Public Policy

  • October 14, 2026

    NC Health Plan Can't Block Atrium's Cost-Sharing Program

    Atrium Health can move forward with a program to offer lower healthcare costs to members of North Carolina's state health plan, a state court judge ruled, handing a loss to the state treasurer in his lawsuit claiming Atrium's program will ultimately saddle the plan with more debt.

  • October 14, 2026

    High Court Won't Pause Mich. Activist Pretrial Jail Order

    The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a bid by a self-described "antifa" member to halt a Sixth Circuit order sending him back to jail pending charges that he cyberstalked and threatened a social media supporter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

  • October 14, 2026

    Judge Probes Public Disclosure Bar in Fluor FCA Lawsuit

    A D.C. federal judge said Wednesday that a whistleblower's qui tam False Claims Act lawsuit accusing defense logistics contractor Fluor of labor trafficking could ultimately fall under the statute's public disclosure bar, given that "a bunch of stuff" had been floating around on the company prior to his complaint.

  • October 14, 2026

    DC Circ. Not Fan Of EPA's Citation Habits In Methane Appeal

    The D.C. Circuit didn't seem too sure Wednesday morning whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had behaved how it ought to have when extending compliance deadlines for initiating requirements to reduce methane pollution from the oil and gas sector.

  • October 14, 2026

    Conn. Committee Backs Monitored Return For Convicted Atty

    A former Connecticut attorney who pled guilty to moving money during a client's $3 million securities scheme can be readmitted to the bar subject to monitoring, insurance and mentorship conditions, a local ethics committee has recommended, though a three-judge panel will now decide whether to accept or reject that guidance.

  • October 14, 2026

    3rd Circ. Backs Pa. Regulator In Pipeline Approval Fight

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a Pennsylvania regulator's approval of a Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. project, ruling there was no evidence the water quality information pushed by environmental groups would have altered the outcome of the application.

  • October 14, 2026

    US Backs Alaska In High Court Fight Over Plane Forfeiture

    The federal government has told the U.S. Supreme Court that Alaska is well within its right to confiscate "instrumentalities of crime" and the state's attempted forfeiture of an 83-year-old bush pilot's $95,000 plane for transporting a six-pack of beer to a dry village wasn't excessive.

  • October 14, 2026

    GAO Says ICE, CBP Should Improve Body Camera Programs

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report recommending that immigration enforcement agencies improve their body-worn camera policies, noting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security concurred with all of its recommendations, except over automated camera activation controls.

  • October 14, 2026

    Delay In 39% Audience Cap Lift Not Needed, Broadcasters Say

    The broadcast lobby urged the Federal Communications Commission to reject a bid from several cable industry groups to pause the agency's repeal of the 39% national audience share limit on TV station chains.

  • October 14, 2026

    LSU's Relent Hasn't Cooled College Football Roster Litigation

    The Southeastern Conference is looking to proceed with its suit over Louisiana State University's efforts to add former NFL players to its roster, telling an Alabama federal judge that its claims are live despite the school's decision not to bring those players aboard.

  • October 14, 2026

    Cannabis Reform Foes Cite GAO In Push To Reopen Hearings

    A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration administrative law judge on Wednesday ordered the government to respond to a bid by opponents of cannabis reform to reopen hearings on a proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana.

  • October 14, 2026

    9th Circ. Blocks Calif. Law Requiring Fed Agents To Show IDs

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday reversed the implementation of a California law requiring federal agents to display identification, saying the Trump administration is "certain to succeed" on its argument that the state statute violates the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause.

  • October 14, 2026

    DOJ Pushes Congress To Expand Death Penalty

    The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed a bill to Congress to bolster the use of the death penalty in both state and federal courts, in a bid to advance a related executive order President Donald Trump signed at the beginning of his second term.

  • October 14, 2026

    Brooklyn DA Busts Crypto Scam Targeting Russian Speakers

    The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said Wednesday it has taken down hundreds of servers and domains used to defraud Russian speakers in the U.S., dealing a significant blow to the international cryptocurrency scam operation.

  • October 14, 2026

    Trump Dodging Deposition In Defamation Suit, BBC Says

    The BBC asked a Florida federal court to convene a hearing on whether President Donald Trump should be forced to sit for a deposition, saying he's not following through with obligations in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the broadcaster over a documentary on the January 2021 U.S. Capitol attack.

  • October 14, 2026

    Fla. Horse Trainer Asks Court To Toss Doping Sanctions

    A thoroughbred horse trainer asked a Florida federal court to rule that sanctions imposed on him for allegedly using banned substances violated his constitutional rights, arguing he was denied a jury trial and that a private regulator overstepped its authority by handing out punishment. 

  • October 14, 2026

    DOJ, IRS Say Enforcement Surge Exposed $490M In Tax Fraud

    The U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted 76 people linked to more than $490 million in federal revenue losses as part of a stepped-up enforcement effort with the IRS and U.S. attorneys' offices over the past six weeks, the leader of the DOJ's new fraud division said Wednesday.

  • October 14, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Patent Denial In SAWS-Bias Challenge

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday swiftly upheld the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision to deny an inventor's internal combustion engine patent application after he argued his constitutional rights were violated when his case was sent to the USPTO's controversial, now-discontinued Sensitive Application Warning System, or SAWS, program.

  • October 14, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Fla. Can Enforce Social Media Teen Ban

    The Eleventh Circuit has ruled that Florida can enforce its restrictions on social media for children, vacating and reversing a preliminary injunction that blocked the state's enforcement.

  • October 14, 2026

    Trade Court Can Order Refunds Without Suits, Fed Circ. Told

    A subset of importers shouldn't be required to file suits at the U.S. Court of International Trade to receive refunds for tariffs paid that were deemed unlawful by the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a technology trade organization told the Federal Circuit.

  • October 14, 2026

    Trustee Asks 1st Circ. To Nix Shuttered Bank Owner's Claims

    A Puerto Rico federal court properly dismissed claims against a trustee appointed to administer the receivership of a shuttered online bank suspected of facilitating tax evasion and money laundering, he told the First Circuit, saying he's entitled to 11th Amendment immunity because he was sued in his official capacity.

  • October 14, 2026

    Challenges To VOA Cuts Moot After Policy Shift, Agency Says

    The U.S. Agency for Global Media told a D.C. federal judge that consolidated suits by a coalition of journalists, federal employees and labor unions seeking to overturn cuts that slashed staffing at Voice of America are moot because the agency has changed the policy at issue.

  • October 14, 2026

    Ga. Justices Zero In On Precedent In Election Board Battle

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday considered whether a decades-old state high court ruling allows Fulton County officials to reject two of the county Republican Party's nominees for the local election board, hinting that precedent could support the county's power to turn away the would-be board members.

  • October 14, 2026

    Groups Win Bid To Reopen Suits Over Native Monument Cuts

    A D.C. district court judge has agreed to reopen a series of stayed cases challenging President Donald Trump's removal of millions of acres from the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, saying circumstances have changed after a Tenth Circuit decision.

  • October 14, 2026

    Manhattan DA Unveils Corporate Crime & Antitrust Task Force

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Wednesday announced the formation of a new task force that will focus on prosecuting corporate crime and antitrust violations, as part of a push to deter industrywide misconduct and promote systemic accountability for entities that encourage and enable financial crimes.

Expert Analysis

  • How A New Case Redefines The Birthright Citizenship Battle

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    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 Drug Makers Against Litigation

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    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'

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    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

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    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.

  • How To Use AI In Employment Contract Drafting

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Before using artificial intelligence to draft employment contracts, law firms and employers must assess practical ethical guardrails, appropriate use cases, core risk areas and validation workflows, says Samuel Mitchell at Smith Gambrell.

  • Battles Over Murky Mineral Rights Stymie Pa. Energy Projects

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    Legal wrangling over a recently passed Pennsylvania law could affect billions of dollars of mineral royalty payments, the status of subsurface property rights in the state and the ability of the Legislature to pass retroactive legislation that affects those rights, say attorneys at Flaster Greenberg.

  • NY Severance Rules Persist Despite McLaren Macomb Threat

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    Despite recent calls to overturn the National Labor Relations Board's decision in McLaren Macomb, New York's robust regulation will remain intact, limiting practitioners' ability to offer nonsupervisory employees severance agreements with confidentiality and nondisclosure provisions, says Matthew Berman at Valli Kane.

  • What To Know As State 'Neural Data' Privacy Laws Emerge

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    Attorneys at Goodwin discuss new state laws aimed at regulating consumer data generated from nervous system activity, explain why neurotechnology is attracting state and federal legislators’ attention, and highlight the compliance obligations that industry players should address now.

  • Bank Regulators' New Risk Guidance Offers More Flexibility

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    Newly proposed interagency guidance on banks’ third-party risk management would shift rigid compliance frameworks to a principles-based, risk-proportionate approach, potentially creating new opportunities for bank-fintech partnerships and giving smaller institutions a clearer path to innovation, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Mo. Official's Indictment Tests Limits Of Federal Bribery Laws

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    The recent bribery charges filed against a Missouri county executive raise questions about whether field-clearing conversations and job offers between rival candidates can rise to the level of illegal quid pro quos, potentially muddying the line between politics as usual and the federal bribery statutes, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Conn. Insurers Should Prepare To Explain Premium Hikes

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    As of Jan. 1, Connecticut insurers must provide a reasonable explanation for personal risk insurance premium increases upon policyholder request, and thus should familiarize themselves with a recent bulletin that prescribes the details, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Where The 3 Prediction Market Appellate Rulings Diverge

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    Although the recent Third, Sixth and Ninth Circuit opinions concerning prediction markets overlap on some issues, they differ on key statutory questions, deepening a circuit split over both the classification of sports event contracts and the scope of federal preemption, says Levi Giovanetto at Sheppard.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    California's financial regulators spent the third quarter of 2026 focusing on consumer protection enforcement at home while resisting federal efforts to displace state oversight — reinforcing the state's intention to shape the compliance landscape for institutions operating within its borders despite federal deregulatory trends, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • DOJ's Unusual Warning Puts Protests In FARA Crosshairs

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent atypical press release about Foreign Agents Registration Act liability may signal greater scrutiny of public demonstrations and foreign-directed advocacy — but it does not change the statutory requirements for companies and individuals, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Changing Strategies To Protect Your Autonomous AI's IP

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    After Insilico recently named only human inventors on a patent application for an autonomous artificial intelligence's drug discovery, companies should take concrete steps to preserve the strongest possible intellectual property protection for AI-assisted work, including documenting human contributions and strengthening trade secret controls, says Stephen Ball at Husch Blackwell.

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