Public Policy

  • August 18, 2026

    Feds Bring New Charges Over $3.4B Iran-Backed Cybertheft

    Manhattan federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced new charges against a group of Iranians accused of running a global, state-backed hacking campaign against private companies, government agencies and universities, in a wide-ranging cybertheft conspiracy that stole at least $3.4 billion in academic data and intellectual property.

  • August 18, 2026

    SEC Proposes Long-Awaited Crypto Offering Exemptions

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday unveiled plans to exempt some cryptocurrency offerings from its registration requirements and to create a safe harbor for some projects to eventually shed securities law obligations altogether.

  • August 18, 2026

    DOI, Enviro Groups Trade Punches Over Wildlands Policy

    The U.S. Department of the Interior has received pushback from conservation groups that oppose five comment processes among three federal agencies as the DOI reviews policies affecting wilderness areas on public lands nationwide.

  • August 18, 2026

    Uber Eats To Pay $4.4M To End Seattle Wage Theft Claims

    Uber Eats will again fork out millions of dollars to settle allegations from Seattle officials that the food delivery giant failed to pay its couriers what they're owed under municipal app-based worker laws, the Seattle Office of Labor Standards announced Tuesday.

  • August 18, 2026

    Journalist Sues DHS, CBP Over Phone Seizure After Iran Trip

    An American journalist says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection violated his constitutional rights and federal privacy law when agents seized his phones at Dulles Airport after returning from a reporting trip to Iran, according to a suit filed Monday in Virginia federal court.

  • August 18, 2026

    At DC Circ., Pharma's Latest Pricing Loss Has Silver Linings

    The pharmaceutical industry's far-flung crusade against Medicare's new negotiation powers suffered a fresh setback Tuesday as the D.C. Circuit joined sister circuits in upholding the landmark pricing program, but the defeat contained consolation prizes that will fuel further litigation.

  • August 18, 2026

    Zuckerberg Waved Off Filter Criticism, Tenn. Jury Hears

    A former Meta executive overseeing responsible innovation testified Tuesday that Mark Zuckerberg iced out her thoughts regarding the harm to teens of cosmetic surgery image filters, but said generally the company's employees are well intentioned when it comes to user safety.

  • August 18, 2026

    'Profits Won': States Say Meta Targeted Kids As Trial Opens

    An attorney for more than two dozen states told a California federal jury during opening statements Tuesday that Meta hid what it knew about social media's mental health harms and prioritized profits over safety in a yearslong effort to hook kids on its platforms, while Meta defended its safety practices as best-in-class.

  • August 18, 2026

    Hesai Deprived Due Process Over DOD List, DC Circ. Says

    A D.C. Circuit panel held Tuesday that a Department of Defense decision to include Shanghai lidar-maker Hesai on a list of Chinese military companies didn't give the company due process, reversing a lower court's ruling while also allowing the designation to remain in effect.

  • August 18, 2026

    Big Tech, PTAB Attys Urge Justices To Fix USPTO Power Grab

    The Federal Circuit's refusal to curb the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director's power over instituting Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges has allowed leaders to "wreak havoc" without accountability, top tech companies have warned the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • August 18, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Clerk's Notice Fail Sank Fla. Funds Seizure

    The Eleventh Circuit ruled Monday that a Florida county court clerk violated the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments by taking funds deposited in a court registry as part of an eviction proceeding, because the clerk's notice to the owner of the funds was not reasonably calculated to reach him.

  • August 18, 2026

    Texas AG Asks 1st Circ. To Revive ActBlue Suit

    The Texas attorney general has asked the First Circuit to revive his Texas-based lawsuit against Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue after a Massachusetts federal court blocked it, saying the federal judge improperly stymied his state-based fraud claims.

  • August 18, 2026

    Microsoft Harvests K-12 Student Data, Class Action Claims

    Microsoft Corp.'s partnerships with K-12 schools in Washington have allowed the technology giant to collect and profit from swaths of personal student data in violation of state and federal law, according to a proposed class action filed by four minor students who attend public schools in Spokane, Washington.

  • August 18, 2026

    5th Circ. Rejects Texas Water Case Against River Authority

    The Fifth Circuit refused Tuesday to revive a private water utility's antitrust case targeting Texas' San Jacinto River Authority contract fees designed to reduce groundwater use, concluding that the contract was not designed to fix prices.  

  • August 18, 2026

    ATF's Ghost Gun Rule Found Unconstitutional By Texas Judge

    A Texas federal judge has ruled that a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule restricting so-called ghost gun kits violates the Second Amendment because it runs counter to America's colonial tradition of home gunsmithing.

  • August 18, 2026

    Trump Admin Moves To Cut Roadless Rule Forest Protections

    The U.S. Forest Service on Tuesday said it's moving ahead with a plan to repeal a decades-old rule that has protected tens of millions of acres of national forest from road building and logging, asserting it has unacceptably hampered efforts to reduce wildfire risk.

  • August 18, 2026

    Trump Names 9 Judicial Picks Across 6 States

    President Donald Trump announced nine nominees Tuesday for judicial spots in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Alaska. 

  • August 18, 2026

    Squires Says RPIs Must Be Named If They Can Control Cases

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director explained why he rejected Viance LLC's challenge of a Koppers Performance Chemicals Inc. patent, faulting Viance for failing to disclose real parties in interest and writing that a company's mere ability to control a challenger makes it an RPI.

  • August 18, 2026

    Conn. Pans DOJ's Injury Claims In Use-Of-Force Law Dispute

    The state of Connecticut has challenged the U.S. Department of Justice's attempt to invalidate recent laws on use of force, identification and face covering that two state officials said could affect federal officers, arguing the DOJ failed to allege "concrete harm" or validly claim federal officers can't be prosecuted for crimes.

  • August 18, 2026

    Ex-Meta Worker Says His EB-2 Letter Concerns Got Him Fired

    A former Meta Platforms Inc. product design manager sued the social media giant and his former supervisor in New Jersey federal court, claiming that he was fired after refusing to sign an immigration support letter for a colleague because he believed it contained inaccurate or unsupported facts.

  • August 18, 2026

    House GOP Still Pushing For Broadband Permit Bill This Year

    Despite months of delays, Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are still pressing for legislation that would compel local governments to act faster on broadband permit applications, a top congressional aide said Tuesday.

  • August 18, 2026

    Alaska Judge Voids 500-Acre Land Swap For Refuge Road

    A district court judge vacated an Interior Department decision to exchange 500 acres to allow road construction on Izembek National Wildlife Refuge lands for failing to comply with the provision of a federal Alaskan land law, saying in a Tuesday order that the transaction has no "force or effect."

  • August 18, 2026

    10th Circ. Revisits Banks' Challenge To Colo. Opt-Out Law

    The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday reconsidered a challenge from banking groups to a Colorado law intended to curb high-cost lending by out-of-state banks, pressing counsel on the practicality of Colorado's law and the history of a federal interest rate law.

  • August 18, 2026

    Exchanges Ask SEC To Delay Trade-Through Rule Withdrawal

    Some of the largest stock exchanges are urging the SEC to hold off on eliminating a rule that prohibits exchanges from executing trades at lower prices than the best displayed price available on other exchanges, saying the agency should first consider how the rule's elimination could impact broader market structure.

  • August 18, 2026

    Are Trump Diamond Tariff Breaks Tied To Gift? Wyden Asks

    Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Tuesday demanded answers about President Donald Trump granting a tariff exemption for diamonds shortly after being given a gem-coated watch, claiming the circumstances may be tantamount to bribery, while also raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest in a separate duty investigation.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • How Justices' TPS Ruling Affects Workforce Planning

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent holding in Mullin v. Doe that courts lack jurisdiction to review temporary protected status determinations greenlights the end of TPS for thousands of Syrian and Haitian nationals, and means employers must reevaluate TPS-designees' employability while avoiding discriminatory document practices, says attorney Richard Herman.

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