Public Policy

  • August 27, 2026

    OCC, FDIC Raise Bar For Examiners To Criticize Banks

    Federal banking regulators moved Thursday to rein in their use of supervisory warnings and enforcement actions, rolling out new standards that they said will focus examiner attention on material financial risks rather than process and documentation concerns.

  • August 27, 2026

    OpenAI Leads Corporate Push To Bolster Cyber Defense

    OpenAI and more than 100 other companies and organizations signed an open letter Thursday calling for a global surge in cyber defense, warning that artificial intelligence will make cyberattacks "more widespread and sophisticated" in the coming months.

  • August 27, 2026

    States' Suit Says HHS Terms Threaten Family Planning Dollars

    Twenty-three states launched a lawsuit in Maryland federal court Thursday challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new conditions on federal funding for family planning services that they say would require recipients end support for "gender ideology," abandon diversity programming and drive patients toward parenthood and marriage.

  • August 27, 2026

    SD Judge Takes On Voter ID Rule Affecting Tribes

    A South Dakota federal judge expedited briefing for a preliminary injunction bid in a League of Women Voters lawsuit against the state ahead of absentee voting that starts Sept. 18, ruling the league can hasten its challenge of a new documentary proof of citizenship requirement.

  • August 27, 2026

    Enviro Groups Seek More Time To Fight Roadless Rule Repeal

    Environmental groups have asked the U.S. Forest Service to extend a public comment period for its proposal to scrap a 25-year-old "Roadless Rule" that bars logging and road construction on tens of millions of acres of national forest around the country.

  • August 27, 2026

    Colo. AG Accuses EarnIn Of Making Illegal Payday Loans

    Colorado's attorney general has accused the financial firm EarnIn of illegally providing "predatory" payday loans to tens of thousands of Coloradans through its earned wage access product, charging annual percentage rates of 1,000% or more.

  • August 27, 2026

    DOJ Targets 4 More States Over Immigrant Tuition Benefits

    The U.S. Department of Justice sued Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington on Thursday over their laws allowing unauthorized immigrants to pay in-state tuition, arguing the measures amount to unconstitutional discrimination against U.S. citizens.

  • August 27, 2026

    FCC Ends Caption Reg On Public Channel Video Programmers

    The Federal Communications Commission has scrapped a requirement that video programmers show they comply with closed captioning rules if they only provide content to local public, educational and governmental channels that are exempt from captioning mandates.

  • August 27, 2026

    'We Are Not Afraid To Try This Case,' Says Rep. McIver's Atty

    Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., and her legal team Thursday outlined her options following the appeals court decision affirming that charges against her arising from her oversight visit to an immigration detention facility can move forward.

  • August 27, 2026

    NY, Sheriffs File Dueling Suits Over ICE Agreements

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James sued the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office on Thursday for failing to comply with a newly enacted state law requiring local law enforcement agencies to end agreements to assist with federal immigration enforcement.

  • August 27, 2026

    Chamber Says FTC's Meta Appeal Trying To 'Rewrite' Law

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other amicus filers urged the D.C. Circuit not to revive the Federal Trade Commission monopolization lawsuit targeting Meta's purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram, taking issue Thursday with how the FTC characterizes social media competition, consumer behavior and the law allowing it to sue.

  • August 27, 2026

    Officer Assaults Not Always Violent Crimes, 8th Circ. Says

    An Eighth Circuit panel has ruled that assault against a federal employee is not categorically a crime of violence, saying U.S. Supreme Court precedent demands proof of more physical force than a conviction under the federal statute requires.  

  • August 27, 2026

    Telecoms Face FCC Call Block Over Robocall Compliance

    The Federal Communications Commission has told nine different telecoms that they need to get right with their robocall mitigation database certifications or face being booted off U.S. networks.

  • August 27, 2026

    SpaceX Seeks Green Light On Gen3 System

    Since the FCC is already in the middle of overhauling its satellite licensing framework to presume applications are in the public interest if they follow certain rules, SpaceX wants the agency to apply that presumption to the 100,000-satellite constellation it has proposed.

  • August 27, 2026

    Ex-West Point Prof Says Climate Science Stand Cost Him Job

    A former West Point professor is alleging in New York federal court that the military academy violated his First Amendment rights when it forced him out after he voiced opposition to a directive to stop teaching cadets about human contributions to climate change.

  • August 27, 2026

    Charter Schools Blast Proposal To Limit E-Rate To Rural Areas

    Public charter schools told the Federal Communications Commission that the agency cannot pare back the E-Rate subsidy program to just rural areas because Congress meant the program to serve all low-income areas, including urban neighborhoods.

  • August 27, 2026

    AG Says Florida Won't Take Part In Meta's 'Weak' $17B Deal

    Florida will take no part in Meta's $17 billion social media addiction settlement, according to state Attorney General James Uthmeier, who has slammed the sum as "weak" and said the Sunshine State will not be bought off for "pennies on the dollar."

  • August 27, 2026

    Developer Says Mass. City Can't Tie Permits To Rent Caps

    A developer seeking to build a mixed-use mid-rise in Cambridge, Massachusetts, says the city is unlawfully withholding its building permit unless the developer meets affordable-housing requirements and pays a $450,000 permit fee under an inclusionary housing ordinance, according to a complaint filed Thursday in state court.

  • August 27, 2026

    Ukrainians Still Can't Tie Cos. To Russian Missiles, TI Says

    Several semiconductor manufacturers, including Mouser Electronics Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc., asked a Texas federal court to throw out claims brought by Ukrainian civilians alleging the companies' parts ended up in Russian missiles, saying the civilians failed to cure defects in their pleadings.

  • August 27, 2026

    6th Circ. Rules Mich. Doesn't Own Unclaimed Accounts

    The Sixth Circuit revived proposed class claims accusing Michigan officials of violating property owners' due process rights by keeping interest earned on unclaimed financial accounts, holding that the state takes custody of abandoned property but does not take ownership of it. 

  • August 27, 2026

    Feds Fight 'Premature' Attempt To Block New Birthright Order

    The Trump administration has defended its new executive order targeting birthright citizenship after losing at the U.S. Supreme Court in June, urging a Maryland federal court not to block the new order from being implemented.

  • August 27, 2026

    FCC Urged To Hold Off On New Subsea Cable Security Regs

    A trade association for submarine cable owners and other groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to hold off on adopting more regulations for undersea communication cable equipment until more information is available.

  • August 27, 2026

    USPTO Sets Radiation Monitoring Patent Order As Informative

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has added weight to a Patent Trial and Appeal Board order from earlier this year that undid a decision rejecting an RNA patent application.

  • August 27, 2026

    MARTA, Atlanta Reach $52M Deal In Lengthy Tax Dispute

    The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority and the city of Atlanta announced a $52 million settlement Thursday to end their yearslong dispute over the amount of sales tax proceeds allocated for its enhanced bus service.

  • August 27, 2026

    Dems Want DOJ, FTC To Look At Sysco's $29B Jetro Buy

    Two Democratic lawmakers called on the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday to closely inspect Sysco Corp.'s plans to buy competitor Restaurant Depot LLC aka Jetro Restaurant Depot at a total enterprise value of $29.1 billion, warning in a letter the transaction could hurt independent restaurants, farmers and Americans who "are already facing an affordability crisis."

Expert Analysis

  • How State Actions Are Reshaping Surveillance Pricing Risk

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    Amid heightened state enforcement activity and expanding legislative action to curb surveillance pricing concerns related to transparency, fairness and discrimination, businesses should closely examine how consumer data is used in pricing decisions, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • State Of Insurance: Q2 Notes From Illinois

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    The second quarter of 2026 featured a trio of auto insurance opinions from Illinois' appellate courts, addressing a notice requirement, narrowing insurers' exposure for delayed payment of underinsured motorist claims, and creating a district split on coverage for employee-drivers under employers' policies, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

  • Tips For Issuers Left In Lurch Without Genius Act Final Rules

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    The compliance runway envisioned by the Genius Act is steadily shrinking after regulators failed to finalize all the required implementing regulations by July 18, so stablecoin issuers should begin implementing "no-regrets" compliance measures and securing outside vendors before the law takes full effect in January, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Why Courts Are Pushing Back On Greenwashing Laws

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    Recent Fourth Circuit and California federal court decisions blocking state greenwashing statutes on First Amendment grounds reveal a tension at the heart of environmental marketing regulation — while states want clarity, courts aren't prepared to let legislatures flatly ban categories of truthful commercial speech, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • What NYC Bridge Crash Signals About Micromobility Liability

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    A recent fatal crash between a cyclist and a man riding a high-powered electric scooter on New York City's Queensboro Bridge highlights how litigation over accidents involving micromobility devices may increasingly shift away from ordinary negligence and toward product liability, says Jeff Korek at Gersowitz Libo.

  • 3 Ways Tokenization Is Moving To Traditional Finance

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    Recent initiatives reflect efforts to integrate distributed ledger technology into existing regulatory frameworks for securities, banking and payments settlements while preserving the underlying rights and obligations of market participants, say attorneys at Hughes Hubbard.

  • 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.

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