Public Policy

  • September 21, 2026

    'So What?': Judge Pans DOJ Bid To End TikTok Consent Decree

    A California federal judge said Monday he will not end a 2019 consent decree the government reached with TikTok Inc. predecessor Musical.ly over its collection of data on kids under 13 just because the U.S. Department of Justice is asking him to, saying the DOJ gave him no information about why he should.

  • September 21, 2026

    NJ Court Backs Arbitration Award Against Concrete Co.

    A New Jersey federal court on Monday upheld an arbitration award ordering a concrete supplier to rehire an employee who was fired after he tested positive for marijuana, rejecting the company's claim that an arbitrator exceeded her authority when issuing the award.

  • September 21, 2026

    Copyright Chief Firing Fight Paused Over Pending Legislation

    A D.C. federal judge has paused U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter's challenge to the Trump administration's attempt to fire her, saying pending legislation that would give the president authority to appoint the office's leader could have an "obvious effect" on the dispute.

  • September 21, 2026

    Mass. Court Affirms Toss Of Gun Evidence In 22-Judge Ruling

    An evenly split Massachusetts Appeals Court on Monday let stand a judge's suppression of a gun found by Boston police officers during an inventory search prior to a vehicle being towed, in a rare ruling involving all but three of the intermediate appellate court's 25 judges.

  • September 21, 2026

    CNN, Politico, MS Now Sue Trump Over White House Ban

    CNN, Politico and MS Now on Monday sued President Donald Trump and some of his top aides for banning them from the White House, telling a D.C. federal court the action constitutes a "direct assault on the First Amendment."

  • September 21, 2026

    STB Denies Bid To Halt UP-Norfolk Southern Merger Review

    The Surface Transportation Board will press ahead with its review of Union Pacific's proposed $85 billion merger with Norfolk Southern, denying requests from rival railroads and major freight rail shipping customers seeking to have the board stop the deal in its tracks.

  • September 21, 2026

    Bill Introduced To Return 18K Acres Of Fed Land To Ore. Tribe

    A federal bill introduced by Oregon lawmakers that will transfer more than 18,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service land to Oregon's Grand Ronde Tribe is set to be discussed before the U.S. Senate's Committee on Indian Affairs.

  • September 21, 2026

    US, China Officials Discuss Trade Ahead Of Trump, Xi Meeting

    U.S. and Chinese officials held talks in New York to discuss trade matters ahead of President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting this week, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said.

  • September 21, 2026

    Ohio Justices Nix Data Center Voter Poll Over Citizen Suits

    The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected a proposed ballot question that would change the zoning code in Wilmington, Ohio, and expand residents' lawsuit powers to enforce standards for data center developments, in a decision following a proposed $4 billion Amazon Web Services project in the area.

  • September 21, 2026

    DOJ Says 3 Noncitizens Face Charges For Voting In Ga.

    Three non-U.S. citizens have been criminally charged with voting illegally in federal elections in Georgia, federal prosecutors said. 

  • September 21, 2026

    HHS Defends Move To Limit Noncitizen Medicaid Benefits

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has urged a Washington federal court not to block provisions in the 2025 federal budget bill generally denying Medicaid benefits to noncitizens receiving supplemental security income, countering claims of conflicting statutory language.

  • September 21, 2026

    Varian, Gov't Appeal Foreign Dividend Decision To 9th Circ.

    Varian Medical Systems Inc. is appealing a U.S. Tax Court decision that it owes more than $7.2 million to the Internal Revenue Service as a result of the court limiting its deemed dividends deduction, while the government is also appealing, according to filings in the Ninth Circuit.

  • September 21, 2026

    SEC Prepares To Relax Fund Cross-Trading Limits

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has informed the White House that it plans to propose a regulation that could loosen the rules around cross-trading prohibitions, potentially allowing more securities to be traded between funds overseen by the same adviser.

  • September 21, 2026

    Minn. Tax Court Correct On Childcare Break, Justices Told

    A Minnesota childcare center was entitled to judicial review of the denial of a property tax exemption despite failing to meet an initial deadline, it told the state Supreme Court, urging the court to uphold a state tax court decision that allowed the break.

  • September 21, 2026

    New Calif. Law Bars Legal Funders From Influencing Litigation

    Corporate investors and litigation funders will be barred from influencing litigation strategy in California under a new bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

  • September 21, 2026

    IRS Asks 5th Circ. To Pause Microcaptive Rules Case

    The IRS asked the Fifth Circuit to stay briefing in a global tax services provider's bid to revive its challenge to the agency's reporting rules for microcaptive insurance companies pending the resolution of a related case before the appeals court.

  • September 21, 2026

    Minn. AG Says X Lacks Standing To Challenge Deepfake Law

    Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has urged a federal judge to dismiss X Corp.'s amended challenge to the state's election deepfake law, arguing Elon Musk's social media company still has not shown it faced a credible threat of prosecution.

  • September 21, 2026

    Malaysia, Indonesia Dumping Fatty Acids, Commerce Finds

    The U.S. Department of Commerce found that certain fatty acids imported from Malaysia and Indonesia have been sold at less than fair value, according to notices published Monday. 

  • September 21, 2026

    States Settle Challenge Of Paramount's Warner Bros. Deal

    State enforcers suing to block Paramount Skydance's planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery reached a settlement on Monday to end the case with a package of concessions.

  • September 21, 2026

    Feds Want Calif. Tribe's Wild Horse Consultation Claims Nixed

    The government is asking a federal court to toss claims of executive order violations in a California tribe's lawsuit over the removal of wild horses from a 200,000-acre protected habitat, arguing the complaint failed to identify a treaty, statute or regulation establishing a specific trust duty.

  • September 21, 2026

    Chinese Brake Drums Developed To Dodge Duties, US Says

    A type of brake drum imported from China was developed in order to wrongfully evade duty orders on such products from the country, the U.S. Department of Commerce preliminarily determined Monday.

  • September 21, 2026

    Cambodian Clothes Hangers Dodging China, Vietnam Duties

    Steel wire hangers completed in Cambodia using components from China and Vietnam and then exported to the U.S. are evading duties on the products from those two countries, the U.S. Department of Commerce found Monday.

  • September 18, 2026

    Maurene Comey Says DOJ's Firing Justification Is Off Base

    Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey on Friday urged a Manhattan federal judge to find the Trump administration unlawfully fired her due to its dislike of her father, former FBI director James Comey, saying there's no support for the claim that an AUSA can be terminated without cause.

  • September 18, 2026

    Facebook's Notes System Better Handles Misinfo, Exec Says

    Meta's chief product officer told a New Mexico jury Friday that Facebook's switch from fact-checkers to crowdsourced notes helped combat misinformation, but he was also grilled about a Mark Zuckerberg email that supposedly envisioned "tricking" users into public posting.

  • September 18, 2026

    Judge Nixes USDA's SNAP Deadline, Immigrant Benefit Rules

    An Oregon federal judge sided with a coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia that challenged the Trump administration's restrictions to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, ruling Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's guidance barring certain noncitizen immigrants from SNAP benefits was unlawful.

Expert Analysis

  • The Deep Split Over Mandatory Detention, And What's Next

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    The government’s mandatory detention policy for noncitizens who entered the U.S. without inspection has led to a spate of decisions this year, with nine circuits rejecting the government's reading of the Immigration and Nationality Act against two that have accepted it, making the issue ripe for U.S. Supreme Court review, says attorney Kemal Hepsen.

  • Intersecting Investigation Risks Loom In Next Congress

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    Taken together, two July D.C. Circuit decisions and a recent U.S. Department of Justice opinion on executive privilege may affect the procedural defenses and privilege protections available to targets of oversight in the upcoming Congress, and companies should begin preparing now, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • FTC Focus: A Shift In The Pricing Disclosure Terrain

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    Recent state and Federal Trade Commission developments spotlight materially different ways in which personalized pricing might be addressed, which could result in an increasingly fragmented regulatory landscape in which businesses face differing disclosure obligations and substantive restrictions depending upon the jurisdiction, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Attorneys Using AI May Have Ethical Duty To Redact Docs

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    The trajectory of legal ethics guidance in recent years strongly suggests that as redaction technology becomes more accessible, the failure to use it when uploading highly confidential materials into artificial intelligence tools will become increasingly difficult to defend as reasonable, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

  • Compliance Lessons From Agriculture Co. Mexican Bribe DPA

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    Agricultural company Scoular’s recently announced deferred prosecution agreement over alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations at the U.S.-Mexico border reinforces the U.S. Department of Justice’s focus on cartels, and companies must accordingly ensure they address risks associated with the use of customs brokers, says Adam Safwat at Foley Hoag.

  • OpenAI Deal Highlights AI Hiring Risks In PERM Process

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent settlement of allegations that OpenAI discriminated against U.S. applicants for positions connected to the permanent labor certification process underscores that employers providing or using artificial intelligence must align their recruitment practices with their overlapping compliance obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • 5 Practice Tips After DOJ's Healthcare Fraud Declination

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    In light of the U.S. Department of Justice's decision to not prosecute Campus Eye Management under the agency's new corporate enforcement and voluntary self-disclosure policy, healthcare companies should keep several considerations in mind when weighing their risk and self-disclosure strategy, including the distinctions between reporting to the DOJ versus other government agencies, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • What Bulk-Power Gear Import EO Means For US Energy Cos.

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    Though President Donald Trump's recent executive order restricting imports of foreign-produced bulk-power system electrical equipment imposes no immediate obligations on private parties, stakeholders can take near-term steps to mitigate supply chain and contractual risks, as much of the order's ultimate impact will depend on implementing regulations, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Assessing The Early Days Of Woodcock's SEC Tenure

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    Since David Woodcock took over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement four months ago, the division has pursued a scaled-back caseload centered on fraud and manipulative conduct, largely following the enforcement outlook that emerged under SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • AI And AML: Rulemakings Lean Into Responsible Innovation

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    Recent federal rulemaking increasingly supports deployment of artificial intelligence tools for anti-money laundering compliance purposes, and institutions that build clear use and governance frameworks will be best positioned to defend programs when AI systems err, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Series

    Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

  • Unpacking Texas' New Grid Reliability Rules For Data Centers

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    The Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ recently effective technical and compliance obligations, designed to prevent data centers and other large energy customers from causing cascading outages when they go offline, will challenge facilities to develop equipment and protocols to help protect the grid, says Casey Bell at Balch & Bingham.

  • Opinion

    Md. Court Got Ad Tax Similarity Analysis Wrong

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    Decisions striking Maryland’s digital advertising tax are fundamentally flawed because the Maryland Tax Court found similarity between digital ads and other ads without considering deep market distinctions, says Darien Shanske at UC Davis School of Law.

  • Opinion

    NC Litigation Funding Ban Sets Model For Other States

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    States worried about rising liability costs and the commercialization of their courts should treat North Carolina's recently enacted litigation funding ban as a model because a prohibition adequately addresses the distortion that disclosure only documents, say attorneys at McAngus Goudelock.

  • The Future Of DOL Judge Removal Challenges After Slaughter

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Trump v. Slaughter calls into question whether U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judges exercising significant governmental authority remain insulated from presidential removal, but the answer depends on the governing statute, its severability provisions and other factors, says Mark Ishu at Conn Maciel.

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