Public Policy

  • September 09, 2026

    States, Amici Ask Justices To Keep Mail Ballot Rules On Ice

    Nearly half of the states and the District of Columbia urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to leave in place a federal judge's order blocking the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing new mail-in ballot regulations in this year's midterms, arguing the changes are a major political decision USPS had no authority to make. 

  • September 09, 2026

    Software Group Says FCC Should Narrow Covered List Focus

    The software industry thinks the Federal Communications Commission might want to take a more "narrow" view when it comes to its continued expansion of the covered list of telecommunications equipment that the agency deems to be a national security risk.

  • September 09, 2026

    Trump Trust Gets Doc Review In Fla. Debanking Suit

    A Florida federal judge ruled Wednesday that the court can review banking records before they are released to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust in a lawsuit alleging its Capital One accounts were closed for political reasons, saying there is no regulation preventing the examination of Bank Secrecy Act-related documents.

  • September 09, 2026

    2 House Democrats Say Trump Can't Fire Copyright Chief

    Two senior House Democrats have urged the D.C. Circuit to reject the Trump administration's claimed authority to remove Shira Perlmutter as the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, arguing that only the librarian of Congress can fire the agency's leader.

  • September 09, 2026

    Justices Call For Early Response Over Paramount Merger

    The U.S. Supreme Court is giving California and other state enforcers that are challenging Paramount Skydance Corp.'s planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. until later this month to respond to Iowa and Montana's bid to block the merger challenge.

  • September 09, 2026

    Ford Says DOT Concern Over China Tech 'Wrongheaded'

    Ford Motor Co. pushed back on U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's "profound concern" over what he said was too close of a relationship between it and a Chinese battery manufacturer, saying the claims are unfounded and don't mesh with other administration stances.

  • September 09, 2026

    'Weird Space Stuff' To Get Boost Under FCC Spectrum Plan

    The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote Sept. 30 on a "spectrum abundance" plan meant to fuel a variety of space-based industries by opening up the airwaves across two spectrum bands.

  • September 09, 2026

    Mich. To Revisit Line 5 Tunnel Permits After High Court Ruling

    Michigan environmental regulators will reconsider permits issued in July for Enbridge Energy LP's proposed Line 5 tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac after the Michigan Supreme Court found earlier this year that a separate state approval of the project relied on an improperly narrow environmental review, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday. 

  • September 09, 2026

    NJ Tech Chief Seeks To Avoid TikTok Depo In AG's Fraud Suit

    New Jersey Chief Technology Officer Kevin Dehmer has asked a state court judge to block TikTok from deposing him in the attorney general's consumer fraud lawsuit, arguing that he has no firsthand knowledge of the allegations and that forcing a high-ranking state official to testify is unwarranted.

  • September 09, 2026

    Unions, Feds Reach Deal In Gov't Shutdown Layoffs Suit

    A coalition of unions has reached a settlement in principle with the Trump administration resolving litigation in California federal court challenging layoffs at federal agencies during the 2025 government shutdown, pending approval from the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • September 09, 2026

    State Dept. Starts Reprocessing 43K Paused Visa Applications

    The State Department said it has taken steps to start reprocessing visa applications related to the agency's now vacated 75-country visa pause, saying 43,000 applications are subject to a New York federal court's recent order.

  • September 09, 2026

    FTC Chucks Biden-Era Health App Breach Notification Policy

    The Federal Trade Commission, as part of its regulatory streamlining, has rescinded a Biden-era policy requiring health applications and smart devices that collect information to warn users when their medical data has been breached.

  • September 09, 2026

    HMRC To Make Non-UK VAT Group Members Claim Refunds

    Businesses outside the U.K. that are members of a value-added tax group will need to submit their own VAT refund claims under a new scheme aimed at addressing "an unintended consequence" of exiting the European Union, HM Revenue & Customs said in a policy paper.

  • September 09, 2026

    Mackinac Island Says Ferry Operators Created Discovery Fight

    A northern Michigan island resort community has urged a federal court to reject ferry operators' bid to compel testimony from a city representative, arguing that the companies created the discovery dispute by refusing to narrow sweeping deposition topics covering as much as 16 years.

  • September 09, 2026

    DC Circ. Declines To Halt DOJ's Cannabis Rescheduling

    The D.C. Circuit on Wednesday rejected a bid to freeze a final U.S. Department of Justice rule rescheduling medical marijuana while opponents challenge the policy in the appellate court.

  • September 09, 2026

    Del. High Court Upholds Under-21 Handgun Restrictions

    The Delaware Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling against a state law restricting handgun access for most 18- to 20-year-olds, finding the measure did not violate the Delaware Constitution's right to keep and bear arms.

  • September 09, 2026

    Mass. Justices Probe $8M Waterfront Sale To Audubon Group

    A justice on Massachusetts' top court asked Wednesday whether a court-appointed receiver had a duty to investigate more lucrative offers before selling an 18-acre abandoned industrial site to a nonprofit that intends to turn the property into a wildlife sanctuary.

  • September 09, 2026

    FCC To Consider 911 Reliability, Robocall Consent Regs

    The Federal Communications Commission this month will consider studying 911 reliability to ensure the service is always available even as legacy copper-based networks go by the wayside.

  • September 09, 2026

    Great Britain To Briefly Cancel VAT On Domestic Electricity

    The United Kingdom will cancel value-added tax on electricity for domestic purposes in Great Britain from October through March, according to HM Revenue & Customs.

  • September 09, 2026

    California Judge Ends Tribe's Challenge Over Village Site

    A federal magistrate judge has ended a dispute between two California tribes over the management of an Indigenous coastal village site, determining that the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria is an indispensable party in the litigation that is protected by sovereign immunity.

  • September 09, 2026

    Judiciary OKs Student Interns To Accept Certain Law Firm Stipends

    The federal judiciary's ethics arm has approved a policy allowing law firms to pay judicial interns, as long as the payments are not directly related to their work for the courts and not paid out during their internship or externship.

  • September 09, 2026

    Economists Tell Fed. Circ. Float Rates Bar Temporary Tariff

    President Donald Trump's temporary global tariff lacked legal justification in the current international monetary system, a group of economists, including former U.S. Treasury secretary and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, told the Federal Circuit on Wednesday in a brief supporting challenges to the duties.

  • September 09, 2026

    Paramount Doubles Down On $1.9B Bond Bid In Merger Suit

    Paramount has insisted the Writers Guild of America and state attorneys general cannot avoid putting up a roughly $1.9 billion bond as they challenge the media company's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying their arguments against its bond bid fail under the Clayton Act.

  • September 09, 2026

    US Bans Canadian Alcohol, Motorcycles After Tariff Retaliation

    President Donald Trump continued the U.S. trade offensive against Canada after its northern neighbor's retaliatory tariffs went into effect, announcing a ban on Canadian imports of certain alcohol, dairy products and motorcycles starting this month.

  • September 09, 2026

    Cambodia Joins WTO Appeal Arbitration Arrangement

    Cambodia has joined a World Trade Organization appeal arbitration agreement designed as an alternative to the WTO's main appellate body, bringing the total number of participants to 62 and covering over 60% of global trade, the European Commission said Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

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    As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

  • Md. Ruling Reflects Classic Administrative Law Principle

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    A Maryland federal court's recent decision in Columbus v. Kennedy significantly limits how far the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services can go in reshaping the Affordable Care Act through regulation, highlighting a principle that will likely be applied in similar Administrative Procedure Act challenges, says Michael King at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • DOJ China Container Indictments Signal Global Cartel Risk

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent announcement that it had indicted Chinese manufacturers for conspiring to drive up the price of shipping containers sold in the U.S. illustrates the Antitrust Division's interest in pursuing overseas cartel conduct, especially in China, signaling that multinational companies with employees abroad should strengthen antitrust compliance to avoid running afoul of U.S. national security policy, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • More Cos. Will Copy SpaceX's Shareholder Proposal Opt-Out

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    For more than 80 years, the shareholder proposal looked like a federal right guaranteed to all public company investors, but after SpaceX opted out before its recent initial public offering, other companies are likely to follow, says Mohsen Manesh at the University of Oregon School of Law.

  • How DOJ Is Approaching Monitorship After Signaling Limits

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    As the U.S. Department of Justice keeps more monitors in place than expected, a look at the matters in which prosecutors are maintaining oversight reveals the sort of companies enforcers might trust to self-remediate, and also those that may receive independent supervision, say attorneys at Kendall Brill.

  • Opinion

    DHS' World Cup Influencer Warning Overreads Visa Law

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    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s reported position that foreign influencers covering the 2026 World Cup need work visas if their content is monetized runs contrary to both legislative intent and long-standing precedent that structure the visa inquiry around labor market substitution, says Jun Li at Reid & Wise.

  • 3 Steps For Banks As Section 1071 Rule Finally Becomes Final

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    Some community banks and other lenders will get some breathing room in the final Section 1071 rule exempting them from small business lending reporting duties, but other reporting institutions should update applications, systems and staff training ahead of the 2028 compliance date, says Memrie Fortenberry at Jones Walker.

  • Why DOE Isn't Phasing Out Appliance Efficiency Regs

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    While the U.S. Department of Energy recently acted on President Donald Trump's 2025 executive order requiring it to consider sunsetting many energy regulations, the DOE has not proposed phasing out efficiency standards for appliances and industrial equipment — but it could pursue other approaches to ease such requirements, say attorneys at HWG.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

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    Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five recent rulings from cases involving allegations of internet data misuse, consumer fraud claims, immigration, insurance and First Amendment violation claims.

  • Justices' FCC Fine Ruling May Weaken Agency Leverage

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T upheld the commission's forfeiture framework as consistent with Jarkesy, but it is also likely to reduce the effectiveness of the commission’s forfeiture proceedings as a collection and deterrence tool, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Takeaways From 1st Del. Ruling Applying Moelis Amendments

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    Delaware corporations should carefully review contractual arrangements and governance documents following the Court of Chancery's recent enforcement of a non-Delaware forum selection clause in a CEO's employment agreement under 2024 amendments to the state's General Corporation Law, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

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    An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

  • Google Antitrust Case Puts Spotlight On De Facto Exclusivity

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    Mozilla's recent amicus filing in U.S. v. Google arguing that its agreement to make Google the default search engine did not amount to de facto exclusivity highlights the growing debate over traditional indicators of exclusivity, with implications for any business that uses rebates, preferred contracts or volume incentives, says Chris Gowen at WilmU Farnan School of Law.

  • Justices' Montgomery Ruling Doesn't Expand Shipper Liability

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    Whether negligent hiring liability claims against shippers will increase after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II is anyone's guess, but the ruling itself will have no impact on shippers' actual liability in personal injury claims relating to trucking accidents, says Ronald Leibman at McCarter & English.

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