Public Policy

  • February 04, 2026

    Bessent Says Card Rate Cap's Effects 'Important' To Review

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to say Wednesday whether he supports President Donald Trump's proposed 10% credit card rate cap, instead telling lawmakers that reining in credit card rewards could be a way to address cost concerns.

  • February 04, 2026

    Wash. Tribes Sue Feds Over $240M Of Salmon Hatchery Funds

    Two tribes in Washington state have sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies on claims the government unfairly told them they weren't eligible to apply for $240 million of Pacific salmon hatchery funds under the Inflation Reduction Act.

  • February 04, 2026

    Atty Nonprofit Claims Denver Police Withheld Discovery Info

    An attorney nonprofit organization claimed the Denver Police Department is not complying with Colorado open record laws, arguing in Colorado state court that the department denied a records request seeking information about discovery that wasn't shared with defendants in hundreds of criminal cases.

  • February 04, 2026

    USPTO Scraps Interested Party Precedent After New Ruling

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has removed the precedential status of two 2019 decisions addressing the rule that patent challengers must identify all interested parties, saying they were at odds with a decision that was made precedential last year.

  • February 04, 2026

    Texas AG Sues County Over Immigrant Legal Defense Funding

    The Texas attorney general told a state district court that Bexar County unlawfully used taxpayer dollars to fund the legal defense of unauthorized immigrants who are facing deportation proceedings, saying Wednesday the county may have allocated more than $1 million to an allegedly illegal program.

  • February 04, 2026

    Judge Says $40B Ligado Suit Looks 'Destined' For High Court

    Network company Ligado's nearly $40 billion lawsuit accusing the government of wrongly blocking its use of a certain slice of the airwaves seems likely to eventually land in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit's chief judge said Wednesday.

  • February 04, 2026

    Squires Throws Out 23 Patent Challenges, Grants 12

    The latest summary decision from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires denied 23 America Invents Act petitions and instituted 12 others, bringing his total number of patent challenges granted to 60.

  • February 04, 2026

    HPE Backs DOJ Bid For Final Merger Deal Approval

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise has endorsed the Justice Department's bid for final approval of a controversial settlement permitting the $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, telling a California federal judge that Democratic state attorneys general have nothing but "vague and inaccurate accusations" that the deal was improper.

  • February 04, 2026

    Minn. Judge Skeptical Of Widespread Refugee Detention

    A Minnesota federal judge on Wednesday appeared to doubt the necessity of sweeping detentions of refugees in Minnesota who have not yet secured their green cards, questioning the Trump administration's powers to return refugees to federal custody.

  • February 04, 2026

    CFTC Withdraws Proposal To Ban Sports, Election Contracts

    U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Chair Michael Selig on Wednesday withdrew a 2024 proposed rule that would have banned trading on the outcome of elections and sporting events, saying the agency will instead float a new rule that promotes "innovation" in derivatives markets.

  • February 04, 2026

    Partisan Permit Reform Won't Last In Long Run, Dem Says

    A Democratic member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday called for bipartisan reform of state and local broadband permitting laws, saying a GOP approach that excludes the other side could stymie the legislation.

  • February 04, 2026

    EPA Can't OK Calif. Engine Emissions Rules, 9th Circ. Told

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency failed to determine whether California's plan to set tighter emissions rules for off-road engines warranted a Clean Air Act waiver before giving the go-ahead to the Golden State, industry groups have told the Ninth Circuit.

  • February 04, 2026

    US Supreme Court Won't Halt New Calif. Congressional Map

    The U.S. Supreme Court will not block California's new, voter-approved congressional districts before they can be used in this year's midterm election while California Republicans appeal their previous failed bid to block the redrawn map that they argue constitutes illegal racial gerrymandering with Democratic officials "maximizing Latino voting strength."

  • February 04, 2026

    Clemency Was 'Broken' Long Before Trump. Can It Be Fixed?

    President Donald Trump has transformed what has historically been a bureaucratic process for seeking federal pardons and commutations into a more freewheeling affair with few clear rules — and no easy solutions for reform, experts say.

  • February 04, 2026

    Ex-Fox News Host Decries Judge Pick's Arbitration Stance

    Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News anchor and a leading advocate for ending forced arbitration of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, has come out against a federal judicial nominee for Louisiana for her past comments on the issue.

  • February 04, 2026

    3rd Circ. Asks If Death Scene Photo Row Is Privacy Matter

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday pondered whether the mother of a man who jumped from a bridge to his death was entitled to privacy after a Philadelphia police officer shared a photo of the man's death scene, focusing its questioning on whether there was a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning a public death.

  • February 04, 2026

    NJ Panel Backs Approval Of Orthodox Girls' School Campus

    A New Jersey appellate panel affirmed on Wednesday a township planning board's green light for a private Orthodox Jewish girls school campus, concluding that nearby homeowners failed to show the board acted arbitrarily, capriciously or under any improper influence when it approved the project.

  • February 04, 2026

    'Cop City' Protester Says He Was Arrested Over Ideology

    A man who protested the construction of a police and fire training facility in the Atlanta metro area nicknamed "Cop City" has brought a lawsuit in Georgia federal court against Cobb County and two police officers, alleging he was arrested during a 2024 demonstration because of his political ideology and values.

  • February 04, 2026

    Minn. Tax Court Lowers Tax Value Of Recreational Lot

    A vacant recreational lot in Minnesota should have its market value lowered because a mass appraisal conducted by the county was not reliable, the state Tax Court ruled. 

  • February 04, 2026

    US To Work With Mexico, Others On Trade Of Critical Minerals

    U.S. officials will coordinate efforts with Mexico, the European Union and Japan to secure critical minerals and develop trade policies around those resources, according to announcements Wednesday by the U.S. Trade Representative's Office.

  • February 04, 2026

    Minn. Court Denies Agricultural Tax Break For Property

    A Minnesota property doesn't qualify for a lower property assessment under a Green Acres tax classification because only a small portion of the property was used for agricultural reasons, the state Tax Court ruled. 

  • February 04, 2026

    3rd Circ. Ponders Pa. Professor's Virtual Teaching Denial

    A Third Circuit panel on Wednesday quizzed attorneys in a case involving a Kutztown University professor who was denied remote teaching accommodations about if she should have expected in-person instruction to be an essential function of her position, despite the lack of a job description or written policy saying so.

  • February 04, 2026

    USPTO's Squires Sees TMs As Key Tool Against AI Deepfakes

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires pitched trademarks as one of the most practical tools for combating artificial intelligence deepfakes, saying during a Wednesday webinar that name, image and likeness rights are "where the puck is going," peppering his remarks with pop culture references and sports metaphors.

  • February 04, 2026

    EU Lawmakers May Vote On US Trade Deal This Month

    The European Parliament will resume work on carrying out a framework trade agreement with the United States later this month following President Donald Trump's withdrawal of tariff threats in an effort to obtain Greenland, the parliament's trade committee chair said Wednesday.

  • February 04, 2026

    Ex-DOJ Civil Rights Appeals Chief Joins Democracy Center

    The former chief of the appellate section for the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has joined the States United Democracy Center as a senior legal fellow focused on election protection matters, she told Law360 Pulse in an interview Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Limiting Worker Surveillance Risks Amid AI Regulatory Shifts

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    With workplace surveillance tools becoming increasingly common and a recent executive order aiming to preempt state-level artificial intelligence enforcement, companies may feel encouraged to expand AI monitoring, but the legal exposure associated with these tools remains, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Can OCC State Banking Law Preemption Survive The Courts?

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    While two December proposals from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency seek to foreclose pending consumer litigation against national banks related to residential mortgage lending, it's unclear whether this aggressive approach will withstand judicial scrutiny under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 rulings in Cantero and Loper Bright, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • How Selig May Approach CFTC Agricultural Enforcement

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    As the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission begins a new chapter under recently confirmed Chairman Michael Selig's leadership, a look back at the agency's actions in agricultural markets over the past six years sheds light on what may lie ahead for enforcement in the area, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Assessing Factors Behind Biosimilar Uptake And Competition

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    As biosimilar uptake remains uneven and questions linger over whether the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act can deliver robust competition between biologics and biosimilars, a case study of Humira and its biosimilars illustrates how many factors, including payor reimbursement and formulary strategy, collectively shape competitive dynamics, say analysts at Analysis Group.

  • State Of Insurance: Q4 Notes From Illinois

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    In 2025's last quarter, Illinois’ appellate courts weighed in on overlapping homeowners coverages for water-related damages, contractual suit limitation provisions in uninsured motorist policies, and protections for genetic health information in life insurance underwriting, while the Department of Insurance sought nationwide homeowners' insurance data from State Farm, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

  • How 3 CFTC Letters Overhauled Digital Asset Guidance

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently issued three letters providing guidance for the use of digital assets in derivatives markets, clarifying the applicability of CFTC regulations across numerous areas of digital asset activities and leading to the development of standards to allow market participants to post digital assets as collateral, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

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    Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

  • Ruling Helps Clarify FERC's Post-Jarkesy Enforcement Power

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    A North Carolina federal court's recent ruling in American Efficient v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may be a step in providing clarity on FERC's enforcement authority under the Federal Power Act in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Dispatches From Utah's Newest Court

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    While a robust body of law hasn't yet developed since the Utah Business and Chancery Court's founding in October 2024, the number of cases filed there has recently picked up, and its existence illustrates Utah's desire to be top of mind for businesses across the country, says Evan Strassberg at Michael Best.

  • Aerospace And Defense Law: Trends To Follow In 2026

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    Some of the key 2026 developments to watch in aerospace and defense contracting law stem from provisions of this year's National Defense Authorization Act, a push to reform procurement, executive orders that announced Trump administration priorities, the upcoming Artemis space mission and continuing efforts to deploy artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Aviation Watch: Busy Skies, Tough Market For Airlines In 2026

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    After a turbulent year in the U.S. commercial aviation sector, demand for air travel and premium service shows no signs of slackening in 2026, with airlines facing the need to compete in a saturated market, while seeking opportunities for consolidation and pursuing other avenues to profitability, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Viewing The Merger Landscape Through An HPE-Juniper Lens

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    If considerations beyond antitrust law were taken into account to determine whether Section 7 of the Clayton Act was violated in the Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks deal, then legal practitioners advocating deal clearance may now have to argue that deals should be justified by considerations not set forth in the merger guidelines, says Matthew Cantor of Shinder Cantor.

  • 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

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    Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

  • 3 Key Ohio Financial Services Developments From 2025

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    Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw particularly notable developments in 2025, including a significant Ohio Supreme Court decision on creditor disclosure duties to guarantors in Huntington National Bank v. Schneider, and some major proposed changes to the state's Homebuyer Plus program, says Alex Durst at Durst Kerridge.

  • Patent Eligibility Faces Widening Gap Between USPTO, Courts

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    The year 2026 opened with a profoundly altered Patent Act Section 101 ecosystem — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has pushed eligibility as far open as it can for artificial intelligence technologies, but the courts are not on the same page, say attorneys at Skadden.

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