Public Policy

  • August 25, 2026

    'News To Me': Instagram CEO Unaware Its Attys Deleted Data

    Instagram's CEO appeared to be taken by surprise Tuesday during a California federal jury trial over claims Meta hid social media's harms, after the states revealed that Instagram's in-house counsel removed data from a teen-safety presentation before presenting it to minimize his "litigation exposure risk," saying "this is all news to me."

  • August 25, 2026

    Ex-OCC Counsel Joins Clark Hill's Banking Practice

    Clark Hill PLC has expanded its financial services regulatory roster with the addition of a longtime member of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's law department who advised on bank exam issues, appellate litigation and corporate applications at the national bank regulator.

  • August 25, 2026

    Calif. Law Requiring Cop ID Can't Apply To Feds, 9th Circ. Told

    The Trump administration urged the Ninth Circuit during oral arguments Tuesday to find that a section of California law requiring law enforcement officers to visibly display identification can't apply to federal officers, saying "nothing has changed" since the court blocked that section under the Supremacy Clause pending this appeal.

  • August 25, 2026

    9th Circ. Panel Largely Upholds Block On Feds' Grant Terms

    A divided Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday mostly upheld an injunction blocking the Trump administration from imposing new grant restrictions on transportation and housing funding for dozens of local governments, concluding federal agencies likely overstepped their authority by barring the money from being used to promote "gender ideology" or "illegal immigration."

  • August 25, 2026

    Meta Should Keep Research Internal, Data Whiz Tells Jury

    A high-ranking Meta data analyst told a Tennessee jury Tuesday that the social media giant shouldn't release its user research publicly because he saw during a famous leak the danger that such research will be "misinterpreted and misrepresented."

  • August 25, 2026

    Calif. Data Broker Tool Sign-Ups Hit 500K As Deletions Begin

    Data brokers in California have deleted "tens of millions" of records since their obligation to comply with requests made through a new consumer data deletion tool kicked in earlier this month, the state's privacy regulator said Tuesday, while announcing that registrations for the first-of-its-kind platform had reached the half-million mark.

  • August 25, 2026

    DC Circ. Won't Revive Standard General's FCC Bias Suit

    The D.C. Circuit does not believe that the Federal Communications Commission took part in a racist conspiracy to kill Standard General hedge fund manager Soo Kim's $8.6 billion merger with broadcaster Tegna and has affirmed the dismissal of his lawsuit claiming such.

  • August 25, 2026

    Pot Shop Seeks Quick Win Against Jushi On Antitrust Claims

    A Massachusetts dispensary is urging a federal court to rule that cannabis giant Jushi Holdings and others violated antitrust law by using a $10 million merger provision designed to block the dispensary from opening a nearby store, causing it to ultimately crumble.

  • August 25, 2026

    Ex-Taro Exec Slips Some Generics Price-Fixing Claims

    A Connecticut federal judge gave a former Taro Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. marketing executive a partial victory in generic drug price-fixing litigation, tossing several claims by state attorneys general but allowing others to proceed after finding that a jury could conclude he joined certain conspiracies.

  • August 25, 2026

    NRDC Says EPA Let Cleveland Polluters Dodge Smog Cuts

    The Natural Resources Defense Council on Tuesday asked the Sixth Circuit to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of a plan Ohio submitted for smog pollution in the Cleveland area, and accused the agency of giving a "free pass" to major polluters.

  • August 25, 2026

    Trump Diversity Visa Freeze Lacked Basis, Judge Says

    A D.C. federal judge ruled in favor of several diversity visa selectees in consolidated suits challenging the Trump administration's decision to halt the program, saying on Tuesday that the government did not provide a reasoned explanation for its sweeping refusal policy.

  • August 25, 2026

    FERC Beats Environmental Challenge To La. LNG Terminal

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana, saying environmental groups challenging the decision failed to show the project was not in the public's best interest.

  • August 25, 2026

    USPS Violated Block On Mail Ballot Rulemaking, Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal judge who ordered the U.S. Postal Service earlier this month to stop work on a new rule restricting delivery of some mail-in ballots concluded Tuesday that the USPS flouted her pencils-down nationwide injunction by continuing to develop and promulgate the new rule.

  • August 25, 2026

    Even Dolly Could've Been Barred By Drag Ban, Judge Says

    On the same day the world lost Dolly Parton, a Texas federal judge invoked the iconic singer and philanthropist to again block a law widely seen as a ban on drag performances, saying it's so broad that her "big hair, flamboyant clothes and breast exposure" might run afoul of the measure.

  • August 25, 2026

    Md. Judge Trims Baltimore Bridge Wreck Damages Claims

    A Maryland federal judge has slashed claims from Baltimore, businesses and dockworkers seeking to recover millions in economic losses from the owner and operator of the container ship that slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, saying the nearly century-old Robins Dry Dock rule bars many of their claims.

  • August 25, 2026

    Bid For FCC Preemption 'Dead On Arrival,' Minn. City Says

    A Minneapolis suburb called on the Federal Communications Commission to reject a broadband provider's request for FCC preemption in a local franchise dispute because of court rulings declaring that broadband does not qualify as a telecommunications service.

  • August 25, 2026

    Marijuana Rescheduling Critics Assail Government's Standard

    An attorney with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration told an administrative law judge that opponents to cannabis rescheduling could not use agency hearings to challenge federal health regulators' adoption of a new standard for assessing marijuana's medical use.

  • August 25, 2026

    Ed Dept. Must Turn Over Records In Mental Health Grants Row

    A Washington federal judge Monday partly granted a group of states' bid for expedited discovery in their suit over the Trump administration's attempt to cut nearly $1 billion in funding for K-12 mental health grants, finding the information could assist the court before a hearing for a preliminary injunction.

  • August 25, 2026

    Pharmacy Asks Court To Toss Novo Nordisk Semaglutide Suit

    A pharmacy asked a Texas federal judge to toss claims brought by Novo Nordisk Inc. accusing the pharmacy of illicitly compounding a lucrative weight-loss drug called semaglutide, saying Novo Nordisk's complaint amounts to a grievance list against the compounding industry.

  • August 25, 2026

    Missouri Drops Bid To Block Minority Contracting Program

    Missouri Attorney General Catherine L. Hanaway has withdrawn her attempt to block Kansas City's contracting program for minority- and women-owned businesses after the city passed an ordinance repealing the program.

  • August 25, 2026

    Texas Workers Lose Bid To Halt IRS Wage Withholding Rules

    Two workers aren't entitled to injunctive relief from IRS regulations that directed employers to overdeduct taxes from their employees' paychecks, a Texas federal court ruled, saying the pair's injury doesn't outweigh the harm that would result from enjoining the agency from enforcing wage withholding.

  • August 25, 2026

    CFTC, Kentucky Vie For Early Win In Prediction Market Clash

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Kentucky regulators dueled over whether the state's attempts to tax and limit sports-focused event contracts have harmed the federal agency in competing bids for a quick win in their ongoing dispute over prediction market regulation.

  • August 25, 2026

    Calif. County Drops Pot Fines To End Landowners' Claims

    Humboldt County, California, has agreed to settle a lawsuit with a group of landowners who complained authorities overstepped their powers in an effort to punish allegedly illegal cannabis grow operations, following a Ninth Circuit ruling in 2025 against the county.

  • August 25, 2026

    Tribe, Enviros Challenge Ariz. Copper Project Over ESA Risks

    Arizona's San Carlos Apache Tribe and two conservation groups are seeking to block an exploratory copper mine drilling project in the Galiuro Mountains and Lower San Pedro Watershed, alleging that the federal government wrongly found there were no Mexican spotted owls in the area despite photographic evidence otherwise.

  • August 25, 2026

    Feds Say Ohio Court's Arrest Rule Hampers ICE Efforts

    The Trump administration on Tuesday accused an Ohio county's municipal court of impeding its immigration enforcement efforts, contending the court's rule barring civil arrests in its facilities runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution and Immigration and Nationality Act.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The year's second quarter brought several notable banking law developments to New York, including a proposal to align state stablecoin rules with the federal Genius Act, fresh fair lending and cybersecurity guidance from state regulators, and a significant Second Circuit holding on preemption, say attorneys at Ashurst Perkins Coie.

  • How Reincorporating In Texas May Alter Earnout Disputes

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    While the DExit debate has focused on shareholder suits, far less attention has been paid to what reincorporating in Texas means for M&A disputes, making it particularly important to understand the nuances between Delaware and Texas earnout jurisprudence, say attorneys at Selendy Gay.

  • What To Know If DOL Raises Overtime Salary Floor

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    With the U.S. Department of Labor recently rescinding a 2024 rule that increased the minimum salary for the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime exemptions, employers should assess how a future increase would affect their workforce, paying particular attention to job duties requirements and state laws, says James Coleman at Constangy.

  • Roundup

    The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

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    This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

  • Structuring Space Nuclear Deals For Regulatory Risk

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    With the White House's recent focus on space nuclear power, a highly important question for companies that want to build orbital reactors, lunar surface systems or critical components is whether the transaction documents can handle foreign investment constraints, export controls and treaty-linked liability, says Kristie Blase at Frazer + Blase.

  • Proof, Not Just Timing, Will Decide Clean Energy Credits

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    For wind and solar projects that sprinted to begin construction before the accelerated placed-in-service deadline of July 4, project owners must now assemble and maintain documentation to qualify the project and defend against a potential clean energy credit audit, says Peter Lowy at Nelson Mullins.

  • Coordinating Life Sciences IP Strategies In The US And EU

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    As postgrant practice for life sciences patents is restructured in the U.S. and European Union simultaneously, patent owners will need to implement transatlantic coordination that treats international proceedings as components of a single intellectual property risk architecture, says Paul Calvo at Sterne Kessler.

  • Texas Business Court Rulings Show Deal Terms Paramount

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    As the courts within the Texas Business Court system have begun reaching the substantive merits of the cases before them, they are persuasively demonstrating they will not only enforce the terms of transactions as written, but will also embrace a holistic approach to complex transaction documentation interpretation, says Christopher Pace at Winston Taylor.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The year's second quarter brought several noteworthy financial services developments to California, including activity around a commercial finance oversight bill, the former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head's appointment to lead a new consumer agency, and a ruling reinforcing viable bank-fintech partnerships, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Trademark Law As A Tool To Bolster NIL Rights Against AI

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    The meteoric rise of artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes is prompting high-profile celebrities to protect their name, image and likeness rights using federal trademark law — a powerful yet limited supplement to traditional NIL claims, says Susan Natland at BakerHostetler.

  • What Ex-CFPB Head's Calif. Role May Foretell For Oversight

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    California Gov. Gavin Newsom's selection of former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra to lead a new consumer agency signals tougher state financial services oversight, especially for fintechs, as well as heightened enforcement activity and larger penalties, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Why SEC Climate Rule Rescission Wouldn't End Disclosure

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    If the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent proposal to rescind its 2024 climate-related disclosure rules is adopted, companies would no longer need to prepare for the rules' specific governance, emissions, attestation, financial statement and tagging requirements, but several important constraints would remain, say attorneys at Venable.

  • New Colo. Retainage Bonds Shift Construction Power Balance

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    A new Colorado law that can force property owners and developers to accept bonds from contractors in lieu of traditional cash retainage means owners’ practical leverage now derives from administering a risk-transfer mechanism, not from controlling cash, but key questions remain about who may assert a claim and how enforcing a bond actually works, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • Justices Stand On Statutory Specifics In Cisco And Landor

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    With its June 23 decisions in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe and Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, the U.S. Supreme Court doubled down on the critical point that the statute invoked in a federal claim must authorize a private lawsuit and the remedy sought, says Patrick Judd at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Immigration Ruling Maps Alternative To Universal Injunctions

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    A Rhode Island federal court's decision in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS vacating policies that froze key immigration adjudications for nationals of 39 countries, and paused asylum applications altogether, suggests how practitioners might press for the Administrative Procedure Act's bad faith exception to record review and seek vacatur as a viable alternative to universal injunctions, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

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