Public Policy

  • May 06, 2026

    Full 11th Circ. Denies Medical Act Remedy In Discharge Suit

    The full Eleventh Circuit concluded that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act does not provide a remedy for a woman's claims that she was improperly discharged from a Florida hospital without being treated for malnutrition.

  • May 06, 2026

    Unauthorized Immigrant Can Face Gun Charge, 1st Circ. Says

    The First Circuit has reversed the dismissal of an indictment against an unauthorized immigrant charged with firearm possession, holding that the federal ban on unauthorized immigrants possessing firearms is consistent with the nation's tradition of firearm regulation.

  • May 06, 2026

    NJ Finalizes ABC Test Rule For Independent Contractor Status

    New Jersey adopted regulations codifying a test for determining whether workers are employees or independent contractors, establishing a classification framework set to take effect Oct. 1, the state has announced.

  • May 06, 2026

    PTAB's Fast-Track Appeals Program Extended 2 Years

    A Patent Trial and Appeal Board program to resolve appeals of rejected patent applications faster will be extended through 2028, the board announced Wednesday.

  • May 06, 2026

    Advocacy Group Fights Trump Bid To End Broadband Grants

    A group advocating for wider broadband access has urged a federal judge to not toss its lawsuits challenging the cancellation of a grant program, arguing it has brought "straightforward constitutional claims."

  • May 06, 2026

    Mich. Justices Weigh If House Must Send Stalled Bills To Gov.

    Michigan Supreme Court justices heard arguments Wednesday over whether the Republican-controlled House can refuse to present bills passed by the previous Democratic majority in the chamber to the governor, as attorneys for the House and Senate clashed over whether this presentment is a constitutional duty or a legislative process beyond judicial control.

  • May 06, 2026

    High Court Rejects Apple's Bid To Pause App Store Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected Apple's request to pause a mandate in the case from Epic Games that directs a lower court to determine what commission Apple can charge developers for purchases made outside of its app store through links.

  • May 06, 2026

    DHS Can Withhold Some Border Search Records, Judge Says

    A federal judge in Washington has partially sided with immigration officials' decision not to provide some information about border searches of electronic devices that a First Amendment group at Columbia University requested, finding the documents contained privileged, decision-making details.

  • May 06, 2026

    FCC Dem Calls For 'Rigorous' Paramount, WBD Review

    The lone Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission is demanding close scrutiny of Paramount Skydance Corp.'s plan to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $110 billion, raising red flags about foreign ownership stakes in the resulting media giant.

  • May 06, 2026

    10th Circ. To Revisit Proving Native Status In Sex Abuse Cases

    Two men who were found guilty of sexually assaulting Native American children, but whose convictions were vacated over questions surrounding their Native American status, will have their cases reconsidered by the full Tenth Circuit, the court ruled.

  • May 06, 2026

    Drilling Project Halted, For Now, Near SD Worship Site

    A South Dakota federal judge has temporarily paused a graphite drilling project near a site that tribes consider sacred, finding that Indigenous tribes and conservation nonprofits will likely show the U.S. Forest Service avoided a full environmental review by treating the multi-year project as a short-term one.

  • May 06, 2026

    ACLU Seeks Full DC Circ. Review Of CECOT Contempt Halt

    The American Civil Liberties Union is asking for the full D.C. Circuit to review a panel's 2-1 decision halting U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg's criminal contempt inquiry into U.S. Department of Homeland Security flights that took 250 immigrants to El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison last year.

  • May 06, 2026

    DC Circ. Fast-Tracks DOT Immigrant Truck Driver Rule Review

    The D.C. Circuit will expedite its review of challenges to the U.S. Department of Transportation's new restrictions on commercial licenses for foreign truck drivers, but has already expressed skepticism about the petitioners' claims that the restrictions are pretext for an anti-immigrant agenda of the Trump administration.

  • May 06, 2026

    G7 Trade Ministers Agree To Prioritize Key Mineral Supply

    Trade ministers of G7 member nations said Wednesday they are committed to coordinating trade policy on securing key mineral supply chains, after they met for two days in Paris.

  • May 06, 2026

    Judge Won't Force Hunter Biden's Foreign Agent Registration

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge won't force the U.S. Department of Justice to register Hunter Biden as a foreign agent, dismissing a suit brought by a group founded by now-Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller because it can't establish it suffered an injury.

  • May 06, 2026

    Federalism Probed In Suit Over Judge's MAGA Op-Ed Ouster

    An Illinois federal judge said Wednesday he may have to abstain from exercising jurisdiction over a retired Illinois state court judge's claims that was wrongfully removed from the bench over protected speech in a political opinion column, saying the prospect of a federal court in the first instance instructing the state's top jurists about who can be a judge "seems to break the respect that federalism demands for state government."

  • May 06, 2026

    Pa. 'Cruel Punishments' Ruling Sets Up Sentence Challenges

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's recent ruling that struck down mandatory life sentences for second-degree murder marked the justices' clearest message yet that the state's constitution and history bar "cruel" punishments, which legal experts tell Law360 could tee up challenges to "three-strikes" laws or the death penalty.

  • May 06, 2026

    Insurers Ask To Ignore Simplified Foreign Currency Rules

    The insurance industry should be allowed to ignore regulations from 2024 covering how corporations determine taxable income with respect to affiliates that conduct business in a foreign currency, the American Council of Life Insurers told the U.S. Treasury in a letter released Wednesday.

  • May 06, 2026

    Judge Tells FEMA Officials To Preserve Signal Chats

    A California federal judge has ordered Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials to preserve Signal messages tied to FEMA operations in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's restructuring efforts, citing concerns that officials used disappearing-message settings while discussing matters relevant to the case.

  • May 06, 2026

    Polish Antitrust Arm Probing OLX's RE Listings Platform

    Poland's antitrust authority is investigating OLX Capital Group's Otodom real estate listings platform after being notified about "significant" price hikes, the authority announced on Wednesday.

  • May 06, 2026

    Mass. Justices Debate Rent Control Religious Carveout

    Massachusetts' highest court appeared divided Wednesday as it considered whether a proposed ballot question to reenact rent control in the state should be struck down because it contains a carveout that includes religious properties.

  • May 06, 2026

    Miller & Chevalier Hires DOJ Nat'l Security Atty In DC

    Miller & Chevalier Chtd. has hired an attorney who spent the past nine years working in the federal government, most recently with the U.S. Department of Justice's National Security Division in a section focused on export controls and counterintelligence issues.

  • May 06, 2026

    Democrats Urge EEOC Chair Not To Roll Back IVF Protections

    Over a dozen Democratic senators urged the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to preserve safeguards for workers undergoing fertility treatments, asserting in a letter that Chair Andrea Lucas' plans to rewrite Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations could lead employers to unlawfully deny employees' accommodation requests.

  • May 06, 2026

    Okla. House OKs Valuation Method Change For Some Rentals

    Oklahoma would allow certain rental housing to be valued using a cost approach instead of an income approach under a bill passed in the state House of Representatives.

  • May 06, 2026

    SEC Makes First Move To Nix Biden-Era Climate Reg

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing to rescind a Biden-era requirement that publicly traded companies disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, with staff informing the Office of Management and Budget this week of the planned rescission.

Expert Analysis

  • FDA Guidance May Move Goalposts For Form 483 Responses

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    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides formal insight on how drug manufacturers are expected to respond to Form 483s, raising some concerns about the agency's timelines and expectations, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Understanding The SEC's Consequential Crypto Guidance

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent interpretive release — its most comprehensive statement ever on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto-assets — reimagines the Howey test to resolve long-standing questions over what is a security, but leaves many issues unresolved, say attorneys at Cahill.

  • Ohio Case Reflects States' Aggressive Criminal Antitrust Turn

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    The Ohio Attorney General's Office’s recent bid-rigging indictment of an online auctioneer is the latest signal that states, through attorneys general pursuing more kickback cases and legislators expanding the reach of antitrust laws, are shedding their historical reluctance to wield their criminal antitrust enforcement powers, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Justices' Geofence Ruling May Test 4th Amendment's Future

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    When the U.S. Supreme Court decides in Chatrie v. U.S. whether law enforcement may use geofence warrants to compel Google to disclose location history data, the ruling is likely to become an important statement about the future of Fourth Amendment law in data-driven investigations, says Duncan Levin at Levin & Associates.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    In the first quarter of 2026, New York's banking developments were headlined by initiatives to expand oversight of financial institutions and strengthen consumer protection laws, including a new framework for buy now, pay later lenders, a sweeping debt collection rule and a revised corporate self-disclosure program for financial crimes, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Seeking A Policy Fix As Merger Reporting Fight Continues

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    A recently announced request by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice for public comment on the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger reporting requirements, as litigation challenging the commission's updated requirements continues, suggests the government's willingness to address how best to support modern merger enforcement without unduly burdening filing parties, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • What New Fla. Citizens Bill Means For Surplus Lines Insurers

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    A Florida bill recently passed by the Legislature as part of a continued effort to depopulate Citizens Property Insurance, the state's insurer of last resort, creates an additional pathway for commercial policies to be written by surplus lines insurers, but also presents concerns of unnecessary regulation, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • What Voluntary Calif. Carbon Reports Show About Compliance

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    While the enforcement of California's S.B. 261 is currently paused due to a Ninth Circuit injunction, more than 130 companies have nonetheless chosen to voluntarily publish climate-related financial risk disclosures, providing a useful snapshot of how the market is interpreting the law's requirements in practice, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • PTAB Memo Recenters Discretion On US Manufacturing

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    Read alongside recent Federal Circuit decisions, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires' memo on patent denial considerations emphasizes domestic manufacturing in a way that the International Trade Commission does not require, says Brandon Theiss at Volpe Koenig.

  • Why MDLs Slow Down — And How To Speed Them Up

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    Multidistrict litigation has become central to mass tort practice, but as MDLs grow in size and complexity, so do delays and costs — so tools like the new federal rule governing MDLs, targeted use of special masters and strategically deployed Lone Pine orders are more essential than ever, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Regulators' Basel Pitch May Bring Banks Capital Relief

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    The prudential banking agencies' new proposals to implement the so-called Basel III endgame rules — which would modify the approach to risk-based capital, among other notable changes — represent a fundamental directional shift in bank capital requirements aimed at increasing lending capacity, says Chen Xu at Debevoise.

  • How SEC And CFTC Are Attempting To End Their 'Turf War'

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    Through coordinated examinations and a shared aim to end duplicative regulation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent memorandum of understanding could represent a significant shift in the regulatory landscape for market participants subject to the jurisdiction of both agencies, say attorneys at Jenner.

  • FTC Focus: Growing Emphasis On Competition In AI

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    The Federal Trade Commission's leadership has continued to highlight that competitive risks in artificial intelligence markets may arise at multiple levels simultaneously, considering not only who controls the resources necessary to build AI systems, but also how those systems function and yield outputs, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • What's Missing From Latest Gov't Claims Against Harvard

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    The most interesting thing about the Trump administration’s recent civil rights enforcement efforts targeting Harvard University is its decision not to assert violations of the False Claims Act when given the opportunity, despite signals that its enforcement efforts will include use of the federal FCA, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

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