Public Policy

  • August 19, 2026

    5th Circ. Backs Delay Of FDA's 11-Warning Cigarette Rule

    The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday upheld the delay of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule requiring the addition of graphic warning labels to cigarette packages, saying tobacco companies that challenged the rule showed the agency likely overstepped its narrow authority to adjust existing warnings by creating two new ones.

  • August 19, 2026

    Ruling Lets Ethiopia's Protected Status End As Case Proceeds

    A Massachusetts federal court has ruled the Trump administration's termination of Ethiopia's temporary protected status designation can now take effect, though allowing Ethiopian nationals to continue arguing that the administration acted at least partly out of racial animus.

  • August 19, 2026

    Pa. Court Lets Off-Grid Solar Projects Get Energy Credits

    Solar energy projects in Pennsylvania do not have to connect to the electrical grid to qualify for "solar renewable energy credits," allowing gas pipeline operator Williams Companies Inc. to get and sell credits for solar arrays that only power two remote compressor stations, a state appellate court ruled Wednesday.

  • August 19, 2026

    Mass. Top Court Clears Path For $325M Pro Soccer Stadium

    Massachusetts' highest court on Wednesday cleared the way for construction to continue on a $325 million women's professional soccer stadium on a parcel within Boston's historic Franklin Park, finding that the project is not subject to a state law protecting parkland from development.

  • August 19, 2026

    4th Circ. Ends Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed that a district court lacked authority to hear a suit from an immigration judges' union challenging a policy barring judges from speaking publicly about immigration without prior approval.

  • August 19, 2026

    FCC Seeks Comments On Proposal To End E-Rate Program

    The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking public input on a proposal to amend, and possibly curtail, a broadband subsidy for schools and libraries.

  • August 19, 2026

    Feds Urge Wash. Court To Back Axing Dam Workers' CBA

    The Trump administration urged a Washington federal court to deny a labor union's bid to block the government from terminating a collective bargaining agreement covering hydropower dam workers, arguing that appellate courts have rejected similar injunction requests from other unions.

  • August 19, 2026

    Trump Delays Canada Tariffs, Says Deal Imminent

    President Donald Trump delayed for three days 50% tariffs on select Canadian goods scheduled to take effect Wednesday in an effort to strike a deal with the Canadian government, he said late Tuesday evening.

  • August 18, 2026

    Ex-DOJ Atty Says Trump's University Probes Were Political

    Trump administration officials forged ahead with investigations into Harvard, Columbia and other universities despite its own lawyers raising legal concerns and, in some cases, finding "little to no factual predicate justifying opening them," according to a whistleblower disclosure from a former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer made public Tuesday.

  • August 18, 2026

    DC Circ. Backs EPA Forever Chemicals Rules

    The D.C. Circuit Tuesday backed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's designation of the two most common forms of forever chemicals as hazardous substances under federal Superfund law, rejecting arguments from industry that the agency didn't have a legal basis to do so.

  • August 18, 2026

    Feds Bring New Charges Over $3.4B Iran-Backed Cybertheft

    Manhattan federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced new charges against a group of Iranians accused of running a global, state-backed hacking campaign against private companies, government agencies and universities, in a wide-ranging cybertheft conspiracy that stole at least $3.4 billion in academic data and intellectual property.

  • August 18, 2026

    SEC Proposes Long-Awaited Crypto Offering Exemptions

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday unveiled plans to exempt some cryptocurrency offerings from its registration requirements and to create a safe harbor for some projects to eventually shed securities law obligations altogether.

  • August 18, 2026

    DOI, Enviro Groups Trade Punches Over Wildlands Policy

    The U.S. Department of the Interior has received pushback from conservation groups that oppose five comment processes among three federal agencies as the DOI reviews policies affecting wilderness areas on public lands nationwide.

  • August 18, 2026

    Uber Eats To Pay $4.4M To End Seattle Wage Theft Claims

    Uber Eats will again fork out millions of dollars to settle allegations from Seattle officials that the food delivery giant failed to pay its couriers what they're owed under municipal app-based worker laws, the Seattle Office of Labor Standards announced Tuesday.

  • August 18, 2026

    Journalist Sues DHS, CBP Over Phone Seizure After Iran Trip

    An American journalist says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection violated his constitutional rights and federal privacy law when agents seized his phones at Dulles Airport after returning from a reporting trip to Iran, according to a suit filed Monday in Virginia federal court.

  • August 18, 2026

    At DC Circ., Pharma's Latest Pricing Loss Has Silver Linings

    The pharmaceutical industry's far-flung crusade against Medicare's new negotiation powers suffered a fresh setback Tuesday as the D.C. Circuit joined sister circuits in upholding the landmark pricing program, but the defeat contained consolation prizes that will fuel further litigation.

  • August 18, 2026

    Zuckerberg Waved Off Filter Criticism, Tenn. Jury Hears

    A former Meta executive overseeing responsible innovation testified Tuesday that Mark Zuckerberg iced out her thoughts regarding the harm to teens of cosmetic surgery image filters, but said generally the company's employees are well intentioned when it comes to user safety.

  • August 18, 2026

    'Profits Won': States Say Meta Targeted Kids As Trial Opens

    An attorney for more than two dozen states told a California federal jury during opening statements Tuesday that Meta hid what it knew about social media's mental health harms and prioritized profits over safety in a yearslong effort to hook kids on its platforms, while Meta defended its safety practices as best-in-class.

  • August 18, 2026

    Hesai Deprived Due Process Over DOD List, DC Circ. Says

    A D.C. Circuit panel held Tuesday that a Department of Defense decision to include Shanghai lidar-maker Hesai on a list of Chinese military companies didn't give the company due process, reversing a lower court's ruling while also allowing the designation to remain in effect.

  • August 18, 2026

    Big Tech, PTAB Attys Urge Justices To Fix USPTO Power Grab

    The Federal Circuit's refusal to curb the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director's power over instituting Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges has allowed leaders to "wreak havoc" without accountability, top tech companies have warned the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • August 18, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Clerk's Notice Fail Sank Fla. Funds Seizure

    The Eleventh Circuit ruled Monday that a Florida county court clerk violated the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments by taking funds deposited in a court registry as part of an eviction proceeding, because the clerk's notice to the owner of the funds was not reasonably calculated to reach him.

  • August 18, 2026

    Texas AG Asks 1st Circ. To Revive ActBlue Suit

    The Texas attorney general has asked the First Circuit to revive his Texas-based lawsuit against Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue after a Massachusetts federal court blocked it, saying the federal judge improperly stymied his state-based fraud claims.

  • August 18, 2026

    Microsoft Harvests K-12 Student Data, Class Action Claims

    Microsoft Corp.'s partnerships with K-12 schools in Washington have allowed the technology giant to collect and profit from swaths of personal student data in violation of state and federal law, according to a proposed class action filed by four minor students who attend public schools in Spokane, Washington.

  • August 18, 2026

    5th Circ. Rejects Texas Water Case Against River Authority

    The Fifth Circuit refused Tuesday to revive a private water utility's antitrust case targeting Texas' San Jacinto River Authority contract fees designed to reduce groundwater use, concluding that the contract was not designed to fix prices.  

  • August 18, 2026

    ATF's Ghost Gun Rule Found Unconstitutional By Texas Judge

    A Texas federal judge has ruled that a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule restricting so-called ghost gun kits violates the Second Amendment because it runs counter to America's colonial tradition of home gunsmithing.

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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