Public Policy

  • October 01, 2026

    6th Circ. Backs Immunity In Search Of Empty Home

    Michigan state troopers who searched a vacationing couple's home while attempting to execute a bench warrant are protected by qualified immunity because existing case law has not established that such a search is a violation of constitutional rights, a Sixth Circuit panel said Wednesday.

  • October 01, 2026

    NH Families Seek To Block Medicaid Ban On Youth Trans Care

    Transgender adolescents and their parents urged a New Hampshire federal court Thursday to block the Trump administration's plan to cut off Medicaid funding for minors' gender-affirming care, arguing it's unconstitutional, motivated by discriminatory animus and violates the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • October 01, 2026

    Customers Ask 9th Circ. To Halt Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal

    Streaming service customers are asking the Ninth Circuit to step in and stop Paramount Skydance's planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery until a court can decide if their antitrust suit challenging the merger will be dismissed.

  • October 01, 2026

    Water Utilities Say EPA Rule Defines Them Too Broadly

    The fate of a federal plan to eliminate the nation's lead drinking-water pipes may come down to a debate over the definition of a public water system.

  • October 01, 2026

    Google Ad Tech MDL Teed Up For Trial Largely Intact

    Gannett, the Daily Mail and a certified class of website publishers scored a major win with a New York federal court ruling largely refusing to let Google scrap antitrust allegations targeting its advertising placement technology business in sprawling multidistrict litigation.

  • October 01, 2026

    Judge Bars HHS Medicaid Cuts For Wash. Noncitizens On SSI

    A federal judge has temporarily halted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' attempts to cancel Medicaid benefits to noncitizens in Washington state receiving supplemental security income, finding the loss of benefits could lead to permanent disability or death.

  • October 01, 2026

    SEC Changes Quorum Requirements As Peirce Exits

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has changed its quorum requirements for the first time in 30 years, clarifying that only one member of the agency needs to vote on enforcement and regulatory matters as Commissioner Hester Peirce prepares to leave Friday. 

  • October 01, 2026

    DOJ's RealPage Deal Doesn't End States' Antitrust Claims

    A North Carolina federal court has refused to toss antitrust claims from state enforcers accusing RealPage of providing software that allows residential building owners to inflate rents, despite RealPage's settlement in the case with the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 01, 2026

    Trump Says Copyright Chief Can't Stay In Office Amid Appeal

    The Trump administration is urging the D.C. Circuit to let it remove U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision protecting Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook for now does not entitle Perlmutter to remain in office while her firing challenge proceeds.

  • October 01, 2026

    FCC Officially Ditches Race, Ethnicity, Gender Reporting Reqs

    The Federal Communications Commission has officially done away with a rule that required TV and radio broadcasters to disclose data about their employment diversity to the agency after the Fifth Circuit struck the rule down last year.

  • October 01, 2026

    Ex-Actavis Exec Escapes Some Drug Price-Fixing Claims

    A Connecticut federal judge has dismissed a swath of claims against a former executive of Actavis and Taro in the generic drug price‑fixing litigation brought by state enforcers, holding that evidence was insufficient to prove he joined several alleged single‑drug conspiracies.

  • 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 on Thursday not to proceed with "unlawfully slashing" the FHFA's Office of Inspector General budget for fiscal year 2027.

  • 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

    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

    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."

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • 8(a) Firms Face New Risks From Pass-Through Arrangements

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    ​Prime contractors and subcontractors with pass-through arrangements involving the Small Business Administration's 8(a) business development program should ensure they are prepared for heightened litigation risks created by the administration’s use of False Claims Act whistleblowers to target fraud in diversity, equity and inclusion programs, say attorneys at RJO.

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