Public Policy

  • January 15, 2026

    Pot Shops Say NY Denied Licenses Due To Outdated Rule

    A pair of New York dispensaries are suing state cannabis regulators, saying officials wrongly denied their applications for additional licenses using a now-outdated bit of guidance that had prevented applicants from receiving multiple licenses for a time.

  • January 15, 2026

    NY Bill Criminalizes Unlicensed Cryptocurrency Businesses

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York State Sen. Zellnor Myrie on Thursday announced a proposed law to criminalize operating a cryptocurrency business without a license, saying crypto has become an "ideal vehicle for money laundering."

  • January 15, 2026

    House OKs Restricting ESG Investment In 401(k) Plans

    The U.S. House of Representatives greenlighted a bill Thursday that would restrict how retirement plan managers can consider environmental, social and governance issues when picking investments, codifying a 2020 U.S. Department of Labor rule requiring a sole focus on financial risk factors.

  • January 14, 2026

    Split Panel Won't Block Calif.'s New Congressional Map

    A split panel of federal judges on Wednesday refused to preliminarily block California's new, voter-approved congressional districts, ruling that the state's Republican Party and the Trump administration "failed to show that racial gerrymandering occurred."

  • January 14, 2026

    DHS Can Axe '11th Hour' Venezuelan Protections, 9th Circ. Told

    The Trump administration urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to vacate its summary judgment loss so that the government can continue to unwind temporary protected status for 600,000 Venezuelans, arguing that U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had the authority to terminate the Biden administration's "eleventh hour" protections.

  • January 14, 2026

    Vox Media Sues Google, Adding To Ad Tech Antitrust Suits

    Google was hit Wednesday with yet another antitrust lawsuit over its ad tech, this time by Vox Media, which alleged in Manhattan federal court that the tech giant is unlawfully monopolizing the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets.

  • January 14, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Will Revisit PWFA's Constitutionality

    The Fifth Circuit late Wednesday vacated a split panel opinion allowing enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the state of Texas, granting an en banc rehearing to consider whether the U.S. Constitution required House lawmakers' physical presence to have a quorum when the statute was approved.

  • January 14, 2026

    US Lawmakers Push Bill To Curb China's Mineral Control

    A pair of lawmakers from California on Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation seeking to boost the production and supply of critical minerals needed for military, renewable energy and communications technologies, and to reduce reliance on China.

  • January 14, 2026

    Calif. Again Asks 9th Circ. To Unleash Kids' Privacy Law

    California's attorney general was back before the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday, urging the court to vacate a new preliminary injunction blocking a landmark law requiring tech giants to bolster privacy protections for children, and arguing the lower court wrongly found the entire statute likely implicates the First Amendment.

  • January 14, 2026

    Groups Seek Records On ICE 'Ankle Monitoring For All' Policy

    Two immigrant legal groups have sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in North Carolina federal court Wednesday to pry loose records about the agency's purported blanket use of ankle monitors in its Alternatives to Detention program, which they said is intended to induce self-deportation.

  • January 14, 2026

    Fla. Tribe Urges 11th Circ. To Uphold Detention Center Block

    A federally recognized Florida tribe has asked the 11th Circuit to uphold a lower court's preliminary injunction halting operations of an immigrant detention center in the Everglades, arguing that environmental safeguards are at stake rather than immigration policy.

  • January 14, 2026

    EPA's Cost Analysis U-Turn May Invite Courtroom Inquiries

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to no longer put a dollar value on health benefits when crafting certain air pollution rules could be scrutinized in lawsuits, which could force the agency to justify departing from its long-standing practice.

  • January 14, 2026

    Burns & McDonnell Sued By Ex-Partner Firm Over Seattle Deal

    California-based Certus Cybersecurity launched a lawsuit in Washington state court accusing consulting firm Burns & McDonnell of falling short on business promises and exploiting the city of Seattle's diversity criteria for contractors to score a government deal worth up to $60 million.  

  • January 14, 2026

    Tort Report: Los Angeles Tops Annual 'Judicial Hellhole' List

    Los Angeles' designation by a tort reform group as a top "judicial hellhole," and the latest in a suit over a Kentucky judge shot to death in his own chambers lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

  • January 14, 2026

    Fla. Mapmaker Takes Stand In Gerrymandering Trial

    The Florida House of Representatives' chief map drawer took the stand Wednesday to defend his work, pushing back on allegations that the electoral maps were racially gerrymandered and telling the court that he followed natural geographic boundaries as much as possible when drawing the maps.

  • January 14, 2026

    Office Depot Spars Over Class Cert. In Wash. Pay Scale Suit

    Office Depot LLC and a plaintiff accusing the company of violating a Washington state pay-transparency law clashed over class certification in separate motions in Seattle federal court, with the office supply giant attacking the proposed class as "unidentifiable and uncertifiable."

  • January 14, 2026

    Swedbank Says DOJ Has Closed AML Probe Without Action

    Swedbank, one of the biggest banks serving Europe's Baltic region, said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice has released it from a long-running anti-money-laundering-related investigation, removing another U.S. legal cloud hanging over the lender.

  • January 14, 2026

    Freight Broker Tells Justices Negligence Claims Preempted

    Broker and logistics giant C.H. Robinson told the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday that federal law unequivocally shields freight brokers from state-based negligence and personal injury claims, saying the plaintiffs bar is pushing for patchwork liability standards that would upend interstate commerce and the supply chain.

  • January 14, 2026

    Jury Seated In Goldstein Trial, Arguments To Start Thursday

    A federal jury was seated in Thomas Goldstein's felony tax and mortgage fraud case Wednesday, but the government will wait until Thursday to begin making its case.

  • January 14, 2026

    Graham Blocks Bill To Repeal DOJ Lawsuit Provision

    Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., tried and failed Wednesday to expedite the passage of a bill that would repeal a provision of the government funding package enacted in November that allows senators investigated by former special counsel Jack Smith to sue for damages.

  • January 14, 2026

    Judge Seems Reluctant To Block Ga. Campaign Finance Rules

    A federal judge indicated Wednesday she was unlikely to grant an injunction freezing enforcement of a campaign finance scheme Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says gives his rival an advantage as they campaign for governor.

  • January 14, 2026

    SEC To Lean On Congress As Defense In High Court Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court is once again stepping into the debate over when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can demand that alleged fraudsters give up ill-gotten gains, but this time the agency plans to argue a 2021 government spending bill should save it from further limits to its disgorgement powers.

  • January 14, 2026

    Senate Banking Committee Postpones Crypto Bill Markup

    The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday night postponed a highly anticipated mark-up of a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, hours after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong voiced his opposition to the latest draft, saying his firm would "rather have no bill than a bad bill."

  • January 14, 2026

    Calif. AG Probes 'Avalanche' Of Grok-Created Sexual Deepfakes

    California is looking into the "avalanche" of nonconsensual sexually explicit materials, including "deepfake" images used to harass women online, that are reportedly being produced by Grok, the chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI Inc., the state's attorney general announced Wednesday.

  • January 14, 2026

    State Dept. Pauses Immigrant Visas For 75 Countries

    The U.S. Department of State said Wednesday that it is indefinitely pausing immigrant visas for people from 75 countries who the agency said are likely to rely on government support and stress the public purse.

Expert Analysis

  • What 2025 Transpo And Logistics Legal Trends Mean For 2026

    Author Photo

    2025 was challenging for the transportation and logistics sector, with emergent trends including dramatic federal policy shifts, developments in tort risk, and a host of mergers and acquisitions — but a review of these themes offers a useful playbook for where the industry is headed in 2026, says Jonathan Todd at Benesch.

  • How Cos. Can Roll With NY's New Algorithmic Pricing Rules

    Author Photo

    Despite uncertainty from New York’s new ban on artificial intelligence and computer algorithms for setting rents, and efforts to further restrict individualizing prices based on consumers' personal data, property managers, software providers and merchants can take several steps to stay compliant, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • 2025 State AI Laws Expand Liability, Raise Insurance Risks

    Author Photo

    As 2025 nears its end, claims professionals should be aware of trends in state legislation addressing artificial intelligence use, as insurance claims based on some of these liability-expanding statutes are a certainty, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

    Author Photo

    Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

  • Crypto In 2025: From Federal Deregulation To State Action

    Author Photo

    The cryptocurrency enforcement landscape evolved in 2025, marked by federal deregulatory trends and active state attorney general enforcement, creating both opportunity and risk for businesses navigating the digital asset market, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • How CFTC Enforcement Shifted In 2025 And What's Next

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission pivoted sharply under acting Chairman Caroline Pham in 2025, resulting in a pared-back enforcement docket, sweeping policy changes intended to provide greater transparency, and a renewed focus on fraud prevention and maintaining market integrity for the CFTC's core markets, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Learning From 2025 FCA Trends Targeting PE In Healthcare

    Author Photo

    False Claims Act enforcement trends and legislative developments from this year signal intensifying state and federal scrutiny of private equity's growing footprint in healthcare, and the urgency of compliance, says Lisa Re at Arnold & Porter.

  • Reviewing 2025's State And Federal AI Regulations

    Author Photo

    In light of increasing state and federal action to oversee the use of artificial intelligence, companies that develop or deploy the technology should keep abreast of current and forthcoming AI laws and consider their applicability to their business activities, says Jessica Brigman at Spencer Fane.

  • Software Patents May Face New Eligibility Scrutiny

    Author Photo

    November guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, along with recent litigation trends from the Federal Circuit, may encourage new challenges in the USPTO and district courts to artificial intelligence and software patents that rely on generic computing functions without concrete details, say attorneys at Venable.

  • What Trump Order Limiting State AI Regs Means For Insurers

    Author Photo

    Last week's executive order seeking to preclude states from regulating artificial intelligence will likely have minimal impact on insurers, but the order and related congressional activities may portend a federal expectation of consistent state oversight of insurers' AI use, says Kathleen Birrane at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

    Author Photo

    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • Investment Advisers Should Stay Apprised Of New AI Risks

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently issued annual examination priorities reiterate a host of regulatory implications for investment advisers using artificial intelligence tools, highlighting that meaningful ongoing due diligence can help mitigate both operational and regulatory surprises amid AI's rapid evolution, says Christopher Mills at Sidley.

  • New Rule Shows NRC Willing To Move Fast To Reform Regs

    Author Photo

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to forgo public comment and immediately rescind certain rules governing adjudicatory procedures, federal tort claims and disclosure of licensee information signals the agency's intent to accelerate the regulatory streamlining efforts ordered by the president this spring, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • AG Watch: Texas Junk Fee Deal Shows Enforcement Priorities

    Author Photo

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent $9.5 million settlement with online travel agency website Booking Holdings for so-called junk fee practices follows a larger trend of state attorneys general who have taken similar action and demonstrates the significant penalties that can follow such allegations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • 10th Circ. Dissent May Light Path For Master Account Access

    Author Photo

    While the Tenth Circuit's majority in Custodia Bank v. Federal Reserve Board recently affirmed Federal Reserve banks' control over master account access, the dissent raised constitutional questions that could support banks seeking master accounts in future litigation, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.