Public Policy

  • September 23, 2026

    Illinois Swipe-Fee Ban Also Blocked For Federal Credit Unions

    An Illinois federal judge expanded an order blocking the state from enforcing its landmark ban on tax-and-tip swipe fees against most banks, ruling that an injunction she granted earlier this year extends to federal credit unions in light of a new federal rule that authorizes them to collect interchange fees.

  • September 23, 2026

    Mich. Court Keeps Freeze On Voting Data Deletion In Place

    A temporary restraining order preventing the deletion of voter records from the Aug. 4 primary election will remain in place pending the release of administrative rulings from the Michigan Secretary of State, a Michigan judge ruled Tuesday.

  • September 23, 2026

    Mich. Judge Gives Cannabis Cos. Chance To Fix Complaint

    A Michigan federal judge has given two companies challenging the city of Menominee's marijuana licensing process a chance to amend their complaint after the city argued that a waiver signed as part of a license application bars their nine-count lawsuit.

  • September 23, 2026

    Ex-NY County Top Official's 12-Year Sentence Cut To 10

    A New York federal judge sentenced former Long Island politician Edward Mangano to 10 years for corruption Wednesday, trimming a 12-year term she handed him after the Second Circuit tossed a jury's finding that he committed bribery.

  • September 23, 2026

    FTC Backs Proposed Education Dept. Accreditation Reforms

    The Federal Trade Commission has endorsed the U.S. Department of Education's proposal to expand higher education accreditation options and promote competition among accreditation agencies.

  • September 23, 2026

    Md. Governor Calls For Ending Data Centers' Tax Exemption

    Maryland's governor became the latest state executive Wednesday to back off giving tax breaks to data centers, a development becoming increasingly common as the midterm elections draw near.

  • September 23, 2026

    Del. Justices Weigh If Corporations Can Vote In Beach Town

    The ACLU of Delaware urged the state's high court Wednesday to revive its challenge to Fenwick Island's practice of allowing property-owning corporations and other artificial entities to vote in municipal elections, arguing the system unlawfully dilutes residents' votes.

  • September 23, 2026

    Sens. Await FTC Reply On Amazon, Walmart Shopping Bots

    U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Rick Scott are waiting to receive a substantive response from the Federal Trade Commission to their request for an investigation into how Amazon and Walmart's AI shopping assistants handle "Made in the USA" products, Baldwin's office confirmed Wednesday.

  • September 23, 2026

    OpenAI Looks To End SpaceXAI's Apple Deal Antitrust Case

    OpenAI is urging a Texas federal court to end an antitrust case from Elon Musk's SpaceXAI over a deal integrating ChatGPT into Apple devices, saying the pact is not exclusive and does not block competition from rival chatbots.

  • September 23, 2026

    Fla. Panel Won't Hear City's Immunity Bid In Partnership Suit

    A Florida state appellate panel issued a split decision on Wednesday dismissing a bid by a city to overturn an order striking its motion to argue for immunity in a lawsuit over a public-private partnership to build a green waste facility near protected wetlands, saying it lacks jurisdiction. 

  • September 23, 2026

    Ute Tribe Says Split-Estate Lands Remain Indian Country

    The Ute Indian Tribe has urged the Tenth Circuit to overturn a Utah federal judge's ruling that the surface of split-estate lands within its reservation's original boundaries is not Indian Country, arguing the appellate court settled the issue decades ago.

  • September 23, 2026

    DC Pied-à-Terre Tax Plan Targets Pricey Second Homes

    Washington, D.C., would impose additional property tax on homes worth about $2.6 million or more that are not rented out or used as primary residences under legislation before the district council.

  • September 23, 2026

    Senate Confirms Abbott Aide To Texas Federal Bench

    The Senate voted 50-47, along party lines, on Wednesday to confirm Angela Colmenero, deputy chief of staff to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, to serve on the Southern District of Texas.

  • September 23, 2026

    NY Judge Dismisses States' DOGE Treasury Data Access Suit

    A New York federal judge Wednesday tossed several states' lawsuit that challenged Department of Government Efficiency staff access to U.S. Department of the Treasury data, saying DOGE's dissolution rendered the states' access claims moot and that they failed to allege that any federal funding due to them was ultimately canceled.

  • September 23, 2026

    Cable Group Opposes FCC Plan For Robocall 'Scorecard'

    A major cable industry group blasted a plan by the Federal Communications Commission to let consumers use a "scorecard" to rate their voice service providers' efforts to block robocalls, saying it will divert FCC resources from actual enforcement.

  • September 23, 2026

    Fed. Grants Bind Railways To Fed. Labor Law, NMB Argues

    The Eleventh Circuit should affirm a Florida federal judge's finding that a high-speed rail operator is subject to the Railway Labor Act, the National Mediation Board argued, saying the operator can't wriggle its way out of complying because it runs an intercity rather than interstate rail line.

  • September 23, 2026

    Judge Orders Feds To Wait 3 Days Before ICE Transfers

    A Massachusetts judge has ordered federal immigration authorities to provide three days' notice to detainees who request bond hearings before they can be moved from the First Circuit, where they have a right to a bond hearing, to another circuit where the law may be different.

  • September 23, 2026

    BofA Customers Drop Suit Over Post-Jan. 6 Data-Sharing

    A proposed class action accusing Bank of America NA of illegally sharing customer information with law enforcement after the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack has quietly come to an end, according to a notice filed late Tuesday in Florida federal court.

  • September 23, 2026

    Ga. Appeals Court Says Atlanta Can't Escape Injury Verdict

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday said a trial court rightly refused to set aside a $140,000 verdict against the city of Atlanta in a woman's lawsuit over a broken wrist she said she suffered when she tripped over the metal remnants of a traffic sign on the sidewalk. 

  • September 23, 2026

    Chinese Graphite Electrodes May See Retroactive Duties

    The U.S. Department of Commerce identified a surge of imported Chinese large-diameter graphite electrodes in advance of duties being imposed on those goods and preliminarily determined that critical circumstances exist for the department to retroactively apply countervailing duties, according to a Wednesday notice. 

  • September 23, 2026

    GOP Leaders Say NJ Is Withholding Voter List Records

    National and New Jersey Republicans have filed a lawsuit seeking the disclosure of the Garden State's voter-list maintenance records, alleging that state and local officials haven't fully complied with their requests.

  • September 23, 2026

    Medicare Brokers Say Feds Won't Identify Alleged False Claims

    A group of insurance companies and brokers accused in a False Claims Act case of colluding to steer Medicare recipients to certain Medicare Advantage plans said Tuesday that the federal government has refused to provide specifics of the allegations.

  • September 23, 2026

    Chinese Medicinal Chemical Exporter Faces Triple-Digit Duty

    A pharmaceutical compound imported from China has been found to have been subsidized, and at least one exporter of the goods in question could face triple-digit retroactive countervailing duties, according to a notice issued Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

  • September 23, 2026

    Judge Dismisses Son's Bid To Recoup Parents' Tax Payments

    A Tennessee federal judge dismissed a son's bid for a refund of federal income taxes for his dead parents' estates, finding he failed to establish that his father sufficiently participated in an amusement equipment manufacturing business to claim associated losses.

  • September 23, 2026

    Ore. Airplane Hangar Tax Valuation Upheld By Court

    The owner of an Oregon airplane hangar failed to show that a local assessor and tax appeals board overvalued it or that it should be divided into two taxable parcels, the state tax court ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • How FCC Covered List Blitz Is Sidelining Commerce Dept.

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    The swath of recent Federal Communications Commission rulemakings raises serious questions about the purpose and future of Commerce's Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, and how the U.S. government will go forward in imposing national security regulation on domestic applications of adversary-linked technologies, says Peter Jeydel at Troutman.

  • DOJ Healthcare Declination Offers Self-Disclosure Checklist

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's declination of criminal charges against Campus Eye Management signals that its new self-disclosure policy provides a real path for healthcare companies to avoid criminal exposure, but that path is paved with speed, transparency and operational remediation, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • SEC Rulemaking Radar: The Rubber Meets The Road

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rulemaking agenda shows its regulatory reset taking shape, with sweeping crypto proposals that could bring the biggest changes it has made to broker-dealer, exchange and trading compliance in decades, says Christopher Grobbel at Goodwin.

  • Monitor Exposure, Stay Flexible Amid Tariff Uncertainty

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    To navigate an unstable trade environment, businesses must evaluate their exposure to new tariffs invoked under a patchwork of statutory authorities and be prepared to adapt to further changes that may be on the horizon, says Bhargav Prajapati at Capital Trade.

  • CFPB Complaint Portal Overhaul Signals Changing Priorities

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's updates to its consumer complaint portal and decision to cease publishing consumer complaint narratives should be viewed by companies as one component of a larger recalibration of how the CFPB collects information and allocates its supervisory and enforcement resources, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Opinion

    Correctional Healthcare Requires Clearer Legal Standards

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    As the correctional healthcare industry increasingly faces financial instability due to litigation, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons should develop clear standards for constitutionally adequate care for incarcerated patients, says Susanne Moore at Blackstone Trial Group.

  • 6 Risk Areas Future Fla. Stablecoin Issuers Should Plan For

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    Companies hoping to issue stablecoins under Florida’s new supervision regime should prioritize constructing robust risk management architecture across key areas before the Oct. 1 effective date so they can secure licenses, avoid a web of potential liabilities, and operate sustainably as state and federal regulations evolve, says Elizabeth Brusa at Shumaker.

  • 6 Key Takeaways From CFIUS Annual Report

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    Attorneys at Simpson Thacher review highlights from the annual report of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., released to Congress this month, including the launch of the American First Investment Policy and the Known Investor Pilot Program, and the agency's continued focus on enforcement despite its resource constraints.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Surviving A Long Trial

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    Most of law school trial advocacy is geared toward the sprint of trying a short case, but beyond managing a cross-examination or closing argument, effectively handling the marathon of a lengthy trial requires the ability to maintain composure, organization and credibility with the jury, says Mihir Elchuri at Hirschler.

  • AI Chatbot's Medical Claims Highlight Enforcement Risks

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    The Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine's recent lawsuit against Character Technologies, arguing that an artificial intelligence chatbot engaged in the unlicensed practice of medicine, may provide other state licensing boards with a road map for going after AI platforms, and counsel should advise clients to calibrate compliance accordingly, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • A Deepening Patent-Trademark Divide Over Irreparable Harm

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    Recent Federal Circuit decisions, along with legislation being considered in Congress, may exacerbate the differences that patent owners and trademark owners face when seeking to stop infringement before irreparable harm is caused, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Upping Fed, FDIC's Insider Loan Cap May Ease Bank Burdens

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    Coordinated Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Federal Reserve proposals to raise the 1970s-era cap for bank executives borrowing from their institutions represent a long-needed regulatory recalibration that would lighten compliance obligations caused by the outdated ceiling without diminishing the original protections against conflicts of interest, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • What Calif.'s New Focus On Microplastics Means For Cos.

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    The recent move by California's Department of Toxic Substances Control to designate microplastics as candidate chemicals under its Safer Consumer Product regulations does not create a new product restriction — but it expands the agency's future reach by putting microplastics on the department’s regulatory runway, says Gregory Berlin at Alston & Bird.

  • 7th Circ. Ruling May Reduce Litigation Risk For Text Marketers

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    The recent Seventh Circuit holding in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services that unwanted marketing text messages are not telephone calls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act may strengthen companies' responses to presuit demand letters and early-stage litigation claims premised on do-not-call text theories, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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