Public Policy

  • October 16, 2026

    NY, Conn. Secure $2.7M Deal Over Health Network Data Breach

    A pediatric health network and its information technology manager have agreed to pay $2.7 million to resolve the New York and Connecticut attorneys general's claims that they failed to institute "common" security measures to protect the personal data of patients impacted by a 2024 data breach, the states announced Friday. 

  • October 16, 2026

    Texas Court Tosses $60M Security Guard Scuffle Verdict

    A Texas appeals court Friday tossed a roughly $60 million verdict and castigated the trial court for creating a record "rife with error" after the lower court wrongly included several corporate entities in a judgment relating to a scuffle between a security guard and a patron.

  • October 16, 2026

    Wash. AG Office, WSU Rigged $15M Data Contract, Suit Says

    A former prosecutor and the police-use-of-force analytics company he now helms sued Washington's attorney general's office and Washington State University over an allegedly rigged $15 million public safety data contract, claiming the defendants privately coordinated and shared nonpublic procurement information ahead of a competitive bidding process.

  • October 16, 2026

    Wash. Justices Void Vague Release Term For Sex Offender

    The Washington Supreme Court has reversed a convicted child molester's community custody condition that he not possess or access "sexually exploitive materials" because the term is not clearly defined in state law, and could potentially mean many things.

  • October 16, 2026

    NORML Urges 6th Circ. To Reconsider Pot Illegality Ruling

    The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a leading cannabis consumer advocate, is urging the Sixth Circuit to rehear its decision throwing out a $31.8 million jury verdict for a Michigan marijuana grower, arguing federal illegality should not categorically bar contract damages against a cannabis purchaser that breached a supply deal.

  • October 16, 2026

    Suing The Trump Admin Can Have Massive Impact, Attys Say

    Lawyers representing clients against the federal government spoke Friday about the challenges and rewards of such litigation in the Trump era, with plaintiff-side powerhouse Elizabeth Cabraser pointing to the potential for massive impact, including one case in which she successfully got more than a billion dollars in grant funding reinstated.

  • October 16, 2026

    State Telecom Roundup: Clearing The Way For BEAD Funds

    Nearly five years after the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program was signed into law by then-President Joe Biden, states have finally started disbursing funds to subgrantees who will carry out the projects that are supposed to end the digital divide.

  • October 16, 2026

    DC Circ. Questions Trump Records Ownership Claim

    Judges on the D.C. Circuit hounded a Trump administration attorney over the White House's attempt to do away with the Presidential Records Act on Friday, as they searched to find the limit on the president's authority over his own work documents.

  • October 16, 2026

    Permitting Bill Gives FERC A Bigger Enforcement Hammer

    Recently introduced U.S. Senate permitting legislation proposes an unprecedented extension of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's enforcement reach into areas of electricity grid planning policy that have been traditionally overseen by states, experts say.

  • October 16, 2026

    Frontier Settles Connecticut's Data Breach Probe For $625K

    Frontier is going to pay $625,000 to end a Connecticut state investigation into a data breach that compromised the Social Security numbers of nearly 60,000 people in the state two and a half years ago.

  • October 16, 2026

    Fla. Localities Seek To End Sex Offender Registry Challenge

    The state of Florida and dozens of cities and counties are urging a Florida federal court to toss an advocacy group's lawsuit that claims state and local laws governing registered sex offenders violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

  • October 16, 2026

    Denver Pot Shop Says City Can't Revoke Approved License

    A would-be marijuana shop is looking to force Denver to honor the final approval of a retail store license, claiming the city licensing director unlawfully withdrew authorization and ordered a redundant hearing, which will risk tens of thousands of dollars it has already spent.

  • October 16, 2026

    GAO Wants Better Federal Office Occupancy Data Collection

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office told the General Services Administration that the GSA needs to do a better job of collecting occupancy data for federal office space, saying that improved data collection would allow the federal government to cut waste.

  • October 16, 2026

    Conn. Agency Prevails Against Estate's $20M Infant Death Suit

    The estate of a slain infant did not prove Connecticut Department of Children and Families workers caused the 7-month-old boy's death by failing to take him away from his father, who threw him into the Connecticut River from a 90-foot-high bridge, a state judge has ruled after a bench trial.

  • October 16, 2026

    GAO Finds Workforce Slump In Nuclear Weapons Agency

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a new report Friday finding that the agency responsible for managing the country's nuclear weapons stockpile has seen its number of mission-critical employees continue to drop amid the highest workload since the Cold War.

  • October 16, 2026

    CFPB Looks To Collect $144M In CashCall Bank Row

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has asked a California federal judge to order Merchants Bank of Indiana to hand over $144 million in collateral it has held for lender CashCall, arguing the bank acted in bad faith by delaying enforcement of the judgment against CashCall by retaining the funds.

  • October 16, 2026

    10th Circ. OKs EPA's Okla. Indian Country Programs Approval

    The Tenth Circuit rejected a Native American tribe's challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to approve Oklahoma's request to extend the state's administration of federal environmental regulatory programs to Indian Country, ruling Friday that a provision of a 2005 transportation bill controls the outcome.

  • October 16, 2026

    FCC Eyes 'All Options' As 5th Circ. Orders Subsidy Fee Redo

    The Federal Communications Commission said Friday it was exploring all options for managing the $9 billion Universal Service Fund after a Fifth Circuit panel ruled the FCC lacked authority to create the funds' private oversight company.

  • October 16, 2026

    Michigan State Must Face Claims In Public Records Fee Fight

    Michigan State University must face claims that it improperly charged nearly $3,900 to fulfill a public records request and deliberately delayed releasing documents concerning alleged financial irregularities and university oversight, a Michigan Court of Claims judge has ruled, allowing two claims to proceed while dismissing five others.

  • October 16, 2026

    Target Says It Warned Investors About Pride Merch Backlash

    Target Corp. told a Minnesota federal court it should be released from a class action alleging it "betrayed" investors with Pride-themed merchandise that they claim was "exceptionally offensive," saying the company sufficiently warned investors about the potential backlash to the campaign.

  • October 16, 2026

    Attys Can Still Protect Voting Rights During The Midterms

    With the midterm elections approaching, a coalition of local and national nonprofits are seeking volunteers, especially lawyers, to safeguard the vote during an election with more states in play as battlegrounds and growing anxiety about federal interference in local elections.

  • October 16, 2026

    Jail Walls Block The Ballot. Advocates Try To Bring It Inside

    For eligible people detained before trial, the right to vote can depend on a tenuous chain of requests to the institution holding them. Across the country, however, election officials and advocates are working to ensure eligible voters can cast a ballot from jail.

  • October 16, 2026

    FTC Can Bring Debt Relief Scam Suit Before Jury

    A California federal judge has ruled that the Federal Trade Commission can bring its case against a telecommunications company over its marketing voicemails before a jury.

  • October 16, 2026

    FCC Says Five Eyes Allies Share Cybersecurity Info

    The Federal Communications Commission is working with foreign counterparts in the Five Eyes security alliance to share data on cyber risks, the U.S. agency said Friday.

  • October 16, 2026

    Voter Groups Sue DHS Over Alleged Voter Data Dragnet

    The League of Women Voters and two other groups are suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to stop what they call the agency's "secretive effort" to compile voter records in an effort to identify alleged fraud, arguing the actions are a "massive invasion of privacy."

Expert Analysis

  • Rebuttal

    North Carolina's Funding Ban Is An Outlier, Not A Model

    Author Photo

    A recent Law360 guest article argues that North Carolina's litigation funding ban should be adopted by other states, but that analysis overstates what North Carolina did and misjudges how the law will travel, says Dai Wai Chin Feman at the International Legal Finance Association.

  • Challenges On The Horizon For Illinois Data Center Projects

    Author Photo

    Illinois has more data centers in operation or under construction than all but five other states — but such projects face growing litigation threats and a range of state and local legislative proposals that could hinder further development of these facilities in the Land of Lincoln, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Planning For D&O Exclusions As Risks Mount For Banks

    Author Photo

    Banks should scrutinize directors and officers exclusions for artificial intelligence, disclosure and cybersecurity risks during policy renewal negotiations to preserve coverage amid the current uptick in insurer scrutiny and related shareholder litigation, say attorneys at Jones Walker.

  • Why The SEC Proposed Rescinding Its 'Pay-To-Play' Rule

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent proposal to nix its pay-to-play rule governing political contributions by investment advisers follows years of industry advocacy and commissioner criticism that it suppresses political speech and affects hiring, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Transfer Pricing Analyses May Apply To Tariff Refunds Claims

    Author Photo

    Both plaintiffs and defendants in consumer class actions over tariff refunds should examine transfer pricing analyses, which can offer contemporaneous evidence as to how much of a tariff was borne in the U.S. by the importer or consumers rather than absorbed earlier in the supply chain, say economists at The Brattle Group.

  • CFIUS Annual Report Reveals Enforcement Trends

    Author Photo

    The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' recently published annual report to Congress shows that it is increasingly focused on nonnotified transactions, mandatory filing compliance, critical technologies and postclosing mitigation enforcement across the full life cycle transactions, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

  • Importer Risk Rises As AI Enters Trade Fraud Enforcement

    Author Photo

    The Trump administration's new data-driven and artificial intelligence-enabled push against tariff evasion raises the stakes for companies with global supply chains, making it crucial that they consider strengthening response protocols, documentation and internal reporting mechanisms, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • What CMS Audit Rule Means For Medicare Advantage Plans

    Author Photo

    Despite ongoing legal challenges, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is moving forward with implementation of its risk adjustment data validation audits, raising statistical concerns around overpayments indicated by variance in unbalanced samples, say Stephen Fink, Brad Rice and Igor Karagodsky at Analysis Group.

  • Parsing The Latest Signals On FTC Section 5 Enforcement

    Author Photo

    Federal Trade Commission cases brought over the last several years and Commissioner Mark Meador’s recent call for stand-alone Section 5 enforcement suggest businesses should prepare for continued scrutiny of conduct beyond traditional antitrust violations, particularly in essential goods, technology and labor markets, say attorneys at Axinn.

  • Calif. PFAS Pesticide Reporting Law Raises Cos.' Legal Risks

    Author Photo

    A new California law requiring public reporting of how registered pesticides containing intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances are used across the state could increase regulatory scrutiny — and provide a road map for litigation involving growers, applicators, distributors, pesticide manufacturers and upstream chemical suppliers, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • What's At Stake As Justices Rethink Sentencing Commentary

    Author Photo

    Tuesday’s oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Beaird v. U.S. highlighted the tension between preserving sentencing consistency and limiting the authority of sentencing guidelines commentary, and a decision favoring the latter could significantly reduce sentencing exposure for white collar defendants, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • How A New Case Redefines The Birthright Citizenship Battle

    Author Photo

    After the U.S. Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling last term in Trump v. Barbara, the Trump administration issued a new executive order attempting to limit the categories of individuals eligible for this status — and a pending court challenge to the new order shows where the legal battle lines are being redrawn, say attorneys at Fragomen.

  • Why Vaccine Court Inoculates Drugmakers Against Litigation

    Author Photo

    Most claimants alleging injuries from routine childhood vaccines must complete an administrative compensation proceeding before they can sue in civil court — and recent legislative efforts aimed at weakening vaccine manufacturers' legal protections do not account for the important reasons the existing framework was put in place, say attorneys at Goldman Ismail.

  • As Congress Stalls, SEC Hits Go On 'Innovation Exemption'

    Author Photo

    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently issued innovation exemption to facilitate on-chain trading of certain tokenized stocks isn't a replacement for a comprehensive legislative framework, it reduces the likelihood that further congressional delay will freeze market development, says Stephen Aschettino at Fox Rothschild.

  • What Lawyers Should Know Before Accepting Crypto Payment

    Author Photo

    As clients increasingly request to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds using cryptocurrency, lawyers should consider how only a handful of state bar authorities have addressed the issue with varying ethics opinions, as well as the related questions that no authority has yet answered, says attorney Felix Shipkevich.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here