Public Policy

  • September 15, 2026

    Alaska Judge Defers To Army Corps In Gold Mine Permit Row

    An Alaska federal judge has told tribal and environmental groups that they failed to show the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improperly approved a Clean Water Act permit allowing JT Mining Inc. to develop access to a mineral exploration site on privately owned land in Lake Clark National Park.

  • September 15, 2026

    Lender Alleges Housing Official Ran $2.4M Ponzi Scheme

    A real estate investment firm has accused the former executive director of a Connecticut town's housing authority of operating a Ponzi scheme that caused a $2.4 million loan to "vanish," alleging he and an associate made fraudulent assurances about proposed bonds, account balances, property values and other financing.

  • September 15, 2026

    States Say DOJ Trans Care Crackdown Is Unconstitutional

    States suing the Trump administration have urged a Massachusetts federal judge to strike down directives calling for providers of gender-affirming care to be investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice, arguing the directives are arbitrary and capricious and violate the Tenth Amendment.

  • September 15, 2026

    OpenAI Wants To See Details Of SpaceXAI's Deal With Apple

    OpenAI filed an emergency motion Tuesday in Texas federal court seeking the details of a settlement SpaceXAI inked this week with Apple over claims that Apple's deal to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone violated antitrust law, saying the terms of the deal may undermine the antitrust allegations SpaceXAI is still pursuing against OpenAI.

  • September 15, 2026

    4th Circ. Probes Party Standing Over FERC Grid Planning Rule

    The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday appeared inclined to uphold the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's broad grid planning overhaul amid a raft of challenges from certain states, transmission providers and consumer advocates, with standing issues taking center stage.

  • September 15, 2026

    Fla. Judge Won't Pause Trump-IRS Settlement Sanctions

    The Florida federal judge who barred President Donald Trump and others from citing a settlement resolving what she characterized as a sham $10 billion case against his own Internal Revenue Service won't pause her sanctions order while the president appeals to the Eleventh Circuit.

  • September 15, 2026

    Walmart, Retail Groups Doubt Value Of $200B Swipe Fee Deal

    Major retail trade associations and Walmart are objecting to a $200 billion settlement over Visa and Mastercard swipe fees in New York federal court, saying the court should decertify the class or at least allow opt-outs so merchants can preserve "valuable claims that class counsel are trading away for nothing."

  • September 15, 2026

    AG Pushes Data Center Rates To Protect NC Customers

    The attorney general of North Carolina urged the state's Utilities Commission to create a new rate class for Duke Energy's data center customers, saying it would ensure they pay their fair share of energy use.

  • September 15, 2026

    DC Circ. Queries Feds On Immigrant Truck Driver Restrictions

    D.C. Circuit judges on Tuesday questioned whether the U.S. Department of Transportation reasonably justified the safety rationale for new restrictions on commercial driver's licenses for foreign truckers or whether it disproportionately relied on individuals' immigration status to promulgate an "exclusionary" rule.

  • September 15, 2026

    4th Circ. Unsure How To Weigh NC Ban On Ballot Selfies

    A Fourth Circuit judge on Tuesday said a voter and the North Carolina State Board of Elections are arguing a tale of two cases in a free speech fight over the Tar Heel state's ban on ballot selfies, saying neither side appears to be in agreement about what level of judicial review to use.

  • September 15, 2026

    FCC Seeks Input On Disputed Political Ad Rate Policy

    Federal Communications Commission staff on Tuesday sought comment on whether to set aside earlier guidance calling for the "lowest unit" rate for committee-backed political ads as the Fourth Circuit considers a Democratic bid to force the commission to review the policy.

  • September 15, 2026

    8th Circ. Revives Doctor's Suit Over COVID Speech Probes

    An Eighth Circuit panel on Tuesday revived a doctor's suit seeking an order limiting a Minnesota state medical board's ability to investigate him for his public statements related to the COVID-19 pandemic, finding a district court "set the bar too high" at the dismissal stage.

  • September 15, 2026

    Nadine Menendez Deadline Relief Bid Deemed Moot

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday denied as moot Nadine Menendez's request for 90 more days to file a potential challenge to her prison sentence after prosecutors said she misunderstood the deadline and still had plenty of time to seek relief.

  • September 15, 2026

    Feds Fight Ex-Fla. Rep's Bid For Time Served In FARA Case

    Federal prosecutors urged a Florida federal judge on Monday to reject ex-Florida Rep. David Rivera's request for a sentence of time served after he was found guilty of failing to register as a foreign agent after signing a $50 million contract with a unit of Venezuela's state-owned oil company.

  • September 15, 2026

    College Sports Overhaul Looms Closer After Senate Vote

    The U.S. Senate on Tuesday advanced a bill that would impose sweeping regulations on college sports, teeing up a lively legislative debate as the NCAA looks to ward off a wave of antitrust lawsuits.

  • September 15, 2026

    Justices Told DHS Voter Citizenship Database 'Unprecedented'

    The U.S. Supreme Court should reject the Trump administration's bid to reinstate the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's upgraded citizenship verification database ahead of this year's election, a voting rights group told the court Tuesday, arguing that the administration unlawfully reinterpreted several statutes to claim that Congress authorized the changes.

  • September 15, 2026

    DC Judge Blocks 2nd Trump Naming Effort At Kennedy Center

    A D.C. federal judge rejected the Kennedy Center's latest effort to put President Donald Trump's name on the building's facade Tuesday, saying yet again that the performing arts center's board can't memorialize anyone but John F. Kennedy at the facility without Congress' say-so.

  • September 15, 2026

    Dems Block Crypto Bill Over Ethics Concerns

    The Senate on Tuesday failed to clear a procedural hurdle for the Clarity Act, which was primed to be the first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for digital asset markets, as Democrats said the ethics guardrails were not strong enough.

  • September 15, 2026

    NYC Asks 2nd Circ. To Greenlight Uber, Lyft Deactivation Law

    New York City has urged the Second Circuit to lift an injunction blocking a municipal ordinance prohibiting Uber and Lyft from "deactivating" drivers without formal notice and investigation, arguing that the lower court wrongly found that the companies would likely win their contract claims.

  • September 15, 2026

    Connecticut Wins Fight Over School Vaccine Exemptions

    Connecticut has won the dismissal of a challenge to its mandatory school vaccination laws, beating through both litigation and legislative amendments allegations by parents that the state's rollback of vaccine exemptions violated religious freedom statutes and the state and federal constitutions.

  • September 15, 2026

    Mich. AG Says PBMs Put Opioid Profits Before Patient Safety

    Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has asked a federal court not to dismiss the state's lawsuit accusing pharmacy benefit managers including Express Scripts and Optum of abetting the opioid epidemic, arguing the PBMs are not passive administrators, but profit-driven architects of the crisis.

  • September 15, 2026

    Cruz Delays FCC Nom's Hearing Amid Calls To Add Dem Pick

    A bevy of civil rights organizations said Tuesday the U.S. Senate should hold off on confirming another Republican to the Federal Communications Commission unless a sitting FCC Democrat is renominated to her post.

  • September 15, 2026

    7th Circ. Debates Federalism, Bad-Faith Prosecution Limits

    A case deemed moot by the Seventh Circuit nonetheless drew commentary Monday from several judges on the court, with four calling an injunction that blocked Florida from pursuing a state court suit over youth gender-affirming care a "grievous blow" to federalism, while others said federal intervention is a "constitutional safety valve" against bad-faith prosecutions.

  • September 15, 2026

    TikTok Pay Scale Suit On Pause Pending Wash. Appeal

    A Washington state court has extended a stay in a proposed class action accusing TikTok of omitting salary information from job postings, keeping the case paused while an appeals court considers whether a key provision of the state's pay transparency law applies retroactively.

  • September 15, 2026

    Mich. Man Sues City Over Removal From Public Forum

    A Palestinian American man has sued the city of Eastpointe, Michigan, alleging its officials violated his First Amendment and civil rights by removing him from a public forum after he silently displayed a sign accusing the city council of complicity in the war in Gaza.

Expert Analysis

  • FDIC Proposals Mark Pullback In Bank Resolution Rules

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    A recent pair of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposals would fundamentally reshape testing of banks' resolution-related capabilities from a mandatory exercise to a voluntary one supported by significant financial incentives, amounting to an overall reduction in reporting requirements, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Being A Singer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Before law school, I spent seven years trying to make it as a professional singer in Los Angeles, and nearly everything I learned about preparation, humility, confidence and more has followed me into my legal practice, says Jessica Caterina at Moses & Singer.

  • EEOC Enforcement Plan Signals DEI, Religious Bias Scrutiny

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    In light of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently publishing its national enforcement plan covering through fiscal year 2029, employers should expect increased scrutiny of practices that conflict with the administration's positions on diversity, equity and inclusion, national origin discrimination, and religious accommodations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Immigration Order Raises Customer ID Stakes For Banks

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    Following a recently issued immigration-related executive order, financial institutions should expect and prepare for increased scrutiny of customer due diligence and identification, suspicious activity monitoring, and consumer lending, as well as accompanying supervisory shifts and rising fair lending risks, says Douglas Weissinger at Butler Snow.

  • Trade Secret Practice Tips From The 1st Half Of 2026

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    Intellectual property attorneys should consider what several significant developments in 2026 thus far mean for how they protect, litigate and value trade secrets, focusing on new state noncompete bans, cases scrutinizing how plaintiffs identify trade secrets and federal rulings on damages doctrines, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • High Court Rulings Could Alter Agency Strategy For Cos.

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook mark major turning points in the law of independent agencies and in how regulated companies should think about federal enforcement, rulemaking and agency-facing strategy, say attorneys at Holtzman Vogel.

  • How CME Suit May Reshape CFTC's Crypto Derivatives Rules

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    CME Group's recent lawsuit over the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's approval of a Kalshi application to offer a bitcoin perpetual contract as a futures product could have cascading consequences for crypto derivatives regulation, highlighting why policy ambitions do not override statutory text or substitute for reasoned decision-making, says attorney Tamara de Silva.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Parole Ruling Degrades Green Card Holders' Rights

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Blanche v. Lau, holding that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers can parole a returning lawful permanent resident without clear and convincing evidence of a crime, weakens the statutory and practical protections Congress intended, say attorneys at Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners.

  • NEPA Reforms Can Fix Permitting Without Weakening Review

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    Recent National Environmental Policy Act reforms, in tandem with a Senate bill proposing faster permitting reviews and greater agency coordination, mark a long overdue move toward more efficient energy and infrastructure permitting that does not sacrifice environmental assessment, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

  • 2 Microsoft Matters Could Help Shape AI Antitrust Outlook

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    A pending federal court case and investigation focusing on Microsoft's allegedly anticompetitive conduct in the deployment of artificial intelligence tools are testing whether antitrust law can distinguish ordinary competition to supply the AI ecosystem from conduct that distorts how that competition unfolds, says Kylie Kim at Massey & Gail.

  • Preparing For Next Congress With Eye On Investigation Risk

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    Rod Rosenstein, Brian Whisler and Bruce Linskens at Baker McKenzie offer advice for organizations seeking to build a proactive response plan to potential congressional oversight as the election looms.

  • 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.

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