cyclist and a man riding a high-powered electric scooter on New York City's Queensboro Bridge highlights how litigation over accidents involving micromobility devices may increasingly shift away from ordinary negligence and toward product liability, says Jeff Korek at Gersowitz Libo.

  • 3 Ways Tokenization Is Moving To Traditional Finance

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    Recent initiatives reflect efforts to integrate distributed ledger technology into existing regulatory frameworks for securities, banking and payments settlements while preserving the underlying rights and obligations of market participants, say attorneys at Hughes Hubbard.

  • At The Intersection Of Right-To-Repair Laws And IP Rights

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    Right-to-repair legislation passing through Congress highlights a broad tension between manufacturers' security measures and consumer autonomy, with important repercussions for the automotive industry's intellectual property rights, says Keith Noe at Lando & Anastasi. 

  • Opinion

    States Should Reconsider Forced PBM Divestiture Laws

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    State legislatures are attempting to enact policies intended to force pharmacy benefit managers to divest from pharmacies, but these laws would have the practical effect of reducing patient access and competition, potentially violating the U.S. Constitution in the process, says former Utah Attorney General John Swallow.

  • HSR Deals Proceed More Steadily Than Narratives Suggest

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    The most recent Hart-Scott-Rodino Act data show that transaction volume remained relatively stable, transaction values continued to increase and enforcement activity remained low, suggesting that enforcement rates have been relatively consistent across presidential administrations despite widely differing public rhetoric regarding merger enforcement, says Amanda Wait at Michael Best.

  • Assessing The Benefits Of Fla.'s Newest Business Structure

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    As of July 1, Florida business owners can create protected series LLCs to shield assets from liability while avoiding increased costs and wasted time, but burdensome recordkeeping obligations are crucial to maintaining the very protection that makes them attractive in the first place, says Gregory Ritter at Moritt Hock.

  • Key Post-Proposal Shifts Likely In CFPB Loss Mitigation Rule

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    Mortgage servicers, borrowers and consumer advocates should prepare for a likely narrowed version of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's loss mitigation rule, which is likely to permit sequential reviews, defer to investor guidelines, extend compliance timelines and preempt conflicting state standards, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Series

    Teaching SEC Investigations Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Instructing a law school course on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations has made me a more thoughtful, deliberate practitioner because it requires me to continually reassess and challenge what I know about securities law enforcement, how I know it and how best to explain it, says David Chase at Miami Law.

  • Noncompete Laws Show States Focusing On Bans, Healthcare

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    The first half of 2026 confirms that state legislatures are driving the most consequential changes in noncompete law, including a few state bans and several healthcare-specific laws, making a one-size-fits-all approach increasingly untenable for multistate employers, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What's Inside Proposed, Expanded NY Stablecoin Regulations

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    New York's recently proposed regulations for payment stablecoin issuers would, if adopted, increase the regulatory burdens of a state license, and midsize issuers considering a conversion to a federal charter should weigh the associated costs of both options, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Justices' Tax Sale Ruling Tees Up Auction Fairness Battles

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Pung v. Isabella County, Michigan, that taxpayers are not entitled to fair market value of real property seized to satisfy a tax debt shifts attention to the fairness of state and local auction procedures, and whether taxpayers claiming surplus proceeds face unwarranted hurdles, say attorneys at Miller Canfield.

  • What Corporate Counsel Can Learn From OpenAI Test Breach

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    The significance of the recent artificial intelligence testing breach involving OpenAI and Hugging Face lies in what it reveals about the path of AI’s evolution, because legal professionals must translate that trajectory into actionable governance, contractual and advisory frameworks, says Jason Mueller at Vorys.

  • Patent Eligibility Reforms Keep Chasing The Wrong Fixes

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    Repeated efforts to create a consistent, predictable patent eligibility standard under Section 101 have centered on replacing judge-made exceptions with new statutory language, but the better fix is to align examination standards with how courts actually apply eligibility doctrine, says former Patent Trial and Appeal Board judge Amee Shah.

  • Opinion

    Qualified Immunity Bill's Reach Goes Beyond Federal Officers

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    The federal Qualified Immunity Abolition Act, introduced earlier this year and described by the bill sponsors as a federal-officer measure, would in actuality reach the entire universe of Section 1983 defendants, a distinction that matters as much to defense counsel as to plaintiffs, says attorney V. James DeSimone.

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