Public Policy

  • September 02, 2026

    FCC Floats 'Scorecard' To Deal With Robocall Deluge

    As the flood of robocalls continues, Federal Communications Commission leaders are considering a "scorecard" to let consumers rate their voice service providers as to how effectively they are blocking unwanted calls.

  • September 02, 2026

    10th Circ. Says Vape Shops Fumbled Utah Flavor Ban Appeal

    The Tenth Circuit dismissed an appeal brought by vape businesses challenging Utah's flavored e-cigarette ban, ruling that the companies picked the wrong order to bring to it on appeal.

  • September 02, 2026

    Kroger, Costco, Major Grocers Added To DOJ Beef Price Probe

    The U.S. Department of Justice expanded its investigation into potential anticompetitive conduct in the American beef industry to include The Kroger Co., Walmart, Costco Wholesale Corp. and five other major grocers.

  • September 02, 2026

    Imported Feed Additive Is An Antibiotic, Trade Court Rules

    An animal health company's imports of a powdered feed additive should have entered the U.S. as a duty-free antibiotic, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Wednesday, undoing its previous classification as a preparation for animal feed from China that carried a 25% tariff.

  • September 02, 2026

    UMich Says Student Banned From Campus Can't Show Bias

    The University of Michigan and several of its officials on Wednesday asked a federal judge to dismiss a civil rights suit brought by a student and former university employee, saying his claims that he was barred from a campus area for expressing pro-Palestinian views fail and arguing the university was simply enforcing its standard trespass policy.

  • September 02, 2026

    11th Circ. OKs Refusal Of $1.5M Offer To End $140M Tax Debt

    The Eleventh Circuit rebuffed a software company founder's $1.5 million offer to settle his $140 million tax debt from 1999, ruling Wednesday that the IRS properly rejected the lowball offer in a case tied to sham arrangements.

  • September 02, 2026

    11th Circ. Revives Some Of Pot Co.'s License Bias Claims

    The Eleventh Circuit revived Wednesday a cannabis company's suit against Georgia regulators over a denied production license, saying the company showed it suffered an injury from the state's "pay to play" system and had the right to bring a lawsuit despite cannabis being federally illegal.

  • September 02, 2026

    Optics Co.'s £346M Sale Not Stopped By Antitrust Authorities

    Optics technology provider Gooch & Housego, advised by Burges Salmon LLP, said Wednesday that it cleared a regulatory hurdle in its proposed acquisition by Kirkland & Ellis LLP-led private equity shop Arlington Capital, as the antitrust waiting period for the £346 million ($470 million) deal has expired.

  • September 02, 2026

    Mass. Woman Admits Assault On Agents Detaining Immigrants

    A Massachusetts woman pled guilty in federal court on Wednesday to assaulting and threatening to kill federal agents outside a courthouse where they were attempting to detain immigrants, prosecutors said.

  • September 02, 2026

    Crypto Mine Noise Suit Belongs In State Court, Neighbors Say

    Residents of a North Carolina town suing over allegedly excessive noise coming from a nearby cryptocurrency mining and AI data center want their lawsuit bumped back down to state court, arguing the damages they're seeking fall short of the threshold required for federal jurisdiction.

  • September 02, 2026

    DOJ Says Trump's Jan. 6 Speech Was An Official Act

    The U.S. Department of Justice argued Tuesday that President Donald Trump was carrying out one of his office's "most important functions" when he urged protesters to head to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and "fight like hell," so the D.C. Circuit should deem his speech official conduct.

  • September 02, 2026

    Dems Call Subpoenas' Secrecy Request 'Abuse Of Authority'

    Democratic lawmakers Sen. Ron Wyden, Ore., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Wash., have called for an investigation into subpoenas issued from federal law enforcement to private companies that contain nondisclosure provisions and carry threats of legal consequences for noncompliance.

  • September 02, 2026

    Localities Say DHS Can't Tie Grant Funds To Election Process

    Governments in Tennessee, Texas and Ohio have asked a D.C. federal court to grant them a win against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, arguing Congress did not condition receipt of counterterrorism grants on the way localities administer elections.

  • September 02, 2026

    Calif. Beats DOJ's Challenge To State Trans Athlete Policy

    A California federal judge tossed Monday the government's challenge to Golden State policies allowing transgender students to compete on sports teams that aligned with their gender identity, finding a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling doesn't bar such policies and the government failed to notify the state of its funding restrictions.

  • September 02, 2026

    Groups Push To Revive Challenges To Trump Monument Cuts

    Coalitions of conservation groups on Wednesday asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge to reopen a series of stayed cases to try to overturn President Donald Trump's removal of millions of acres of land from the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah.

  • September 02, 2026

    DOJ Opinion Broadens States' Duty To Report To DHS

    All state agencies in states participating in federal welfare programs must notify federal immigration officials about the presence of unauthorized immigrants, according to an opinion released Wednesday by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

  • September 02, 2026

    Miami College Officials Claim Immunity In ICE Protest Suit

    Miami college administrators urged a Florida federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by students who said they were unjustly disciplined for protesting against a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement contract, saying immunity bars the complaint against them. 

  • September 02, 2026

    DC Says AC Outage Among 'Shocking' Conditions At Complex

    Washington, D.C., said Wednesday that it has sued the landlord of an affordable housing complex where residents have dealt with "shocking" conditions such as a summertime air conditioning outage, unrepaired fire damage and pest infestations.

  • September 02, 2026

    5th Circ. Presses ATF On Out-Of-State Handgun Sales

    A Fifth Circuit panel pressed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to explain the scope of a law barring citizens from purchasing handguns outside their state of residence, asking Wednesday what problems the government would face from the law's revocation.

  • September 02, 2026

    Judge Tosses Feds' Sanctuary Policy Fight Against Rochester

    A New York federal court tossed a lawsuit from the Trump administration challenging the city of Rochester's sanctuary immigration policies, finding the policies do not unlawfully regulate or discriminate against the federal government and are not preempted under federal law.

  • September 02, 2026

    2nd Circ. Faults NLRB's Dress Code Test In Starbucks Appeal

    The Second Circuit faulted the test the National Labor Relations Board applies to neutral dress codes that restrict workers' displays of union insignia, tossing Wednesday a ruling that Starbucks illegally barred workers at a Manhattan shop from wearing pro-union shirts. 

  • September 02, 2026

    Mich. City Says New Rules Moot Developer's Data Center Suit

    The city of Wixom said in Michigan federal court Tuesday that a developer's exclusionary zoning and due process claims over its recently enacted data center moratorium and subsequent denial of a waiver are not viable because they focus on an unapproved site plan under old rules.

  • September 02, 2026

    Calif. Bill Regulating Atty AI Use Heads To Newsom's Desk

    A bill regulating attorneys' and arbitrators' use of generative artificial intelligence has unanimously passed the California State Legislature and is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk.

  • September 02, 2026

    Colo. Exits Pharma Group's Challenge Of Drug Discount Law

    A Colorado federal court has thrown out a pharmaceutical industry trade group's challenge of a state law requiring drug manufacturers to sell discounted drugs through contracted pharmacies, finding the group failed to show the law conflicts with federal law or controls business activity beyond Colorado's borders.

  • September 02, 2026

    Lutnick Says Semiconductor Tariffs Are Coming, With Carveouts

    U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Wednesday said the U.S. is looking to issue a broad tariff on semiconductors, though he also said it would be structured such that companies that commit to U.S. manufacturing would be exempt.

Expert Analysis

  • Asylum Ruling Signals Larger Separation Of Powers Battle

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado that border officials may turn away asylum-seekers without inspection is part of a broader conversation about the reach of institutional safeguards that subject governmental authority to legal constraint, says Dree Collopy at American University's Washington College of Law.

  • Solar's Momentum At Mid-2026 Will Help It Overcome Snags

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    The rapid expansion of U.S. solar development in the first half of 2026 is likely to continue its pace, even amid ongoing shifts in federal trade policy and supply chain regulations, obstacles to permitting reform, and an increasing divide between states enacting policies to encourage or stymie project development, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • The Debanking Minefield: Navigating Fair Access In 2026

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    Federal regulators' recent elimination of reputational risk from bank supervision, alongside a growing patchwork of state fair access laws, is reshaping how banks make account and service decisions and ushering in a new compliance era requiring individualized, objective and risk-based access determinations, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • Carbon Health Settlement Highlights Why Evidence Is Key

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    The California Attorney General's Office's first-of-its-kind settlement with Carbon Health, imposing penalties for alleged corporate practice of medicine violations, shows that friendly professional corporation challenges usually hinge not on the parties' management services agreement, but on whether the operational record matches it, says Ben Dubin at VC Expert Services.

  • What PE Practitioners Need To Know About New Del. ABC Act

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    Delaware's new Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors statute represents a structural shift in how companies backed by private equity can be wound down and provides a more streamlined tool for managing sponsor liability without the public visibility of a bankruptcy proceeding, says Evelyn Meltzer at Troutman Pepper.

  • How To Brace For A Potential Democratic Oversight Push

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    With the possibility of a shift in congressional control after the November midterm elections, companies and their general counsel should prepare now by mapping oversight exposure, reviewing government interactions, preserving records and developing coordinated communications strategies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Opinion

    Labor Contract Bill Would Introduce Sweeping Risks For Cos.

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    The House-approved Faster Labor Contracts Act would force rapid first-contract bargaining, subject businesses to binding arbitration over key workplace terms, and create major uncertainty for nonunion companies, making it crucial for employers to assess their exposure and mitigate the risks now, say attorneys at FBT Gibbons.

  • Fed Autonomy Rests On Narrow Exception After Justices Rule

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Trump v. Cook and Trump v. Slaughter expand presidential removal power while temporarily preserving the Federal Reserve’s independence, but there is uncertainty about which of the Fed’s authorities fall within the court’s narrow monetary-policy exception, says Keith Bradley at Squire Patton.

  • Assessing New Risks After The End Of The SEC's Gag Rule

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent rescission of its long-standing no‑deny gag rule marks a transition from a regime of enforced silence to one of strategic communication, meaning the question is no longer simply whether to settle, but how to manage the narrative that follows, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • New Pipeline Repair Rules Shift Burden To Engineer Judgment

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    A proposal from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to allow operators more flexibility to make analysis-informed repair choices, rather than hew to long-standing prescriptive criteria, could make documenting the engineer’s decision-making process as important to compliance as the ultimate repair performed, says Ahuva Battams at Beatty & Wozniak.

  • Series

    Being A Magician Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I've developed as a lifelong magician have translated directly into tangible benefits in the courtroom because performing magic and trying cases both live at the intersection of psychology, storytelling, timing and disciplined rehearsal, says Mark Dombroff at Fox Rothschild.

  • What Ga. Stablecoin Licensing Law Means For Payments Cos.

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    Georgia recently enacted one of the first state-level licensing frameworks for stablecoin issuance aligned with the Genius Act, which may appeal to eligible companies by making licensure accessible to nondepository entities and potentially offering easier access to regulatory guidance, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Illinois Audit Law Will Make AI Clauses Actually Enforceable

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    A law recently enacted in Illinois creates a first-in-the-nation requirement for artificial intelligence developers to undergo annual audits, providing objective standards that can be incorporated into private contracts and addressing the problem of defining responsible AI use, says William Tanenbaum at Moses & Singer.

  • Opinion

    Shareholder Derivative Litigation Needs A Better Framework

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    Uncoordinated, multiforum shareholder derivative litigation is a growing issue for corporate defendants that have little to no recourse for organizing and consolidating actions, but several commonsense steps should be utilized to preempt such disputes, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • How Justices' TPS Ruling Affects Workforce Planning

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent holding in Mullin v. Doe that courts lack jurisdiction to review temporary protected status determinations greenlights the end of TPS for thousands of Syrian and Haitian nationals, and means employers must reevaluate TPS-designees' employability while avoiding discriminatory document practices, says attorney Richard Herman.

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