Public Policy

  • September 04, 2026

    Fla. Judge Retires, Avoids Sanctions For Political Donations

    A judge in Orlando, Florida, stepped off the bench on Friday rather than face discipline for violating a judicial ethics rule by making nearly $30,000 in political donations.

  • September 04, 2026

    US Extends Trade Programs With African Countries, Haiti

    The government funding bill signed by President Donald Trump this week included extensions of U.S. trade agreements with African nations and Haiti through the end of 2028, locking in duty exemptions for broad swaths of products following bipartisan support.

  • September 04, 2026

    Chinese Feed Additive Imports Harming US Industry, ITC Says

    Imports of animal feed-grade additive from China are being sold at unfair prices are harming domestic industry, the U.S. International Trade Commission determined Friday, setting up duty orders.

  • September 04, 2026

    AI Land Use Fights Are Just Getting Started In Mass.

    Some Massachusetts cities and towns are scrambling to update their zoning rules amid rising tensions over artificial intelligence data centers, with disputes expected to play out in the courts and on Beacon Hill in coming years.

  • September 03, 2026

    Teamsters Set To Shed Federal Monitors After Judge's OK

    The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is slated to ease decades of government oversight meant to ferret out ties to organized crime after a New York federal judge on Thursday approved a deal between the union and the Trump administration.

  • September 03, 2026

    Fox's Supposed $500M Offer For Parler Was Fake, Jury Told

    Billionaire Rebekah Mercer testified Thursday that Parler's later-ousted CEO made her think falsely that Fox was offering $500 million for the social app, one example of the supposed misconduct she has said was the reason he was forced out.

  • September 03, 2026

    GAO Flags Bank Disclosure Review Gaps After 2023 Failures

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office urged Congress Thursday to consider closing a gap that allows certain publicly traded banks to not make the same type of investor disclosures as banks whose investor filings are reviewed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, pointing to the bank failures of 2023 as a reason why.

  • September 03, 2026

    Oil Cos. Seek Quick Appeal To Nix Suit Over Heat Wave Death

    Exxon, Chevron, Shell and other oil giants say they plan to seek appellate review of a Washington judge's order refusing to dismiss a civil suit over a woman's 2021 death that alleged the defendants knew their products were intensifying extreme weather patterns but downplayed risks to maximize profit.  

  • September 03, 2026

    SEC Moves To Scrap 'Pay-To-Play' Political Donation Rule

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday issued a proposal to rescind a rule regarding political contributions made by investment advisers, which agency Chair Paul Atkins called "overly prescriptive."

  • September 03, 2026

    State Telecom Roundup: AT&T Pushes To Cut Copper Service

    AT&T has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to end all copper-line legacy services at more than 200 locations across 20 states, as it plows forward with its plans to retire its copper lines across the nation.

  • September 03, 2026

    Ex-Pardon Atty Says DOJ Fired Her Over Actor's Gun Rights

    Former U.S. pardon attorney Liz Oyer sued the U.S. Department of Justice Thursday in Washington, D.C., federal court, alleging the department unlawfully fired her for not recommending Mel Gibson get his gun rights back — a request she said was based on the actor's relationship with President Donald Trump.

  • September 03, 2026

    Immigration Attys Sue USCIS Over Sudden Form Change

    Immigration lawyers said that the Trump administration abruptly imposed a credit score provision in family-based immigration forms, arguing in a new lawsuit Thursday that the policy change runs afoul of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

  • September 03, 2026

    Most Of Corteva's IP Claims Against Inari Move Along

    A Delaware federal court Thursday kept most claims alive in a case over seed intellectual property brought by Corteva Agriscience ahead of a trial set to begin later this month.

  • September 03, 2026

    MDL Attys Want Special Master To Vet Meta Privilege Claims

    Personal injury plaintiffs' counsel asked a California federal judge Wednesday to appoint a special master to review Meta's attorney-client privilege designations in social media addiction multidistrict litigation, arguing that Meta can't be trusted to review them in light of the judge's recent rulings that certain Meta trial-exhibit redactions were "entirely inappropriate."

  • September 03, 2026

    Trump Admin Fights Uphill To Beat Vaccine Overhaul Suit

    A California federal judge indicated Thursday that he is likely to reject the federal government's bid to toss litigation from states challenging the Trump administration's decision to cut vaccine recommendations for American children, saying he thinks the states have standing based on the effect the change will have on their healthcare systems.

  • September 03, 2026

    Pilot Plane Forfeiture Over 6-Pack Is Excessive, Justices Told

    An 83-year-old bush pilot has told the U.S. Supreme Court that Alaska flouted precedent and applied a grossly disproportionate standard by saddling him with the "ills of alcohol abuse statewide" in trying to forfeit his $95,000 plane for transporting a six-pack of beer to a dry village.

  • September 03, 2026

    GAO Says DHS Is Unlikely To Save $10.5B From Contract Cuts

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is unlikely to realize $10.5 billion in projected savings after terminating 438 contracts because the agency can obtain many of the same services through existing contracts. 

  • September 03, 2026

    OCC Gives Initial Nods To Digital Banks Revolut, OpenReserve

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency preliminarily approved charter applications from European digital bank Revolut and blockchain-based bank OpenReserve to establish national banks in the United States.

  • September 03, 2026

    Judge Decries 'Gamesmanship' In Nixing EPA Waiver Moves

    A federal judge has struck an initial blow against the Trump administration and congressional Republicans' aggressive use of the Congressional Review Act to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's move to make Clean Air Act waivers for California subject to potential rescission by lawmakers.

  • September 03, 2026

    Alaska's Izembek Road Work OK'd Despite Axed Land Swap

    A federal judge has slapped down an environmental group's bid to preliminarily stop the state of Alaska and a Native village corporation from beginning construction on 2.8 miles of road adjacent to the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

  • September 03, 2026

    FCC Denies Retaliatory Pretext In ABC License Renewal Probe

    The Federal Communications Commission urged a D.C. federal court Thursday to toss ABC's suit over the agency's early review of eight station licenses, denying that a discrimination probe of network parent Disney was a pretext for retaliating against ABC.

  • September 03, 2026

    Ky. AG Sues NY Abortion Rights Org. Over Gas Station Ads

    A New York-based abortion advocacy nonprofit is violating Kentucky's consumer protection laws by illegally advertising mail-order abortion pills at gas stations throughout the state and flying ads over the state fair, the state's attorney general claimed in a lawsuit Thursday. 

  • September 03, 2026

    BIA Scraps Precedent Limiting In Absentia Removal Orders

    The full Board of Immigration Appeals said Thursday that immigration officials can rely on the most recent address on file when mailing removal notices, overruling 25-year-old precedent limiting in absentia orders for noncitizens who did not receive a mailed notice.

  • September 03, 2026

    FCC Told It Can't Preempt Local Utilities On Pole Attachments

    A municipally owned electric company from Kentucky wants the FCC to clarify that it doesn't plan to step on its toes or the toes of any other government-owned utilities as the agency seeks to pass rules that would allow it to preempt wireline decisions if localities are moving too slowly.

  • September 03, 2026

    Ga. Deputy Beats Taser Death Claims, Another Still Faces Suit

    A Georgia federal judge partly reconsidered his trimming of a lawsuit over two Burke County deputies' repeated tasing of a man who died after threatening violence, finding that a seizure occurred when one deputy tried to push him into a car, but declined to revive illegal seizure claims.

Expert Analysis

  • CFPB Fair Lending Litigation Reveals Compliance Complexity

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    A recent legal challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's fair lending amendments underscores continuing uncertainty over disparate impact liability, discouragement standards and special purpose credit programs, signaling that financial services providers should avoid hasty compliance changes, say attorneys at Weiner Brodsky.

  • Ensuring Eligibility For Data Center Sales Tax Breaks

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    As states compete to lure data centers, sales tax exemptions are an important component of many incentive packages — but companies must ensure that projects not only qualify for exemptions on paper, but also can preserve and prove their eligibility through the planning, construction and operation phases, says Peter Lowy at Nelson Mullins.

  • Cos. Should Act Now After US Ruling Reopens EU Data Fight

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Trump v. Slaughter may have inadvertently undermined the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and given the importance of data transfers for U.S. businesses, companies should start preparing for a scenario in which the framework is no longer enforceable, says Fernanda Pires Merouço at Davis Wright.

  • Inside Differing State Approaches To Prediction Market Taxes

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    As states adopt divergent approaches to prediction market platforms through both legislation and litigation, and the landscape is anything but settled, the emerging patchwork of state taxes on prediction markets presents novel questions about characterization, preemption and compliance, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • FDIC Proposals Mark Pullback In Bank Resolution Rules

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    A recent pair of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposals would fundamentally reshape testing of banks' resolution-related capabilities from a mandatory exercise to a voluntary one supported by significant financial incentives, amounting to an overall reduction in reporting requirements, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • 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.

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