Public Policy

  • July 23, 2026

    Judge Would Void Order Halting RI Pot Licensure

    A court order blocking Rhode Island's social equity and adult-use cannabis licensing program will likely come to an end after a federal judge indicated that she would undo her prior ruling, if given the opportunity, since lawmakers have removed the challenged residency requirements.

  • July 23, 2026

    Colo. Nonprofit Says ICE Facility Violates Town's Land Codes

    A nonprofit and a resident of Hudson, Colorado, claimed in Colorado state court Wednesday that the town is ignoring its own land use codes by allowing a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center to be built and operated within the city, and is using federal preemption as an excuse to not act.

  • July 23, 2026

    Creek Freedmen Sue Tribe To Enforce Citizenship Ruling

    Members of the Muscogee Creek Black Freedmen are asking a federal court to block officials with Oklahoma's Muscogee (Creek) Nation from denying them citizenship, saying in a lawsuit brought Thursday that those governmental leaders are defying a tribal Supreme Court ruling that gave them the right.

  • July 23, 2026

    Red States Back DOT In DC Circ. Immigrant Driver Rule Fight

    Florida and 22 other GOP-leaning states have urged the D.C. Circuit to uphold the U.S. Department of Transportation's new restrictions on commercial drivers' licenses for foreign truckers, saying motorists and highways must be protected from threats posed by large commercial vehicles driven by unqualified truckers.

  • July 23, 2026

    Squires To Review 2024 PTAB Ax That Followed Vidal Ruling

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires on Thursday said he is going to review a 2-year-old Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that found claims in an EagleView Technologies patent on measuring roofs to be invalid.

  • July 23, 2026

    Judge OKs $27.5M Cost Agreement For Calif. Cleanup Suit

    A California federal judge Wednesday approved a $27.5 million agreement a Golden State regulator and seven companies submitted for litigation over the cleanup of a former lead smelting and battery recycling facility near Los Angeles.

  • July 23, 2026

    Mich. Parent Tells 6th Circ. School Limited Her Free Speech

    Counsel for a Michigan parental rights advocate told a Sixth Circuit panel on Thursday that a cease and desist letter from a Lowell Area Schools administrator barring her from contacting teachers directly violated the parent's First Amendment rights, even though the letter provided a process for Stefanie Boone to communicate through administrators.

  • July 23, 2026

    DraftKings Fights Uphill To Beat Suit Over Calif. Gambling Law

    U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer said Thursday he's inclined to deny DraftKings' bid to toss a putative class action accusing the sportsbook of skirting California gambling laws, saying he thinks the plaintiff consumers have sufficiently alleged a monetary injury — and that the games are likely prohibited by state law.

  • July 23, 2026

    House Panel Summons CEOs Over Private Listing Partnership

    A House antitrust subcommittee requested a briefing with Midwest Real Estate Data CEO Rebecca Jensen and Compass International Holdings CEO Robert Reffkin over their companies' private listing partnership.

  • July 23, 2026

    Hawaii, Green Groups Fight EPA Rebuff Of Regional Haze Plan

    Hawaii and environmental groups asked the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to overturn a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decision to partially reject a plan the Aloha State submitted to improve air quality in national parks that would have retired some older power plants.

  • July 23, 2026

    Colo. Panel Clarifies Worker Retaliation Claim Requirements

    The Colorado Court of Appeals held for the first time Thursday that two Colorado statutes meant to close gender pay gaps do not require workers to allege gender discrimination, partially reviving a former human services caseworker's retaliation case against the county department she had worked for.

  • July 23, 2026

    Domino's Noncompete Rules Illegal In Wash., Ex-Worker Says

    Domino's Pizza LLC illegally blocked its Washington workers from moonlighting at certain businesses, a former employee claimed in a proposed class action filed Tuesday, alleging that a company conflict-of-interest policy violated two state laws barring many noncompete agreements.

  • July 23, 2026

    PTAB Eligibility Affirmance Rate Fell After Squires Took Over

    Early data on Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions on patent eligibility determinations by examiners shows a slight dip in the affirmance rate under U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires, according to an analysis by McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP.

  • July 23, 2026

    Colo. Says Space Command Move Part Of Trump Retaliation

    Colorado has urged a federal judge to reject the Trump administration's bid to pare the state's lawsuit alleging the relocation of U.S. Space Command and other federal actions were part of a campaign to punish Colorado over its mail-in voting policies and an election-related prosecution.

  • July 23, 2026

    Pa. AG Criticizes 'Inadequate' Felony Murder Sentence Bill

    Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday has urged lawmakers to reject a proposed new sentencing framework for people convicted of second-degree murder, calling a proposal amended Thursday too lenient even as a deadline set by the state's Supreme Court draws near.

  • July 23, 2026

    US To Impose Widespread Tariffs As Temporary Duties Expire

    Tariffs covering most imports into the U.S. at 10% and 12.5% will take effect Friday as President Donald Trump's temporary global duty expires, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Thursday.

  • July 23, 2026

    Brazil Wants Crackdown On Alleged Media Rights Cartel

    Antitrust authorities in Brazil on Thursday called for a slew of convictions against what it described as an international cartel that colluded to fix prices and suppress competition in the market for sports broadcasting rights.

  • July 23, 2026

    Kate Hudson Activewear Customer Drops Tariff Refund Claim

    A customer of Kate Hudson's activewear business Fabletics has dropped her claim for refunds of global tariffs she alleged the actress's company passed on to customers before the U.S. Supreme Court found them illegal.

  • July 23, 2026

    Trump Admin Sued Over Fee Waiver Ban For Immigrant Youth

    Advocacy groups sued the Trump administration in California federal court Wednesday over a fee waiver ban following the enactment of the 2025 budget reconciliation bill that imposes a $250 fee for indigent youth seeking special immigrant juvenile status, even though they have no legal means of earning income.

  • July 23, 2026

    HUD Says States Aren't Harmed By Fair Housing Standards

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development told a California federal court to toss a suit filed by the District of Columbia and 15 states over past standards for receiving funding for fair housing enforcement, arguing that the plaintiffs lack Article III standing because they have not shown how they have been harmed by the funding standards.

  • July 23, 2026

    Lack Of Jurisdiction Dooms $273M 'Rip And Replace' Suit

    The Court of Federal Claims has tossed a complaint from a telecom that says the Federal Communications Commission wrongly denied it $273 million in "rip and replace" funds for replacing Chinese-made equipment, saying that the company's dispute belongs in federal appeals court.

  • July 23, 2026

    BIA Justice Office Says Cocaine Ring Hit SD Reservation

    The Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Justice Services says it has dismantled a trafficking operation responsible for distributing cocaine throughout South Dakota and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation that has led to the indictments of 14 people and the seizure of narcotics, guns and cash.

  • July 23, 2026

    DOJ Looks To Streamline Some Merger Reviews

    The U.S. Department of Justice introduced a new model timing agreement for merger reviews on Thursday, as part of what it said was an effort to help antitrust enforcers focus their investigations on key issues early in the process.

  • July 23, 2026

    Feds Withdraw Subpoenas To NYT Over Trump Jet Reporting

    The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office on Thursday withdrew grand jury subpoenas served on four New York Times journalists who reported on security flaws aboard a jet gifted to President Donald Trump for use as Air Force One, after a federal judge threatened to quash the inquiries.

  • July 23, 2026

    7th Circ. Backs Chicago's Tenant Payout Ordinance

    The Seventh Circuit held Wednesday that a Chicago ordinance requiring owners of foreclosed rental buildings to pay tenants $10,600 to help with relocation costs is not an unconstitutional taking of property, saying that state and local authorities have broad power to regulate landlord-tenant relationships.

Expert Analysis

  • Preparing For Next Congress With Eye On Investigation Risk

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    Rod Rosenstein, Brian Whisler and Bruce Linskens at Baker McKenzie offer advice for organizations seeking to build a proactive response plan to potential congressional oversight as the election looms.

  • Asylum Ruling Signals Larger Separation Of Powers Battle

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado that border officials may turn away asylum-seekers without inspection is part of a broader conversation about the reach of institutional safeguards that subject governmental authority to legal constraint, says Dree Collopy at American University's Washington College of Law.

  • Solar's Momentum At Mid-2026 Will Help It Overcome Snags

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    The rapid expansion of U.S. solar development in the first half of 2026 is likely to continue its pace, even amid ongoing shifts in federal trade policy and supply chain regulations, obstacles to permitting reform, and an increasing divide between states enacting policies to encourage or stymie project development, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • The Debanking Minefield: Navigating Fair Access In 2026

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    Federal regulators' recent elimination of reputational risk from bank supervision, alongside a growing patchwork of state fair access laws, is reshaping how banks make account and service decisions and ushering in a new compliance era requiring individualized, objective and risk-based access determinations, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • Carbon Health Settlement Highlights Why Evidence Is Key

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    The California Attorney General's Office's first-of-its-kind settlement with Carbon Health, imposing penalties for alleged corporate practice of medicine violations, shows that friendly professional corporation challenges usually hinge not on the parties' management services agreement, but on whether the operational record matches it, says Ben Dubin at VC Expert Services.

  • What PE Practitioners Need To Know About New Del. ABC Act

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    Delaware's new Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors statute represents a structural shift in how companies backed by private equity can be wound down and provides a more streamlined tool for managing sponsor liability without the public visibility of a bankruptcy proceeding, says Evelyn Meltzer at Troutman Pepper.

  • How To Brace For A Potential Democratic Oversight Push

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    With the possibility of a shift in congressional control after the November midterm elections, companies and their general counsel should prepare now by mapping oversight exposure, reviewing government interactions, preserving records and developing coordinated communications strategies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Opinion

    Labor Contract Bill Would Introduce Sweeping Risks For Cos.

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    The House-approved Faster Labor Contracts Act would force rapid first-contract bargaining, subject businesses to binding arbitration over key workplace terms, and create major uncertainty for nonunion companies, making it crucial for employers to assess their exposure and mitigate the risks now, say attorneys at FBT Gibbons.

  • Fed Autonomy Rests On Narrow Exception After Justices Rule

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Trump v. Cook and Trump v. Slaughter expand presidential removal power while temporarily preserving the Federal Reserve’s independence, but there is uncertainty about which of the Fed’s authorities fall within the court’s narrow monetary-policy exception, says Keith Bradley at Squire Patton.

  • Assessing New Risks After The End Of The SEC's Gag Rule

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent rescission of its long-standing no‑deny gag rule marks a transition from a regime of enforced silence to one of strategic communication, meaning the question is no longer simply whether to settle, but how to manage the narrative that follows, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • New Pipeline Repair Rules Shift Burden To Engineer Judgment

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    A proposal from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to allow operators more flexibility to make analysis-informed repair choices, rather than hew to long-standing prescriptive criteria, could make documenting the engineer’s decision-making process as important to compliance as the ultimate repair performed, says Ahuva Battams at Beatty & Wozniak.

  • Series

    Being A Magician Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I've developed as a lifelong magician have translated directly into tangible benefits in the courtroom because performing magic and trying cases both live at the intersection of psychology, storytelling, timing and disciplined rehearsal, says Mark Dombroff at Fox Rothschild.

  • What Ga. Stablecoin Licensing Law Means For Payments Cos.

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    Georgia recently enacted one of the first state-level licensing frameworks for stablecoin issuance aligned with the Genius Act, which may appeal to eligible companies by making licensure accessible to nondepository entities and potentially offering easier access to regulatory guidance, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Illinois Audit Law Will Make AI Clauses Actually Enforceable

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    A law recently enacted in Illinois creates a first-in-the-nation requirement for artificial intelligence developers to undergo annual audits, providing objective standards that can be incorporated into private contracts and addressing the problem of defining responsible AI use, says William Tanenbaum at Moses & Singer.

  • Opinion

    Shareholder Derivative Litigation Needs A Better Framework

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    Uncoordinated, multiforum shareholder derivative litigation is a growing issue for corporate defendants that have little to no recourse for organizing and consolidating actions, but several commonsense steps should be utilized to preempt such disputes, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

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