Public Policy

  • October 13, 2026

    Colo. Panel Probes Challenge To Large-Scale Feedlot Permit

    The Colorado Court of Appeals challenged environmental groups' opposition to a permit allowing large-scale animal feeding facilities to operate without certain monitoring requirements, but pressed counsel for both parties on Tuesday on the permit's purpose amid potential pollution to the state's waterways.

  • October 13, 2026

    Justices Decline Review Of Gun Ban For Cannabis Felony

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review whether a Tenth Circuit ban on gun ownership for people convicted of nonviolent felony offenses conflicts with the high court's ruling earlier this year striking down gun regulations for drug users.

  • October 13, 2026

    Judge Halts Tree Clearing In Trump DC Golf Course Plan

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge Tuesday ordered the Trump administration not to fell any more trees on a public golf course it's seeking to rebuild, days after the government cleared over 400 trees from the park.

  • October 13, 2026

    NYC Pushes Back On Bid To Block Municipal Grocery Stores

    The New York City government urged a federal court not to block plans to open city-owned grocery stores in each of the five boroughs, saying the program is needed to combat hunger as New Yorkers face high inflation and cuts to federal nutrition assistance.

  • October 13, 2026

    FCC Using 'Excuses' To Threaten Licenses, ABC Says

    ABC told a D.C. federal court the Federal Communications Commission has effectively admitted that a probe of its parent Disney's hiring practices could not justify threatening eight of the network's TV stations' licenses with an early renewal proceeding.

  • October 13, 2026

    DOD, SBA Ink Small Biz. Industrial Base Agreement

    The U.S. Small Business Administration said it has inked a new deal with the U.S. Department of Defense that will help small businesses operating within the defense industrial base to access additional capital.

  • October 13, 2026

    Wash. School District Defends Trans Policy At High Court

    A Washington state school district rebuked a suit challenging its permissive transgender athlete policies Tuesday, telling the U.S. Supreme Court that the legal fight is not nearly ripe enough for high court scrutiny. 

  • October 13, 2026

    Cruz Contends E-Rate Costs Inflated By Consulting Fees

    Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, issued a report Tuesday claiming the E-Rate program's costs have ballooned over time due to layers of bureaucracy and outside consulting work for local organizations that use the federal broadband subsidy.

  • October 13, 2026

    GKN Isn't Covered For Toxic Chemical Emergency, Court Told

    A Chubb unit told a Texas federal court Tuesday that a pollution exclusion bars coverage to GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems Inc. for underlying lawsuits and a civil investigation stemming from the overheating of a storage tank in California that led to toxic emissions and the evacuation of thousands of residents.  

  • October 13, 2026

    DOJ Cites Privacy Concerns In Rejecting NM Epstein Files Bid

    The U.S. Department of Justice has rebuffed the state of New Mexico's request for the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files for its investigation into possible crimes at Epstein's Zorro Ranch, saying it would hinder law enforcement operations.

  • October 13, 2026

    IRS Worker Claims Defamation By Tribal Tax Credit Promoter

    An energy company accused of selling fraudulent tax shelters marketed as tribal tax credits retaliated against an IRS employee after she flagged the company's promotion of the credits, engaging in a defamatory campaign to discredit her and interfering with her employment, she told a D.C. Superior Court.

  • October 13, 2026

    Norfolk Southern Wants Out Of East Palestine Derailment Suit

    Norfolk Southern Corp. is asking an Ohio federal judge to throw out the East Palestine City School District Board of Education's latest complaint over the 2023 train derailment, saying the claims that the derailment cost the board tax money cannot stand up to court standards.

  • October 13, 2026

    Feds Propose More Scrutiny For Visa Extension Petitions

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it wants to eliminate a regulation that directed it to give deference to previous eligibility determinations for nonimmigrant foreign workers when it considers petitions to extend their authorizations.

  • October 13, 2026

    Trade Court Backs Commerce On Solar Module Duty Scope

    The U.S. Department of Commerce properly determined an importer's solar-powered charging modules should be subject to countervailing and antidumping duties on Chinese solar cell products, according to an opinion published Tuesday by the U.S. Court of International Trade.

  • October 13, 2026

    FCC OKs 14 More 'Rip And Replace' Extensions

    The Federal Communications Commission has granted petitions from 14 telecommunications companies asking for extensions to finish projects to "rip and replace" foreign-produced network equipment the agency deems untrustworthy.

  • October 13, 2026

    Sotomayor Warns Gov't On Double Jeopardy In Migrant's Case

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor cautioned the government on Tuesday about charging a deported Mexican national twice for the crime of being found in the U.S. after having been removed, saying constitutional problems plagued the government's treatment of the man.

  • October 13, 2026

    DHS Cuts Refugees' Time To Fight Termination To 10 Days

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday announced an interim final rule that shrinks the window refugees have to contest termination of their status from 30 to 10 days, arguing the shift will help combat national security risks.

  • October 13, 2026

    Indicted Ex-Housing Boss Pleads 5th In Bond Fracas

    The indicted former leader of two Connecticut housing authorities invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination Tuesday during a civil hearing in state court that sought to bar him from using his home to secure a $500,000 federal appearance bond.

  • October 13, 2026

    DOJ Investigating White House TV Pool For Halting Coverage

    The U.S. Department of Justice has said it is investigating whether the White House television press pool's decision to halt coverage of President Donald Trump last month violated antitrust law.

  • October 13, 2026

    Trump Admin Tests Permit Bill In Seeking Offshore Wind Redo

    The Trump administration wants to redo the approval of a wind project off the shores of Rhode Island, home to one of the architects of a U.S. Senate permitting bill who has warned that continued anti-wind and solar moves by the administration could derail the bipartisan bill.

  • October 13, 2026

    Judge Rejects Updated AG Bid To Join RealPage Deal Talks

    A Tennessee federal judge said he would consider objections from state attorneys general to terms of a possible settlement in multidistrict litigation over alleged price-fixing enabled by RealPage software, despite rejecting a renewed move by the states to intervene in the negotiations.

  • October 13, 2026

    San Antonio Sues To Block New ICE Detention Center

    The city of San Antonio sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency Tuesday to stop the government from going forward with its "unlawful" plans to convert a 639,595-square-foot commercial warehouse into a 1,500-bed immigration detention facility.

  • October 13, 2026

    GOP Texts Not Intrusive Enough For Privacy Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has permanently tossed a man's proposed class action accusing the National Republican Congressional Committee of spamming him with texts asking for donations, saying he could have taken several FCC-approved steps to stop them himself.

  • October 13, 2026

    Drug Tests Don't Trigger Weingarten Rights, NLRB Attys Say

    Workers don't have the right to consult a union representative before taking an employer-mandated drug test, National Labor Relations Board prosecutors said, asking the board to rule that the so-called Weingarten right isn't available in the context of drug and alcohol testing.

  • October 13, 2026

    ICE Hit With Class Action Over Detainees' Seized Property

    Former ICE detainees are accusing the agency in a new class action of routinely keeping passports, work permits, driver's licenses and other belongings seized in detentions long after their owners have been released, alleging that the "de facto policy" has cost jobs, housing and the ability to move freely.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • DOJ Executive Privilege Opinion Portends 3rd-Party Dilemmas

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    The recent opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel concluding that executive privilege can shield the president's communications with private advisers may lead to interbranch disputes, and companies must come up with a response plan now before they’re caught in the middle, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Planning For The Impact Of FinCEN's CTA Rollback

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    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent rollback of Corporate Transparency Act reporting obligations should reduce compliance costs, but its plans to revisit customer due diligence rules should prompt companies and financial institutions to reassess state beneficial ownership programs, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How 'Swap' Fight Underpins Prediction Market Enforcement

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    As courts around the country grapple with whether, and under what circumstances, event contracts qualify as swaps, federal enforcement authority hangs in the balance, with implications for companies that need to manage compliance risks during this period of legal uncertainty, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • EPA Guidance May Simplify On-Site Power For Data Centers

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    At a moment when wait times to connect large loads to the electric grid can stretch into years, two recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidance documents seek to make it easier for data center developers to set up on-site power generation — but much will depend on how quickly states and localities update their own rules, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Fed's Capital Rule Proposal Could Help Banks Stay Mutual

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    The Federal Reserve Board's recent proposal to comprehensively rewrite its capital rule and reduce procedural requirements for mutual holding companies would support community banking by allowing mutual institutions new ways to fund growth without converting to stock form, say attorneys at Nutter.

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