Public Policy

  • August 24, 2026

    Ill. Won't Hold Religious Docs To 'Aid-In-Dying' Law, For Now

    Illinois agreed not to force a group of religious healthcare providers to refer patients to "medical aid in dying" services, a form of care recently legalized by the state allowing certain terminally ill individuals to seek prescriptions for lethal medication to bring about their death.

  • August 24, 2026

    Feds Cut Colo. River Basin Water For 2 Years Amid Drought

    The U.S. Department of the Interior has finalized a 10-year framework for Colorado River operations that will reduce water delivery to Arizona, California and Nevada by 1.25 million acre-feet for two years, as reservoirs dive to lows not seen since their 1963 construction due to ongoing drought conditions.

  • August 24, 2026

    DOJ Says House Dems Can't Sue Over ICE Visit Notice Rule

    The U.S. Department of Justice has urged a federal appeals court to throw out a lawsuit brought by House Democrats challenging a policy that requires seven days' notice for congressional oversight visits to immigration detention facilities.

  • August 24, 2026

    US Cos. Protest Being Left Out Of Quartz Surface Tariff Probe

    The U.S. International Trade Commission wrongfully ignored wide domestic opposition to a safeguard investigation and ultimate establishment of tariffs on imports of quartz surface products, a group of American companies told the U.S. Court of International Trade, seeking an order spiking the tariff.

  • August 24, 2026

    W.Va. Residents Say Coal Co. Polluted Town's Water Supply

    Eighteen residents of Gary, West Virginia, hit Taishan Resources LLC with a citizen suit that accuses the company of negligently operating a surface coal mine and contaminating the town's drinking water.

  • August 24, 2026

    Legal Center Says DOJ Is Stonewalling Fund Records Request

    A voting rights nonprofit is accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of stonewalling a request for records on the Trump administration's attempted "anti-weaponization fund," claiming that the agency has spent the summer unlawfully ducking a Freedom of Information Act submission.

  • August 24, 2026

    Fla. College Protest Rule Blocked In 'ICEBreakers' Suit

    A Florida federal judge blocked a Miami college's rule restricting protest activities after it was used to discipline several students who staged a brief public demonstration against immigration tactics, finding that the regulation likely violates the First Amendment.

  • August 24, 2026

    Mass. Retailers Sue To Block Kratom Sales Emergency Ban

    Four Massachusetts store owners have asked a judge to find that the state's public health commissioner exceeded his authority with a one-year emergency ban on the sale of all kratom products set to take effect this week.

  • August 24, 2026

    Feds Propose New $103K Fee For H-1B Visa Petitions

    The Trump administration proposed a new rule Monday that would impose a roughly $103,000 fee for all H-1B visa petitions subject to government caps, separate from the $100,000 fee President Donald Trump announced last year via executive proclamation.

  • August 24, 2026

    Advocacy Groups Seek To Join ABC's Case Against FCC

    Two media advocacy groups said Monday they will seek to join a lawsuit that ABC recently filed in D.C. federal court against the Federal Communications Commission alleging First Amendment violations.

  • August 23, 2026

    US-Canada Trade Talks Crater Ahead Of 50% Tariffs

    Canada will place tariffs on American goods in response to 50% U.S. tariffs that took effect Saturday on goods arriving from across the Northern border after talks to strike a broader economic deal fell apart.

  • August 21, 2026

    75-Country Immigrant Visa Freeze Ruled 'Patently Unlawful'

    A New York federal judge on Friday struck down a U.S. Department of State policy that halted the issuance of visas to immigrants from 75 countries, finding the policy "patently unlawful" and in excess of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statutory authority.

  • August 21, 2026

    Banking Industry Pushes For Lighter Load On 'Camels'

    The banking industry is pressing federal regulators to beef up their plan to rein in confidential supervisory ratings that are used to score the health of banks, urging them to set sharper limits around downgrade decisions and potentially ditch management-specific ratings entirely.

  • August 21, 2026

    9th Circ. Rules Workers' Vaccine Bias Suit Must Go To Trial

    The Ninth Circuit ruled Friday that a jury must decide workers' religious-discrimination claims against the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, finding the lower court erred in concluding the agency accommodated the workers' religious-exemption requests from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate by offering them limited reassignment options.

  • August 21, 2026

    Split DC Circ. Nixes Damages Over Project Veritas Sting Video

    A split D.C. Circuit panel sided Friday with the founder and former CEO of conservative activist media group Project Veritas, reversing $130,000 in damages stemming from the group's sting operation on the liberal consulting firm Democracy Partners.

  • August 21, 2026

    Texas Hemp Cos. Bring New Challenge To Delta-8 Rules

    A group of companies in the hemp industry asked a Texas state court to pare back Department of State Health Services actions that curb delta-8 in hemp, taking another swing at agency rules after the Texas Supreme Court rejected a similar case.

  • August 21, 2026

    Wash. AG Pauses OG Case As 9th Circ. Weighs Preemption

    Washington's attorney general and its gambling commissioners have agreed to hold off on enforcing the state's gambling laws against prediction market platform OG, run by the North American Derivatives Exchange, while the Ninth Circuit decides related appeals that could resolve the underlying legal dispute.

  • August 21, 2026

    Vandy Law Grad Can Keep Hidden-Evidence Suit Against Attys

    A Connecticut federal judge ruled Friday that a Vanderbilt Law School graduate can continue a suit against the town of Westport and two attorneys who defended him in a criminal case when he was a teen and, he claims, helped cover up critical information — causing him to be incarcerated.

  • August 21, 2026

    9th Circ. Tosses Calif. Ghost Gun Suit Over Standing

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Friday vacated a lower court ruling that struck down part of a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ghost gun regulation, finding California and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence lacked standing to sue on the grounds that the regulation did not go far enough in defining various "ghost gun" parts.

  • August 21, 2026

    New SBA Rule May Send Applicants Back To Square One

    The U.S. Small Business Administration's new rule redefining eligibility for the agency's contracting program for disadvantaged small businesses is prompting those with pending applications to consider scrapping them and starting over, and future applicants now face a new and largely untested evidentiary standard.

  • August 21, 2026

    Kalshi Wants Wash. Ban Axed After State 'Blessed' Competitor

    Kalshi has urged a Washington state court to reconsider a recent order blocking the company from offering event contracts to the state's residents in most of its prediction market categories, raising equitable findings concerns and pointing to Washington's recent "blessing" of event contracts offered by one of Kalshi's competitors.

  • August 21, 2026

    Divided 2nd Circ. Backs DQ Of Acting NDNY US Attorney

    The Second Circuit on Friday upheld a lower court's decision that found the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, John Sarcone III, was unlawfully serving in his position when he obtained grand jury subpoenas of the New York attorney general's office.

  • August 21, 2026

    Mich. Homeowners Say Grid Overseer Exceeded Its Power

    A Michigan couple on Friday urged a federal judge to keep their lawsuit against state utility regulators alive, arguing a state-approved mandate should not give power companies a "blank check" to enter private property and cut down trees without an easement.

  • August 21, 2026

    Albertsons Twists Record In Opioid Trial Motion, Wash. Says

    Washington state is urging a Seattle judge to reject Albertsons' latest dismissal bid in a suit accusing the grocery giant of fueling the state's opioid epidemic, arguing the motion rehashes failed arguments and distorts evidence presented over the past five weeks in an ongoing bench trial.

  • August 21, 2026

    Verdict Bars Ex-Fla. Rep's 'Sham' Contract Claim, Oil Co. Says

    The U.S. affiliate of Venezuela's state oil company urged a New York federal court Friday to toss a former Florida congressman's counterclaim alleging he's still owed $30 million under a consulting contract, saying his conviction on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent shows the agreement was a "sham."

Expert Analysis

  • NY Bill Would Boost Litigation Risk For Cosmetics Cos.

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    The Beauty Justice Act, now pending in the New York Legislature, would not only present compliance challenges for companies making cosmetics and personal care products, but could also be used by private plaintiffs to bring consumer fraud, false advertising, toxic exposure and product liability claims, says Kadeejah Kelly-Previl at Faegre Drinker.

  • Appellate Vape Rulings May Expand State Regulation Powers

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    Two recent federal appeals courts decisions rejecting Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act preemption challenges to state electronic nicotine delivery systems directory laws signal an emerging appellate consensus that could significantly expand states' power to regulate vaping product sales where federal enforcement falls short, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Parsing Gov't Scrutiny Of Lending To Unauthorized Workers

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    Attorneys at Mayer Brown explain guidance recently issued by three banking regulators that addresses risks associated with lending to so-called non-work authorized individuals and discuss what the regulatory update could mean for fintech companies.

  • Discovery Into Insurers' AI Use Should Stay Proportional

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    As insurers increasingly use artificial intelligence to make claim decisions, plaintiffs in first-party coverage litigation should seek discovery that tracks how materially the automated system influenced the challenged decision, not whether the insurer used AI somewhere in its operations, says attorney Joe Zaid.

  • How FCC Covered List Blitz Is Sidelining Commerce Dept.

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    The swath of recent Federal Communications Commission rulemakings raises serious questions about the purpose and future of Commerce's Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, and how the U.S. government will go forward in imposing national security regulation on domestic applications of adversary-linked technologies, says Peter Jeydel at Troutman.

  • DOJ Healthcare Declination Offers Self-Disclosure Checklist

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's declination of criminal charges against Campus Eye Management signals that its new self-disclosure policy provides a real path for healthcare companies to avoid criminal exposure, but that path is paved with speed, transparency and operational remediation, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • SEC Rulemaking Radar: The Rubber Meets The Road

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rulemaking agenda shows its regulatory reset taking shape, with sweeping crypto proposals that could bring the biggest changes it has made to broker-dealer, exchange and trading compliance in decades, says Christopher Grobbel at Goodwin.

  • Monitor Exposure, Stay Flexible Amid Tariff Uncertainty

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    To navigate an unstable trade environment, businesses must evaluate their exposure to new tariffs invoked under a patchwork of statutory authorities and be prepared to adapt to further changes that may be on the horizon, says Bhargav Prajapati at Capital Trade.

  • CFPB Complaint Portal Overhaul Signals Changing Priorities

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's updates to its consumer complaint portal and decision to cease publishing consumer complaint narratives should be viewed by companies as one component of a larger recalibration of how the CFPB collects information and allocates its supervisory and enforcement resources, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Opinion

    Correctional Healthcare Requires Clearer Legal Standards

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    As the correctional healthcare industry increasingly faces financial instability due to litigation, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons should develop clear standards for constitutionally adequate care for incarcerated patients, says Susanne Moore at Blackstone Trial Group.

  • 6 Risk Areas Future Fla. Stablecoin Issuers Should Plan For

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    Companies hoping to issue stablecoins under Florida’s new supervision regime should prioritize constructing robust risk management architecture across key areas before the Oct. 1 effective date so they can secure licenses, avoid a web of potential liabilities, and operate sustainably as state and federal regulations evolve, says Elizabeth Brusa at Shumaker.

  • 6 Key Takeaways From CFIUS Annual Report

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    Attorneys at Simpson Thacher review highlights from the annual report of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., released to Congress this month, including the launch of the American First Investment Policy and the Known Investor Pilot Program, and the agency's continued focus on enforcement despite its resource constraints.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Surviving A Long Trial

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    Most of law school trial advocacy is geared toward the sprint of trying a short case, but beyond managing a cross-examination or closing argument, effectively handling the marathon of a lengthy trial requires the ability to maintain composure, organization and credibility with the jury, says Mihir Elchuri at Hirschler.

  • AI Chatbot's Medical Claims Highlight Enforcement Risks

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    The Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine's recent lawsuit against Character Technologies, arguing that an artificial intelligence chatbot engaged in the unlicensed practice of medicine, may provide other state licensing boards with a road map for going after AI platforms, and counsel should advise clients to calibrate compliance accordingly, say attorneys at Cooley.

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