Public Policy

  • September 23, 2026

    Blue Shield Still Facing Therapy 'Ghost Network' Suit

    A California federal judge ruled Wednesday that Blue Shield of California must face the majority of claims brought in subscribers' proposed class action alleging the insurer maintained a "ghost network" of mental-health providers that didn't exist or accept new patients, saying the suit adequately claims contract terms were not met.

  • September 23, 2026

    5th Circ. Asks Texas Students If Drag Is Same As 'Striptease'

    The full Fifth Circuit pressed student LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations to explain how drag shows on Texas college campuses met the standards for First Amendment protection, asking Wednesday if the organizations were arguing the schools should allow "striptease" performances.

  • September 23, 2026

    Colo. Judge Declines To Sanction Hospital In Gender Care Suit

    Children's Hospital Colorado properly complied with an injunction prohibiting it from refusing to provide medically necessary gender-affirming care to transgender youth patients, a state judge ruled, rejecting a request by a class of patients to hold the hospital in contempt.

  • September 23, 2026

    Media Ban Judge Declines Ruling On TRO, For Now

    A D.C. federal judge Wednesday declined to rule immediately on a temporary restraining order restoring White House access for major news organizations barred by the Trump administration since last week, instead saying he would consider the sides' arguments and issue a ruling shortly.

  • September 23, 2026

    Birthright Order Could Put Class Members At Risk, Judge Told

    Immigrant rights groups are aiming to stop the government from trying to dissolve a court order that blocked a presidential directive intended to curtail birthright citizenship, arguing the executive order would affect a certified class of children born in the U.S., despite the government's insistence it would not.

  • September 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Rehear Klamath Project ESA Ruling

    The Ninth Circuit said Wednesday it won't disturb a divided three-judge panel's ruling affirming that a federal regulator must abide by the Endangered Species Act's interagency consultation requirements as it operates a water management project in northern California and southern Oregon.

  • September 23, 2026

    Wash. Judge Blocks Ed. Dept. Mental Health Grant Cuts

    A Washington federal judge preliminarily enjoined the U.S. Education Department from terminating up to $1 billion in K–12 mental health grants serving 15 states, finding states provided sufficient evidence that the agency was planning to unlawfully cut those grants.

  • September 23, 2026

    Exelon Investors' $40M Deal In Bribery Case Wins Final OK

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday granted final approval to a $40 million settlement resolving Exelon shareholders' claims against company leaders connected to the Commonwealth Edison bribery scandal, over the objections of some investors who argued that most benefits were already paid, previously implemented, or too small to justify releasing valuable claims.

  • September 23, 2026

    DOJ Partially Backs Apple In Epic High Court Contempt Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief that the Ninth Circuit wrongly faulted Apple for charging a 27% commission on transactions linked out from apps, but it backed other parts of the California federal court's contempt order won by Epic Games.

  • September 23, 2026

    Illinois Swipe-Fee Ban Also Blocked For Federal Credit Unions

    An Illinois federal judge expanded an order blocking the state from enforcing its landmark ban on tax-and-tip swipe fees against most banks, ruling that an injunction she granted earlier this year extends to federal credit unions in light of a new federal rule that authorizes them to collect interchange fees.

  • September 23, 2026

    Mich. Court Keeps Freeze On Voting Data Deletion In Place

    A temporary restraining order preventing the deletion of voter records from the Aug. 4 primary election will remain in place pending the release of administrative rulings from the Michigan Secretary of State, a Michigan judge ruled Tuesday.

  • September 23, 2026

    Mich. Judge Gives Cannabis Cos. Chance To Fix Complaint

    A Michigan federal judge has given two companies challenging the city of Menominee's marijuana licensing process a chance to amend their complaint after the city argued that a waiver signed as part of a license application bars their nine-count lawsuit.

  • September 23, 2026

    Ex-NY County Top Official's 12-Year Sentence Cut To 10

    A New York federal judge sentenced former Long Island politician Edward Mangano to 10 years for corruption Wednesday, trimming a 12-year term she handed him after the Second Circuit tossed a jury's finding that he committed bribery.

  • September 23, 2026

    FTC Backs Proposed Education Dept. Accreditation Reforms

    The Federal Trade Commission has endorsed the U.S. Department of Education's proposal to expand higher education accreditation options and promote competition among accreditation agencies.

  • September 23, 2026

    Md. Governor Calls For Ending Data Centers' Tax Exemption

    Maryland's governor became the latest state executive Wednesday to back off giving tax breaks to data centers, a development becoming increasingly common as the midterm elections draw near.

  • September 23, 2026

    Del. Justices Weigh If Corporations Can Vote In Beach Town

    The ACLU of Delaware urged the state's high court Wednesday to revive its challenge to Fenwick Island's practice of allowing property-owning corporations and other artificial entities to vote in municipal elections, arguing the system unlawfully dilutes residents' votes.

  • September 23, 2026

    Sens. Await FTC Reply On Amazon, Walmart Shopping Bots

    U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Rick Scott are waiting to receive a substantive response from the Federal Trade Commission to their request for an investigation into how Amazon and Walmart's AI shopping assistants handle "Made in the USA" products, Baldwin's office confirmed Wednesday.

  • September 23, 2026

    OpenAI Looks To End SpaceXAI's Apple Deal Antitrust Case

    OpenAI is urging a Texas federal court to end an antitrust case from Elon Musk's SpaceXAI over a deal integrating ChatGPT into Apple devices, saying the pact is not exclusive and does not block competition from rival chatbots.

  • September 23, 2026

    Fla. Panel Won't Hear City's Immunity Bid In Partnership Suit

    A Florida state appellate panel issued a split decision on Wednesday dismissing a bid by a city to overturn an order striking its motion to argue for immunity in a lawsuit over a public-private partnership to build a green waste facility near protected wetlands, saying it lacks jurisdiction. 

  • September 23, 2026

    Ute Tribe Says Split-Estate Lands Remain Indian Country

    The Ute Indian Tribe has urged the Tenth Circuit to overturn a Utah federal judge's ruling that the surface of split-estate lands within its reservation's original boundaries is not Indian Country, arguing the appellate court settled the issue decades ago.

  • September 23, 2026

    DC Pied-à-Terre Tax Plan Targets Pricey Second Homes

    Washington, D.C., would impose additional property tax on homes worth about $2.6 million or more that are not rented out or used as primary residences under legislation before the district council.

  • September 23, 2026

    Senate Confirms Abbott Aide To Texas Federal Bench

    The Senate voted 50-47, along party lines, on Wednesday to confirm Angela Colmenero, deputy chief of staff to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, to serve on the Southern District of Texas.

  • September 23, 2026

    NY Judge Dismisses States' DOGE Treasury Data Access Suit

    A New York federal judge Wednesday tossed several states' lawsuit that challenged Department of Government Efficiency staff access to U.S. Department of the Treasury data, saying DOGE's dissolution rendered the states' access claims moot and that they failed to allege that any federal funding due to them was ultimately canceled.

  • September 23, 2026

    Cable Group Opposes FCC Plan For Robocall 'Scorecard'

    A major cable industry group blasted a plan by the Federal Communications Commission to let consumers use a "scorecard" to rate their voice service providers' efforts to block robocalls, saying it will divert FCC resources from actual enforcement.

  • September 23, 2026

    Fed. Grants Bind Railways To Fed. Labor Law, NMB Argues

    The Eleventh Circuit should affirm a Florida federal judge's finding that a high-speed rail operator is subject to the Railway Labor Act, the National Mediation Board argued, saying the operator can't wriggle its way out of complying because it runs an intercity rather than interstate rail line.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Being A Singer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

  • Preparing For Next Congress With Eye On Investigation Risk

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    Rod Rosenstein, Brian Whisler and Bruce Linskens at Baker McKenzie offer advice for organizations seeking to build a proactive response plan to potential congressional oversight as the election looms.

  • 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.

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