Public Policy

  • October 08, 2026

    Amex Fined $350M Over Anti-Money Laundering Lapses

    American Express has been fined $350 million over findings of systemic deficiencies in its banking unit's anti-money laundering program, including for alleged failures to properly detect and report $13 billion in potentially illicit activity over roughly a decade, federal regulators said Thursday.

  • October 08, 2026

    High Court Puts 4th Circ. Political Ad Rate Ruling On Ice

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a Fourth Circuit ruling that directed the Federal Communications Commission to review an agency staff decision requiring broadcasters charge the lowest political ad rates for committees tied to candidates.

  • October 08, 2026

    Pa. Legislators Want More Time To Regulate 'Skill Games'

    Three Pennsylvania lawmakers and a coalition of "skill games" operators want the state Supreme Court to extend a deadline before police start seizing the game terminals, hoping to give the state Legislature more time to pass a law governing the games after the court found them to be illegal slot machines.

  • October 08, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Presses Inventor On SAWS Bias Challenge

    Federal Circuit judges appeared skeptical of an inventor's argument that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's controversial and now discontinued "sensitive" patent applications program derailed his application for a patent on a type of internal combustion engine in violation of his constitutional rights.

  • October 08, 2026

    Sen. Scott Can Trim Booz Allen Tax Info Leak Suit, Judge Says

    Sen. Rick Scott can narrow his suit over an IRS contractor's leak of his tax returns to proceed only on a negligence claim against Booz Allen Hamilton in Florida federal court, a judge ruled, saying the trim avoids overlapping litigation after claims against the leaker were transferred.

  • October 08, 2026

    Oil Co. Moves To Toss Landowners' Well Cleanup Claims

    Colorado landowners who won class certification in a federal suit accusing an oil and gas company of transferring well rights to avoid cleanup obligations faced the company's bid to dismiss court-ordered cleanup claims, with the company saying the landowners cannot show that any court order would result in the wells being plugged.

  • October 08, 2026

    Global Trade More Resilient Than Expected In 2026, WTO Says

    The global market has largely weathered conflicts in the Middle East and other disruptions better than expected so far in 2026 thanks to the growth of artificial intelligence, the World Trade Organization said Thursday, revising upward some of its global trade growth projections.

  • October 08, 2026

    Trump's Comments Fuel Challenge To White House Press Ban

    An attorney for the three major news organizations temporarily barred from the White House said President Donald Trump's own words doomed his administration's claim that the ban was based on national security concerns, telling a D.C. federal judge Thursday that the president simply wanted "good press."

  • October 08, 2026

    CIT Unconvinced By Commerce's Landing Gear Scope Finding

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's finding that certain imported landing gear subassemblies are in the scope of duty orders on Chinese chassis doesn't mesh with the plain language of the orders, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled.

  • October 08, 2026

    Dems Says GOP Broke Senate Rules In Jack Smith Hearing

    The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have accused Republicans of violating committee rules during a hearing last week with former special counsel Jack Smith.

  • October 08, 2026

    Buffalo Sues Feds Over NY Tribe's Land Sale's Status

    The city of Buffalo is asking a New York district court to vacate the federal government's decision to place a 3.8-acre waterfront parcel in a restricted fee status for the Seneca Nation of Indians that could remove the property from the municipality's tax rolls.

  • October 08, 2026

    Ex-Thermo Fisher Manager Blames Age, Sex Bias For Ouster

    A former senior director of research and development at Thermo Fisher Scientific alleged that he was sidelined and then forced out as part of an effort by the Massachusetts-based company to weed out older workers and promote a more "youthful" and "progressive" image.

  • October 08, 2026

    EU Lawmakers Call For Stronger Trade Ties To African Nations

    The European Parliament approved a resolution Thursday that calls for stronger trade relations with African countries.

  • October 08, 2026

    Feds Bar Microsoft, Adobe, Others From Visa Program

    Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the Trump administration has suspended Microsoft, Adobe and other technology companies from utilizing a program that allows H-1B visa holders to apply for green cards, saying Microsoft in particular has "abused" the system.

  • October 08, 2026

    Enviro Group, Feds End Suit Over Alaska Refuge Road Work

    The state of Alaska, the federal government and an environmental nonprofit have agreed to dismiss a dispute over a 500-acre land exchange that will allow road construction on Izembek National Wildlife Refuge lands.

  • October 08, 2026

    Split Congress Could Spur Competing Probes, Cleary Finds

    If the new year brings an era of divided Congress, then "dueling investigations" into the same topics should be expected, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP said in a report it released Thursday.

  • October 07, 2026

    House, Senate Dems Pitch Plans To Clamp Down On AI Harms

    A House Democrat floated draft legislation Wednesday aimed at making it easier for those harmed by emerging artificial intelligence systems to sue developers for damages, on the same day that the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee unveiled her own comprehensive framework for addressing "catastrophic" risks posed by AI.

  • October 07, 2026

    DNC Sues Over Trump's Taxpayer-Funded 'Propaganda Ads'

    The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday sued the Trump administration over its use of taxpayer dollars to air "political propaganda ads" promoting the president ahead of the November midterm elections.

  • October 07, 2026

    1st Circ. Clearing Appeals Over Old FCC Jail Phone Cap Order

    The First Circuit is clearing up a tangle of appeals it has on its plate challenging the Federal Communications Commission's prison phone rate caps after the agency threw a wrench in the plan by updating those regulations post-oral argument.

  • October 07, 2026

    California Federal Judge Jeffrey White To Retire After 24 Years

    Senior U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White will retire at the end of the year after nearly a quarter-century on the federal bench in Northern California.

  • October 07, 2026

    States Urge Justices To Fix Prediction Markets' Legal 'Chaos'

    A coalition of 39 states and the District of Columbia urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to resolve a circuit split over the regulation of prediction markets like Kalshi, saying the industry's "aggressive theory of preemption" threatens states' sovereignty and ability to protect their residents. 

  • October 07, 2026

    Trump 'Outsourced' White House Press Functions, Judge Told

    Media organizations urged a New York federal judge on Wednesday to stop President Donald Trump from using Truth Social for his communications as long as the company offers paid early access to those posts, arguing that the private company's "entwinement" with the president violates the First Amendment.

  • October 07, 2026

    Trump Admin Challenge To Mich. Egg Rules Tossed

    A Michigan federal judge on Wednesday threw out the federal government's suit over the state's ban on eggs produced by caged hens, ruling that the government lacks standing to challenge the law.

  • October 07, 2026

    Justices Wary Of Prolonging Guam Ammo Disposal Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared wary of ruling that a Guam-based nonprofit can't challenge the U.S. Air Force's plan to explode expired munitions because its application to do so has yet to be approved by the territory's Environmental Protection Agency.

  • October 07, 2026

    Okla. Pot Agency Accused Of Retaliating Over Gender Pay Gap

    The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority was hit with a sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit by a former employee who claims the agency reprimanded her for pointing out that she was paid less than her male colleagues, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • At The Intersection Of Right-To-Repair Laws And IP Rights

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    Right-to-repair legislation passing through Congress highlights a broad tension between manufacturers' security measures and consumer autonomy, with important repercussions for the automotive industry's intellectual property rights, says Keith Noe at Lando & Anastasi. 

  • Opinion

    States Should Reconsider Forced PBM Divestiture Laws

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    State legislatures are attempting to enact policies intended to force pharmacy benefit managers to divest from pharmacies, but these laws would have the practical effect of reducing patient access and competition, potentially violating the U.S. Constitution in the process, says former Utah Attorney General John Swallow.

  • HSR Deals Proceed More Steadily Than Narratives Suggest

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    The most recent Hart-Scott-Rodino Act data show that transaction volume remained relatively stable, transaction values continued to increase and enforcement activity remained low, suggesting that enforcement rates have been relatively consistent across presidential administrations despite widely differing public rhetoric regarding merger enforcement, says Amanda Wait at Michael Best.

  • Assessing The Benefits Of Fla.'s Newest Business Structure

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    As of July 1, Florida business owners can create protected series LLCs to shield assets from liability while avoiding increased costs and wasted time, but burdensome recordkeeping obligations are crucial to maintaining the very protection that makes them attractive in the first place, says Gregory Ritter at Moritt Hock.

  • Key Post-Proposal Shifts Likely In CFPB Loss Mitigation Rule

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    Mortgage servicers, borrowers and consumer advocates should prepare for a likely narrowed version of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's loss mitigation rule, which is likely to permit sequential reviews, defer to investor guidelines, extend compliance timelines and preempt conflicting state standards, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Series

    Teaching SEC Investigations Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Instructing a law school course on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations has made me a more thoughtful, deliberate practitioner because it requires me to continually reassess and challenge what I know about securities law enforcement, how I know it and how best to explain it, says David Chase at Miami Law.

  • Noncompete Laws Show States Focusing On Bans, Healthcare

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    The first half of 2026 confirms that state legislatures are driving the most consequential changes in noncompete law, including a few state bans and several healthcare-specific laws, making a one-size-fits-all approach increasingly untenable for multistate employers, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What's Inside Proposed, Expanded NY Stablecoin Regulations

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    New York's recently proposed regulations for payment stablecoin issuers would, if adopted, increase the regulatory burdens of a state license, and midsize issuers considering a conversion to a federal charter should weigh the associated costs of both options, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Justices' Tax Sale Ruling Tees Up Auction Fairness Battles

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Pung v. Isabella County, Michigan, that taxpayers are not entitled to fair market value of real property seized to satisfy a tax debt shifts attention to the fairness of state and local auction procedures, and whether taxpayers claiming surplus proceeds face unwarranted hurdles, say attorneys at Miller Canfield.

  • What Corporate Counsel Can Learn From OpenAI Test Breach

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    The significance of the recent artificial intelligence testing breach involving OpenAI and Hugging Face lies in what it reveals about the path of AI’s evolution, because legal professionals must translate that trajectory into actionable governance, contractual and advisory frameworks, says Jason Mueller at Vorys.

  • Patent Eligibility Reforms Keep Chasing The Wrong Fixes

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    Repeated efforts to create a consistent, predictable patent eligibility standard under Section 101 have centered on replacing judge-made exceptions with new statutory language, but the better fix is to align examination standards with how courts actually apply eligibility doctrine, says former Patent Trial and Appeal Board judge Amee Shah.

  • Opinion

    Qualified Immunity Bill's Reach Goes Beyond Federal Officers

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    The federal Qualified Immunity Abolition Act, introduced earlier this year and described by the bill sponsors as a federal-officer measure, would in actuality reach the entire universe of Section 1983 defendants, a distinction that matters as much to defense counsel as to plaintiffs, says attorney V. James DeSimone.

  • State Of Insurance: Q2 Notes From Pennsylvania

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    Todd Leon at Marshall Dennehey highlights notable second-quarter insurance developments in Pennsylvania, including federal court opinions providing guidance on first-party and third-party insurance coverage principles, and a pending bill seeking to regulate health insurers' use of artificial intelligence.

  • Assessing DOJ Antitrust's New, Faster Merger Review Option

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    The U.S. Justice Department Antitrust Division's recently announced targeted second request option and new model timing signal a commercially friendly stance and a departure from the prior administration's position, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • NRC Proposal May Reshape Radiation Protection Framework

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    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposal to drop the long-standing requirement to keep radiation exposure "as low as reasonably achievable," alongside the U.S. Department of Energy's removal of ALARA from its own rules, suggests a broader federal reassessment of radiation protection policy, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

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