Public Policy

  • September 24, 2026

    5 Circuit Splits To Watch At The High Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court has been deciding fewer and fewer cases over the past three decades, with its caseload reaching a historic low just last term. While attorneys believe several factors have contributed to that trend, they say one of the most consequential is the court's apparent declining interest in resolving circuit splits. 

  • September 24, 2026

    Texas Utility Commission Looks To Quash Coal Subpoena

    The Public Utility Commission of Texas is pushing back against a subpoena issued by BlackRock in a suit from Republican state attorneys general accusing asset managers of driving up coal prices by pressuring producers to lower their output to meet emission reduction goals.

  • September 24, 2026

    Squires Undoes 2024 PTAB Invalidation Of EagleView Patent

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has thrown out a two-year-old Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that found claims in an EagleView Technologies patent on measuring roofs to be invalid.

  • September 24, 2026

    EPA Cuts Deal To Partially Settle U. Of Calif. Grant Fight

    University of California researchers urged a California federal judge Wednesday to preliminarily sign off on their proposed deal to resolve claims against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in broader litigation challenging the Trump administration's termination of thousands of UC grants.

  • September 24, 2026

    Nonprofits, Voters Seek To Stymie NC's New Mail Ballot Rules

    Nonprofit groups and two voters are asking a North Carolina federal judge to block the Tar Heel State's new mail-in ballot restrictions ahead of the November midterm elections, saying the rules threaten to disenfranchise eligible voters over "innocuous, technical errors."

  • September 24, 2026

    Colo. Seeks Toss Of ICE Contractor's Inspection Law Suit

    The Colorado attorney general and state health officials are defending a new state health inspection law governing an immigration detention center in Aurora, urging a Colorado federal court to toss much of The GEO Group Inc.'s lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality.

  • September 24, 2026

    Congressional Probes Raise Legal, 'Reputational' Risks

    An array of companies and executives may face investigations over their dealings with the Trump administration if Democrats take control of Congress, raising the possibility that some may refuse to comply. But experts say holding out hope for a mass pardon or expecting the Justice Department not to pursue contempt charges is a risky bet.

  • September 24, 2026

    CIT Judge Threatens Sanctions Over Possible Hallucinations

    A U.S. Court of International Trade judge ordered a Chinese company and its counsel to explain, under threat of sanctions, the inclusion of "outlandish" and possibly hallucinated claims in its challenge of an antidumping duty on boom lifts and other mobile access equipment.

  • September 24, 2026

    Holland & Knight Hires Defense Lobbyist As Partner In DC

    A former U.S. Department of Defense senior official, who has more than 15 years of national security, economic security and government affairs experience as an attorney, lobbyist, regulator and diplomat, has joined Holland & Knight LLP, the firm recently announced.

  • September 24, 2026

    Pipeline Groups Say Enbridge Ruling Weakens Tribal Deals

    Two oil and gas industry groups have urged the Seventh Circuit to reconsider part of its ruling that Enbridge Energy is trespassing on Wisconsin tribal lands, arguing that the decision could make long-term pipeline agreements with tribes less reliable.

  • September 24, 2026

    Ind. Tax Court Rules Nestle Facility Accurately Assessed

    A Nestle facility in Indiana was correctly assessed from 2018 through 2023 at roughly $50 million, the state tax court said, rejecting the company's claim that the state tax board failed to properly consider its own appraisal.

  • September 24, 2026

    Judge Dubious Of DOJ Offer On Harvard Admissions Data

    A Massachusetts federal judge appeared skeptical Thursday of assertions by a Trump administration lawyer that the government was always willing to negotiate with Harvard University before bringing a lawsuit seeking a decade's worth of admissions data for hundreds of thousands of applicants.

  • September 24, 2026

    New Eastern La. Judge's 5th Circ. Bid Goes To Full Senate

    U.S. District Judge Anna St. John of the Eastern District of Louisiana, who was confirmed to her current post in March, is one step closer to being elevated to the federal appeals bench.

  • September 24, 2026

    Sen. Hyde-Smith's Opponent Seeks Blue-Slip Transparency

    Four years ago, Scott Colom — the son of the first African American elected to the chancery bench in her region of Mississippi — was nominated for a federal judgeship. Now he's running for Senate against the senator who blocked his confirmation.

  • September 24, 2026

    Cayuga Tribe Fights to Keep Caesars Sports Betting Suit Alive

    The Cayuga Nation is asking a district court to reject a bid by Caesars Sportsbook to dismiss the tribe's lawsuit, arguing that the gambling giant's arguments largely rest on a misplaced premise that its New York gambling license allows it to accept wagers from every location within the state.

  • September 24, 2026

    White House Must Restore Press Passes To CNN, Others

    A D.C. federal judge ordered the White House to immediately reinstate White House access for CNN, Politico and MS Now on Thursday morning, writing that the outlets were likely to succeed in claiming that their abrupt ban from the building last week violated their Fifth Amendment procedural due process rights.

  • September 23, 2026

    NM Offers Infernal Literature Lesson In Meta Trial Closing

    New Mexico wrapped its data privacy trial against Meta on Wednesday by likening the social media company's alleged habitual lying about data protection to the worst of sins in Dante's "Inferno," asking the jury, "Does lying matter?"

  • September 23, 2026

    Newman's Roadblocks Guide Judicial Conduct Reform Bill

    The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act has worked well in allowing the judicial branch to govern itself for nearly 50 years, but the ongoing suspension of Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has exposed gaps that could be addressed with newly introduced legislation, attorneys say.

  • September 23, 2026

    Oakland Beats ADA Challenge To Rent Control Program

    Oakland city officials beat a proposed class action alleging its rent control program discriminatorily excludes tenants with mobility disabilities since few units under the program are accessible, after a California federal judge said Wednesday there are other options that could address disparate impacts without violating the state's rent control law.

  • September 23, 2026

    NY's Landmark Climate Change Superfund Blocked Again

    Another New York federal judge on Wednesday agreed with the federal government that the Empire State overstepped its authority with its Climate Change Superfund Act, the second such ruling on the state's landmark attempt to collect payments from fossil fuel companies to fund climate change mitigation efforts.

  • September 23, 2026

    WH Aide Says CFTC Needs Congress For Full Crypto Powers

    A White House crypto aide said Wednesday that Congress' failure to pass the Clarity Act leaves the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission without authority over spot crypto markets, which could limit the agency's plans to stand up a digital asset framework in the absence of crypto market structure legislation.

  • September 23, 2026

    Colo. Town Says Agenda Change Didn't Void Closed Meeting

    A Colorado Court of Appeals panel appeared skeptical Wednesday that an improperly noticed meeting revokes the privacy privilege of an executive session held at the meeting in a town's appeal of a lower court's order to make what was discussed during the session public.

  • September 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Grounds Suit Over Wash. Airport Flight Path Pollution

    A Ninth Circuit panel said Wednesday that a provision of the Clean Air Act limiting state regulation of aircraft emissions is enough to extinguish a group of Washington residents' proposed class action against Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's operator over alleged flight path pollution.

  • September 23, 2026

    Squires Wants Even More Review Of Patent From $253M Case

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director again intervened in a case stemming from a Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of patent claims in a $253 million judgment against GoDaddy, asking the Federal Circuit to remand an appeal over a decision by top judges that revived the claims.

  • September 23, 2026

    Judge Won't Block Feds' Land Exchange With SpaceX

    SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can proceed with their planned land swap after a Texas federal judge determined that the groups challenging the deal failed to show that their members would suffer irreparable injury as a result of the exchange.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Structuring Space Nuclear Deals For Regulatory Risk

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    With the White House's recent focus on space nuclear power, a highly important question for companies that want to build orbital reactors, lunar surface systems or critical components is whether the transaction documents can handle foreign investment constraints, export controls and treaty-linked liability, says Kristie Blase at Frazer + Blase.

  • Proof, Not Just Timing, Will Decide Clean Energy Credits

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    For wind and solar projects that sprinted to begin construction before the accelerated placed-in-service deadline of July 4, project owners must now assemble and maintain documentation to qualify the project and defend against a potential clean energy credit audit, says Peter Lowy at Nelson Mullins.

  • Coordinating Life Sciences IP Strategies In The US And EU

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    As postgrant practice for life sciences patents is restructured in the U.S. and European Union simultaneously, patent owners will need to implement transatlantic coordination that treats international proceedings as components of a single intellectual property risk architecture, says Paul Calvo at Sterne Kessler.

  • Texas Business Court Rulings Show Deal Terms Paramount

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    As the courts within the Texas Business Court system have begun reaching the substantive merits of the cases before them, they are persuasively demonstrating they will not only enforce the terms of transactions as written, but will also embrace a holistic approach to complex transaction documentation interpretation, says Christopher Pace at Winston Taylor.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The year's second quarter brought several noteworthy financial services developments to California, including activity around a commercial finance oversight bill, the former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head's appointment to lead a new consumer agency, and a ruling reinforcing viable bank-fintech partnerships, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Trademark Law As A Tool To Bolster NIL Rights Against AI

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    The meteoric rise of artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes is prompting high-profile celebrities to protect their name, image and likeness rights using federal trademark law — a powerful yet limited supplement to traditional NIL claims, says Susan Natland at BakerHostetler.

  • What Ex-CFPB Head's Calif. Role May Foretell For Oversight

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    California Gov. Gavin Newsom's selection of former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra to lead a new consumer agency signals tougher state financial services oversight, especially for fintechs, as well as heightened enforcement activity and larger penalties, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

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