Public Policy

  • October 09, 2026

    Warren Presses Fed For Details Of Early SVB Report Access

    The U.S. Senate Banking Committee's top Democrat is calling on Federal Reserve officials for answers after some outside experts were given an early look at a recent independent report on Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, questioning who authorized the access and how recipients were chosen.

  • October 09, 2026

    5th Circ. Judges Clash Over Trans Restroom Photo Case

    A split Fifth Circuit on Friday declined to rehear a preliminary injunction bid in a case challenging the constitutionality of enforcing a Texas privacy law against a plaintiff who tweeted a photo of a trans woman in a bathroom, spurring three judges to author contentious concurring and dissenting opinions.

  • October 09, 2026

    9th Circ. Sides With Forest Service In Idaho Project Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday reversed a lower court's finding that the U.S. Forest Service ran afoul of the National Forest Management Act when it approved an Idaho project, ruling the court erred when analyzing the project's compliance with limits on road construction in areas in and around bear habitat.

  • October 09, 2026

    Trump Admin Finalizes Rule To Fast-Track Immigration Fines

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is moving forward with a final rule that looks to make it easier to impose civil monetary penalties on noncitizens who enter the country without authorization or fail to voluntarily depart, according to a notice issued Friday.

  • October 09, 2026

    FBI Portal Hack Sharpens Focus On Cyber Regulation Path

    The recent hack of the FBI's jobs portal underscores mounting cyberthreats to government agencies and critical infrastructure, fueling the debate over whether internal fixes or formal regulation can best address the growing cyber risks powered by artificial intelligence.

  • October 09, 2026

    DOJ Seeks To Pause Order Blocking Demand For Driver Data

    The Justice Department is asking a Virginia federal judge to pause his injunction barring the Trump administration from obtaining millions of commercial driver's license records from a nationwide database while it appeals the ruling, claiming that the district court likely lacked jurisdiction to hear the lawsuit in the first place.

  • October 09, 2026

    Payday Lender Says Baltimore Oversteps Its Power With Suit

    Dave Inc. has pushed back on a lawsuit brought by the city of Baltimore, saying the municipality has exceeded its powers by using a local ordinance to accuse the payday lender of charging excessive interest rates on its products.

  • October 09, 2026

    Feds Chided For Pace Of Deported Nigerian Man's Return

    A California federal judge on Friday expressed frustration with the government for having "slow-walked" the return of a Nigerian citizen it deported to Ghana and who had to hide in Togo after refusing to board a bus bound for Nigeria, where an immigration court determined he couldn't be deported.

  • October 09, 2026

    Species Protections May Differ By State Under Senate Bill

    A new U.S. Senate bill proposing to change federal agencies' consultation process for energy and infrastructure projects could lead to inconsistent wildlife protections in different states and includes some provisions that may ultimately be counterproductive to speeding up development.

  • October 09, 2026

    Cities Ask Justices To Undo Texas-DOJ Immigration Rule Deal

    Democracy Forward Foundation and several cities asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to stay a district court's approval of a deal Texas and the Trump administration struck to vacate a Biden-era rule allowing immigration courts to temporarily close cases.

  • October 09, 2026

    DOJ Policy Checking Voters' Immigration Status Banned

    A D.C. federal judge has struck down the U.S. Department of Justice's new policy of collecting states' unredacted voter information to cross-check voter rolls against immigration databases, saying federal voting laws the agency relied on were meant to protect the right to vote and not take it away.

  • October 09, 2026

    Fla. Judge Weighs Combining $320M Epstein Victims' FBI Suit

    A Florida federal judge requested input from the government and multiple alleged survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sex crimes on whether to combine a pair of lawsuits claiming investigations into the late financier were mishandled, including one complaint seeking $320 million for law enforcement over ignoring reports of criminal abuse.

  • October 09, 2026

    FCC Proposes Rules To Vet Broadband Subsidy Recipients

    Almost five months after the Rural Broadband Protection Act was signed into law, the Federal Communications Commission is getting the ball rolling on establishing the vetting process mandated by the law for internet service providers taking part in the agency's "high cost" program.

  • October 09, 2026

    FCC Urged To Put Hold On Repeal Of Media Ownership Cap

    Several groups are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to stay a recent order lifting its long-standing 39% cap on national broadcast audience reach while a court battle plays out.

  • October 09, 2026

    FCC To Begin Search For Upper C-Band Clearinghouse Admin

    The Federal Communications Commission has begun the process of selecting an entity that will serve as the clearinghouse charged with reimbursing incumbent spectrum users for making way for 5G wireless in the upper C-band.

  • October 09, 2026

    Pa. Justices Won't Extend Deadline For 'Skill Games' Removal

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has denied a request from three state lawmakers and a group of "skill games" operators to extend the deadline for businesses to remove devices that the high court recently deemed illegal slot machines.

  • October 09, 2026

    Phaseout Of FCC's E-Rate Could Dampen GDP, Report Says

    An advocacy group warned that a Federal Communications Commission plan to eventually phase out the E-Rate connectivity aid program could dampen U.S. economic output.

  • October 09, 2026

    Can Trade Secret Law Protect Indigenous Knowledge?

    As the U.S. and other countries struggle to agree on new international protections for Indigenous knowledge, trade secret law is drawing renewed attention as a possible solution for material that communities actually keep confidential.

  • October 09, 2026

    States Fight DOL's Ax Of Unemployment Insurance Grants

    Fourteen states sued the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Friday, alleging the U.S. Department of Labor wrongfully terminated grants intended for modernizing their unemployment insurance programs.

  • October 09, 2026

    Noncitizen Guantánamo Detainees Fight Closed-Hearing Bid

    Lead plaintiffs in a certified class of noncitizen Guantánamo Bay detainees who are challenging a Trump administration policy to detain noncitizens at Guantánamo Bay asked a D.C. federal judge to reject an administration request to close an upcoming hearing when officials are anticipated to testify about the policy.

  • October 09, 2026

    Feds Say Calif. 'Clean Trucks' Pact Usurps Emissions Rules

    The Trump administration said Friday that California cannot usurp exclusive federal authority to set uniform motor vehicle emissions standards, urging a federal judge to strike down the Golden State's efforts to still enforce stricter emissions mandates on heavy-duty truck manufacturers in defiance of federal law.

  • October 09, 2026

    CU Boulder Hiked Fees For Records Requests, Suit Says

    An administrator at the University of Colorado Boulder claimed in Colorado state court Thursday that the school improperly withheld and attempted to overcharge for records requested related to harassment he experienced under the Colorado Open Records Act.

  • October 09, 2026

    SEC Proposes Restoring Funds' Ability To Cross-Trade Bonds

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission put forth a proposal on Friday to make it easier for mutual and other registered funds under the same manager to trade with one another, while promising to update the oversight rules for fund managers participating in such cross-trades.

  • October 09, 2026

    Vape Cos. FDA Suit On Hold As Agency Reviews Policy

    A Texas federal court has granted a joint motion to stay litigation by an Altria Group Inc. vape subsidiary challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's premarket authorization rule, pausing proceedings while the FDA pursues rulemaking to replace the challenged framework.

  • October 09, 2026

    EU, China Make Trade Pledges On Hybrid Vehicles, Minerals

    The European Union and China said Friday that they reached mutual understanding on several key trade matters following a bilateral meeting, including the facilitation of Chinese minerals to EU companies and limiting China's exports of hybrid vehicles to the bloc.

Expert Analysis

  • How State Actions Are Reshaping Surveillance Pricing Risk

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    Amid heightened state enforcement activity and expanding legislative action to curb surveillance pricing concerns related to transparency, fairness and discrimination, businesses should closely examine how consumer data is used in pricing decisions, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • State Of Insurance: Q2 Notes From Illinois

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    The second quarter of 2026 featured a trio of auto insurance opinions from Illinois' appellate courts, addressing a notice requirement, narrowing insurers' exposure for delayed payment of underinsured motorist claims, and creating a district split on coverage for employee-drivers under employers' policies, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

  • Tips For Issuers Left In Lurch Without Genius Act Final Rules

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    The compliance runway envisioned by the Genius Act is steadily shrinking after regulators failed to finalize all the required implementing regulations by July 18, so stablecoin issuers should begin implementing "no-regrets" compliance measures and securing outside vendors before the law takes full effect in January, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • 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.

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