Public Policy

  • August 24, 2026

    Feds Cut Colo. River Basin Water For 2 Years Amid Drought

    The U.S. Department of the Interior has finalized a 10-year framework for Colorado River operations that will reduce water delivery to Arizona, California and Nevada by 1.25 million acre-feet for two years, as reservoirs dive to lows not seen since their 1963 construction due to ongoing drought conditions.

  • August 24, 2026

    DOJ Says House Dems Can't Sue Over ICE Visit Notice Rule

    The U.S. Department of Justice has urged a federal appeals court to throw out a lawsuit brought by House Democrats challenging a policy that requires seven days' notice for congressional oversight visits to immigration detention facilities.

  • August 24, 2026

    US Cos. Protest Being Left Out Of Quartz Surface Tariff Probe

    The U.S. International Trade Commission wrongfully ignored wide domestic opposition to a safeguard investigation and ultimate establishment of tariffs on imports of quartz surface products, a group of American companies told the U.S. Court of International Trade, seeking an order spiking the tariff.

  • August 24, 2026

    W.Va. Residents Say Coal Co. Polluted Town's Water Supply

    Eighteen residents of Gary, West Virginia, hit Taishan Resources LLC with a citizen suit that accuses the company of negligently operating a surface coal mine and contaminating the town's drinking water.

  • August 24, 2026

    Legal Center Says DOJ Is Stonewalling Fund Records Request

    A voting rights nonprofit is accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of stonewalling a request for records on the Trump administration's attempted "anti-weaponization fund," claiming that the agency has spent the summer unlawfully ducking a Freedom of Information Act submission.

  • August 24, 2026

    Fla. College Protest Rule Blocked In 'ICEBreakers' Suit

    A Florida federal judge blocked a Miami college's rule restricting protest activities after it was used to discipline several students who staged a brief public demonstration against immigration tactics, finding that the regulation likely violates the First Amendment.

  • August 24, 2026

    Mass. Retailers Sue To Block Kratom Sales Emergency Ban

    Four Massachusetts store owners have asked a judge to find that the state's public health commissioner exceeded his authority with a one-year emergency ban on the sale of all kratom products set to take effect this week.

  • August 24, 2026

    Feds Propose New $103K Fee For H-1B Visa Petitions

    The Trump administration proposed a new rule Monday that would impose a roughly $103,000 fee for all H-1B visa petitions subject to government caps, separate from the $100,000 fee President Donald Trump announced last year via executive proclamation.

  • August 24, 2026

    Advocacy Groups Seek To Join ABC's Case Against FCC

    Two media advocacy groups said Monday they will seek to join a lawsuit that ABC recently filed in D.C. federal court against the Federal Communications Commission alleging First Amendment violations.

  • August 23, 2026

    US-Canada Trade Talks Crater Ahead Of 50% Tariffs

    Canada will place tariffs on American goods in response to 50% U.S. tariffs that took effect Saturday on goods arriving from across the Northern border after talks to strike a broader economic deal fell apart.

  • August 21, 2026

    75-Country Immigrant Visa Freeze Ruled 'Patently Unlawful'

    A New York federal judge on Friday struck down a U.S. Department of State policy that halted the issuance of visas to immigrants from 75 countries, finding the policy "patently unlawful" and in excess of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statutory authority.

  • August 21, 2026

    Banking Industry Pushes For Lighter Load On 'Camels'

    The banking industry is pressing federal regulators to beef up their plan to rein in confidential supervisory ratings that are used to score the health of banks, urging them to set sharper limits around downgrade decisions and potentially ditch management-specific ratings entirely.

  • August 21, 2026

    9th Circ. Rules Workers' Vaccine Bias Suit Must Go To Trial

    The Ninth Circuit ruled Friday that a jury must decide workers' religious-discrimination claims against the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, finding the lower court erred in concluding the agency accommodated the workers' religious-exemption requests from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate by offering them limited reassignment options.

  • August 21, 2026

    Split DC Circ. Nixes Damages Over Project Veritas Sting Video

    A split D.C. Circuit panel sided Friday with the founder and former CEO of conservative activist media group Project Veritas, reversing $130,000 in damages stemming from the group's sting operation on the liberal consulting firm Democracy Partners.

  • August 21, 2026

    Texas Hemp Cos. Bring New Challenge To Delta-8 Rules

    A group of companies in the hemp industry asked a Texas state court to pare back Department of State Health Services actions that curb delta-8 in hemp, taking another swing at agency rules after the Texas Supreme Court rejected a similar case.

  • August 21, 2026

    Wash. AG Pauses OG Case As 9th Circ. Weighs Preemption

    Washington's attorney general and its gambling commissioners have agreed to hold off on enforcing the state's gambling laws against prediction market platform OG, run by the North American Derivatives Exchange, while the Ninth Circuit decides related appeals that could resolve the underlying legal dispute.

  • August 21, 2026

    Vandy Law Grad Can Keep Hidden-Evidence Suit Against Attys

    A Connecticut federal judge ruled Friday that a Vanderbilt Law School graduate can continue a suit against the town of Westport and two attorneys who defended him in a criminal case when he was a teen and, he claims, helped cover up critical information — causing him to be incarcerated.

  • August 21, 2026

    9th Circ. Tosses Calif. Ghost Gun Suit Over Standing

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Friday vacated a lower court ruling that struck down part of a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ghost gun regulation, finding California and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence lacked standing to sue on the grounds that the regulation did not go far enough in defining various "ghost gun" parts.

  • August 21, 2026

    New SBA Rule May Send Applicants Back To Square One

    The U.S. Small Business Administration's new rule redefining eligibility for the agency's contracting program for disadvantaged small businesses is prompting those with pending applications to consider scrapping them and starting over, and future applicants now face a new and largely untested evidentiary standard.

  • August 21, 2026

    Kalshi Wants Wash. Ban Axed After State 'Blessed' Competitor

    Kalshi has urged a Washington state court to reconsider a recent order blocking the company from offering event contracts to the state's residents in most of its prediction market categories, raising equitable findings concerns and pointing to Washington's recent "blessing" of event contracts offered by one of Kalshi's competitors.

  • August 21, 2026

    Divided 2nd Circ. Backs DQ Of Acting NDNY US Attorney

    The Second Circuit on Friday upheld a lower court's decision that found the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, John Sarcone III, was unlawfully serving in his position when he obtained grand jury subpoenas of the New York attorney general's office.

  • August 21, 2026

    Mich. Homeowners Say Grid Overseer Exceeded Its Power

    A Michigan couple on Friday urged a federal judge to keep their lawsuit against state utility regulators alive, arguing a state-approved mandate should not give power companies a "blank check" to enter private property and cut down trees without an easement.

  • August 21, 2026

    Albertsons Twists Record In Opioid Trial Motion, Wash. Says

    Washington state is urging a Seattle judge to reject Albertsons' latest dismissal bid in a suit accusing the grocery giant of fueling the state's opioid epidemic, arguing the motion rehashes failed arguments and distorts evidence presented over the past five weeks in an ongoing bench trial.

  • August 21, 2026

    Verdict Bars Ex-Fla. Rep's 'Sham' Contract Claim, Oil Co. Says

    The U.S. affiliate of Venezuela's state oil company urged a New York federal court Friday to toss a former Florida congressman's counterclaim alleging he's still owed $30 million under a consulting contract, saying his conviction on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent shows the agreement was a "sham."

  • August 21, 2026

    Trump Seeks Justices' Review Of DEI Grant Termination Case

    The Trump administration is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit decision requiring the federal government to reinstate research grants that were terminated due to presidential orders against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Mich. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter brought several notable financial services law developments to Michigan, including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on state tax foreclosures, progress on a money transmission modernization bill package, and continued legislative momentum on cryptocurrency and mortgage lending, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • How New FERC Orders Are Prepping Grid For Large Loads

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    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent show-cause orders to grid operators to justify how their rates and regulations account for the interconnection of large and colocated loads like data centers may be just the first step in FERC's efforts to address anticipated reliability and affordability challenges in the coming years, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • FDA Moves Leave Peptides In A Legal Gray Zone

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    While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken a concrete step forward on reclassifying certain peptides, the practical consequence of their interim status cannot be overstated — these substances are no longer designated as posing a significant safety risk, but they have not been affirmatively authorized for compounding, say attorneys at Sheppard.

  • Series

    Bass Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Landing a trophy striped bass and closing a big deal both require cultivating the patience to finesse — not force — your way to desired outcomes, changing course when your old approach isn’t working and learning from the ones that got away, says Jon Ruiss at Alston & Bird.

  • What Consent Decree Trends Mean For Deal Clearances

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    With merger remedies back on the table under the current administration, an analysis of recent Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice consent decrees reveals that prior approval and prior notice provisions are no longer a foregone conclusion, and companies may be able to negotiate narrowly tailored obligations, say attorneys at Weil.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The year's second quarter brought several notable banking law developments to New York, including a proposal to align state stablecoin rules with the federal Genius Act, fresh fair lending and cybersecurity guidance from state regulators, and a significant Second Circuit holding on preemption, say attorneys at Ashurst Perkins Coie.

  • How Reincorporating In Texas May Alter Earnout Disputes

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    While the DExit debate has focused on shareholder suits, far less attention has been paid to what reincorporating in Texas means for M&A disputes, making it particularly important to understand the nuances between Delaware and Texas earnout jurisprudence, say attorneys at Selendy Gay.

  • What To Know If DOL Raises Overtime Salary Floor

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    With the U.S. Department of Labor recently rescinding a 2024 rule that increased the minimum salary for the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime exemptions, employers should assess how a future increase would affect their workforce, paying particular attention to job duties requirements and state laws, says James Coleman at Constangy.

  • Roundup

    The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

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    This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

  • Structuring Space Nuclear Deals For Regulatory Risk

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    With the White House's recent focus on space nuclear power, a highly important question for companies that want to build orbital reactors, lunar surface systems or critical components is whether the transaction documents can handle foreign investment constraints, export controls and treaty-linked liability, says Kristie Blase at Frazer + Blase.

  • Proof, Not Just Timing, Will Decide Clean Energy Credits

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    For wind and solar projects that sprinted to begin construction before the accelerated placed-in-service deadline of July 4, project owners must now assemble and maintain documentation to qualify the project and defend against a potential clean energy credit audit, says Peter Lowy at Nelson Mullins.

  • Coordinating Life Sciences IP Strategies In The US And EU

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    As postgrant practice for life sciences patents is restructured in the U.S. and European Union simultaneously, patent owners will need to implement transatlantic coordination that treats international proceedings as components of a single intellectual property risk architecture, says Paul Calvo at Sterne Kessler.

  • Texas Business Court Rulings Show Deal Terms Paramount

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    As the courts within the Texas Business Court system have begun reaching the substantive merits of the cases before them, they are persuasively demonstrating they will not only enforce the terms of transactions as written, but will also embrace a holistic approach to complex transaction documentation interpretation, says Christopher Pace at Winston Taylor.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The year's second quarter brought several noteworthy financial services developments to California, including activity around a commercial finance oversight bill, the former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head's appointment to lead a new consumer agency, and a ruling reinforcing viable bank-fintech partnerships, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Trademark Law As A Tool To Bolster NIL Rights Against AI

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    The meteoric rise of artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes is prompting high-profile celebrities to protect their name, image and likeness rights using federal trademark law — a powerful yet limited supplement to traditional NIL claims, says Susan Natland at BakerHostetler.

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