Public Policy

  • October 01, 2026

    Pa. Justices Keep But Decry $250K Damages Cap In $7M Case

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has opted to preserve the $250,000 limit on damages claims against state agencies, with the majority of justices rejecting a constitutional challenge to the cap because it doesn't impede a plaintiff's right to a jury trial, only the amount of recovery.

  • October 01, 2026

    Blue States Fight EPA Rollback Of Power Plant Climate Rules

    A New York-led coalition of mostly Democratic states and municipalities lodged a petition on Thursday before the D.C. Circuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent repeal of Biden-era limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants.

  • October 01, 2026

    CFPB Couldn't Verify Security Of Tech Left In Offices, IG Says

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau left computer equipment sitting in its now-closed regional offices for more than a year and a half without confirming that the hardware, and any sensitive material on it, was locked down, a federal watchdog said Thursday.

  • October 01, 2026

    Dems Want FHFA To Restore Internal Watchdog's Funding

    A group of 11 Democratic U.S. Senators told the Federal Housing Finance Agency not to proceed with "unlawfully slashing" the FHFA's Office of Inspector General budget for fiscal year 2027.

  • October 01, 2026

    Colo. Energy Rules Can't Shake Federal Preemption Suit

    A federal court allowed real estate industry groups' suit challenging Colorado's and Denver's building energy-performance standards to move forward, finding the groups plausibly alleged the regulations are preempted by federal law governing appliance efficiency standards while tossing their claims about consumer appliances as untimely.

  • October 01, 2026

    NY, Wyo. To Collaborate For Faster Crypto Reviews, Exams

    Financial regulators in New York and Wyoming on Thursday said they have agreed to collaborate on crypto oversight in ways that could cut down on duplicative review processes and exams for fintechs operating in both states.

  • October 01, 2026

    Calif. Judge Vacates Trump's $100K H-1B Fee Policies

    A California federal judge has vacated the implementing policies underlying President Donald Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee, saying the federal agencies charged with implementing the fee ran afoul of rulemaking procedures required by the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • October 01, 2026

    11th Circ. Told Maduro Owes $217M, Not Venezuelan Oil Co.

    Venezuela's state oil company told the Eleventh Circuit that it shouldn't be forced to pay a $217 million judgment owed to the family of a political opposition leader who was tortured and killed by his government, arguing Thursday that it was never an agent of former dictator Nicolás Maduro. 

  • October 01, 2026

    Flint Beats Protest Claims After Lawyer Disqualified

    A Michigan federal judge has dismissed a civil rights suit accusing Flint officials and police officers of violating protesters' constitutional rights during a 2025 march, months after the judge disqualified the protesters' attorney over his connection to a law firm barred from practicing in Michigan courts.

  • October 01, 2026

    Colo. Judge Needs More Info In Energy Agency Records Fight

    A Colorado state judge said Thursday that she needs additional briefing before deciding if the deliberative process privilege under the state's open records law shields the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission from providing meeting minutes sought after in a public records request.

  • October 01, 2026

    4 Questions About EU And Canada's Vow To Strengthen Ties

    The European Union's invitation for Canada to become an associate member of the bloc raises questions about the potential practical and political ramifications of such an effort. From technical details on what that membership might look like to political obstacles and how the U.S. fits in, here are four questions facing the endeavor.

  • October 01, 2026

    7th Circ. Won't Rehear Enbridge's Wis. Tribal Trespass Fight

    The Seventh Circuit has refused to rehear Enbridge Energy's petition seeking to overturn a decision that its Line 5 pipeline is trespassing on Wisconsin tribal lands, but also sent back to a lower court a $5.2 million restitution order for a portion of the pipeline's removal.

  • October 01, 2026

    Kalshi Looks To Shield Sports Offerings At 2nd Circ.

    Prediction market giant Kalshi has asked the Second Circuit to shield its sports offerings from Connecticut gaming enforcers, drilling down on its position that those offerings ought to be immune from state scrutiny.

  • October 01, 2026

    Exit Interview: SEC's Hester Peirce On Crypto, Clarity And AI

    Outgoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce doesn't mind being referred to as "Crypto Mom" for her work championing the industry, but she thinks investors should know: "The government is never your mom."

  • October 01, 2026

    Walmart Hit With New Tariff Suit As Refund Blitz Continues

    Walmart must compensate customers who "bore the economic burden" of Trump administration tariffs before the U.S. Supreme Court struck them down in February, according to a proposed class action in Connecticut federal court that claims the retail behemoth has no plans to share its $2.9 billion refund.

  • October 01, 2026

    Ga. City Fired Worker Who Reported Harassment, Suit Says

    A Georgia city has been sued in federal court by a former employee who said she was smeared in a local newspaper by colleagues before accusing a city manager of sexual harassment and getting fired for speaking up.

  • October 01, 2026

    Ex-DOJ Atty Reopens Practice, Starts Consulting Firm

    A former U.S. Department of Justice official announced Thursday that he has returned to private practice at the law firm he founded.

  • October 01, 2026

    Pa. Justices Back Transit Prosecutor Law Challenged By DA

    The Pennsylvania Legislature's creation of a "special prosecutor" to address Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's allegedly unsatisfactory handling of crime in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority does not run afoul of the state constitution because of the city's special status, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

  • October 01, 2026

    Pentagon Calls Stars And Stripes Its Own Government Speech

    Military newspaper Stars and Stripes qualifies as government speech and can therefore be controlled without violating the First Amendment, according to the new brief from the U.S. Department of Defense and top Pentagon brass in their bid for a summary judgment win over members of the paper's board.

  • October 01, 2026

    Blackburn Holds Up White House's Tenn. Judge Pick

    The White House is standing by its nominee for a federal judgeship in the Eastern District of Tennessee amid a holdup from Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a White House official confirmed to Law360 on Thursday.

  • October 01, 2026

    Airlines' Fight Over Colo. Sick Leave Law Heads To Trial

    A Colorado federal court has sent an airline industry group's challenge to the state's paid sick leave law to trial, finding that competing expert testimony about whether the law increases employee absences and disrupts airline services creates factual disputes that a judge cannot resolve before trial.

  • October 01, 2026

    Judge Reinstates Rogoff As Seattle US Atty After Trump Firing

    A Washington federal judge issued an order from the bench on Thursday reinstating Roger Rogoff as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, finding that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he fired him in July.

  • October 01, 2026

    Ga. Official Defeats DOJ Bid To Force Handover Of Voter Info

    A federal judge threw out a U.S. Department of Justice suit seeking to force Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to hand over an unredacted copy of the state's voter registration list, unpersuaded by the federal government's claims that the state's failure to produce the records was unlawful.

  • October 01, 2026

    Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

    State enforcers settled their case challenging Paramount Skydance's planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, while the U.S. Department of Justice probes Fox's planned $22 billion deal for Roku and regulators review massive deals in the energy and railroad sectors.

  • October 01, 2026

    Ore. Tax Break Denied For Homeowner Living Out Of State

    An Oregon homeowner staying in Washington state to care for her 82-year-old brother is ineligible for a property tax deferral because she doesn't live in the Oregon home, a state court ruled, rejecting her plea for a health exemption to the residency requirement.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Cert. Denials Keep Personal Jurisdiction Issues Percolating

    Author Photo

    After the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Ford Motor v. Montana and Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway expanded limits on personal jurisdiction, the justices' denials this term of four certiorari petitions suggest they are content to let jurisdiction questions brew in lower courts before weighing in, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • CFPB Fair Lending Litigation Reveals Compliance Complexity

    Author Photo

    A recent legal challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's fair lending amendments underscores continuing uncertainty over disparate impact liability, discouragement standards and special purpose credit programs, signaling that financial services providers should avoid hasty compliance changes, say attorneys at Weiner Brodsky.

  • Ensuring Eligibility For Data Center Sales Tax Breaks

    Author Photo

    As states compete to lure data centers, sales tax exemptions are an important component of many incentive packages — but companies must ensure that projects not only qualify for exemptions on paper, but also can preserve and prove their eligibility through the planning, construction and operation phases, says Peter Lowy at Nelson Mullins.

  • Cos. Should Act Now After US Ruling Reopens EU Data Fight

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Trump v. Slaughter may have inadvertently undermined the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and given the importance of data transfers for U.S. businesses, companies should start preparing for a scenario in which the framework is no longer enforceable, says Fernanda Pires Merouço at Davis Wright.

  • Inside Differing State Approaches To Prediction Market Taxes

    Author Photo

    As states adopt divergent approaches to prediction market platforms through both legislation and litigation, and the landscape is anything but settled, the emerging patchwork of state taxes on prediction markets presents novel questions about characterization, preemption and compliance, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • FDIC Proposals Mark Pullback In Bank Resolution Rules

    Author Photo

    A recent pair of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposals would fundamentally reshape testing of banks' resolution-related capabilities from a mandatory exercise to a voluntary one supported by significant financial incentives, amounting to an overall reduction in reporting requirements, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Being A Singer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Before law school, I spent seven years trying to make it as a professional singer in Los Angeles, and nearly everything I learned about preparation, humility, confidence and more has followed me into my legal practice, says Jessica Caterina at Moses & Singer.

  • EEOC Enforcement Plan Signals DEI, Religious Bias Scrutiny

    Author Photo

    In light of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently publishing its national enforcement plan covering through fiscal year 2029, employers should expect increased scrutiny of practices that conflict with the administration's positions on diversity, equity and inclusion, national origin discrimination, and religious accommodations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Immigration Order Raises Customer ID Stakes For Banks

    Author Photo

    Following a recently issued immigration-related executive order, financial institutions should expect and prepare for increased scrutiny of customer due diligence and identification, suspicious activity monitoring, and consumer lending, as well as accompanying supervisory shifts and rising fair lending risks, says Douglas Weissinger at Butler Snow.

  • Trade Secret Practice Tips From The 1st Half Of 2026

    Author Photo

    Intellectual property attorneys should consider what several significant developments in 2026 thus far mean for how they protect, litigate and value trade secrets, focusing on new state noncompete bans, cases scrutinizing how plaintiffs identify trade secrets and federal rulings on damages doctrines, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • High Court Rulings Could Alter Agency Strategy For Cos.

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook mark major turning points in the law of independent agencies and in how regulated companies should think about federal enforcement, rulemaking and agency-facing strategy, say attorneys at Holtzman Vogel.

  • How CME Suit May Reshape CFTC's Crypto Derivatives Rules

    Author Photo

    CME Group's recent lawsuit over the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's approval of a Kalshi application to offer a bitcoin perpetual contract as a futures product could have cascading consequences for crypto derivatives regulation, highlighting why policy ambitions do not override statutory text or substitute for reasoned decision-making, says attorney Tamara de Silva.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Parole Ruling Degrades Green Card Holders' Rights

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Blanche v. Lau, holding that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers can parole a returning lawful permanent resident without clear and convincing evidence of a crime, weakens the statutory and practical protections Congress intended, say attorneys at Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners.

  • NEPA Reforms Can Fix Permitting Without Weakening Review

    Author Photo

    Recent National Environmental Policy Act reforms, in tandem with a Senate bill proposing faster permitting reviews and greater agency coordination, mark a long overdue move toward more efficient energy and infrastructure permitting that does not sacrifice environmental assessment, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

  • 2 Microsoft Matters Could Help Shape AI Antitrust Outlook

    Author Photo

    A pending federal court case and investigation focusing on Microsoft's allegedly anticompetitive conduct in the deployment of artificial intelligence tools are testing whether antitrust law can distinguish ordinary competition to supply the AI ecosystem from conduct that distorts how that competition unfolds, says Kylie Kim at Massey & Gail.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.