Public Policy

  • September 30, 2026

    Commerce Finds Chinese, Indian Electrodes Being Stockpiled

    Imports of electrodes used for smelting from India appear to have surged in response to the opening of a countervailing duty investigation, the U.S. Department of Commerce preliminarily found Wednesday, setting up possible retroactive duties on the goods.

  • September 30, 2026

    Bessent Owes $910K In Taxes As Limited Partner, Wyden Says

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent should pay more than $910,000 in payroll taxes as a hedge fund limited partner after the Second Circuit ruled that such partners are subject to the self-employment tax, Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden said Wednesday.

  • September 30, 2026

    Judge Orders ICE Reports After Hold Room Violations

    A Maryland federal judge ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide cell count and medical care data for its short-term holding facilities in Baltimore, largely granting a detainee class's push to enforce an injunction issued over "deplorable" and likely unconstitutional conditions.

  • September 30, 2026

    Ex-Budget Official Sentenced To 7 Years After Fleeing US

    Former Connecticut budget official Konstantinos Diamantis, who fled to Greece in advance of sentencing on federal corruption charges, was sentenced on Wednesday to spend seven years in prison if extradition efforts are successful.

  • September 29, 2026

    OpenAI Knew AI Was Rogue Before Hugging Face, Suit Says

    A public interest law nonprofit sued OpenAI in California state court Tuesday, seeking to hold the ChatGPT maker liable for a July cyberattack on Hugging Face, arguing OpenAI "straightforwardly violated California law" by failing to rein in hundreds of rogue AI agents that OpenAI knew were running amok without proper safeguards.

  • September 29, 2026

    RealPage Wins Injunction Against NY Rent Software Law

    A federal judge in Manhattan granted RealPage's request for a preliminary injunction blocking a New York law banning building owners from using the property management platform to set residential rents, saying the company is "marginally" likely to prevail on its claim the statute regulates speech protected by the First Amendment.

  • September 29, 2026

    DOJ Says Trump Name Is Key To Kennedy Center Survival

    The U.S. Department of Justice told the D.C. Circuit the Kennedy Center's donors will flee if his name isn't put back on the building, arguing in its opening brief to the appeals court that the institution faces "financial ruin" without "appropriate recognition" for Trump.

  • September 29, 2026

    Ministry Stance In Anti-LGBTQ+ Hiring Suit Confuses 9th Circ.

    An en banc Ninth Circuit struggled Tuesday to understand a Washington-based Christian ministry's legal stance as it sought to preserve its ability to reject job applicants who are gay, with several judges suggesting it was immune from enforcement action since the state recognized the jobs as ministerial and therefore constitutionally exempt from anti-discrimination laws.

  • September 29, 2026

    Trump Admin Can't Dodge Claims Over Slashed Foreign Aid

    The Trump administration has persuaded a D.C. federal judge to cut three claims from a suit seeking to stop it from terminating foreign assistance grants and contracts en masse, but most of the suit — another 15 claims — marched forward untouched.

  • September 29, 2026

    Groups Say Calif. Biogas Credits Incentivize More Methane

    Four environmental groups accused California regulators of violating state law by allowing factory farm biogas producers to receive carbon credits — a practice they said is notionally aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions but in reality incentivizes more methane production.

  • September 29, 2026

    Squires Confirms PTAB Judges Will Resume Institution Calls

    Administrative patent judges will soon resume deciding whether Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges will be instituted on the merits, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires told the Senate on Tuesday during a hearing that also raised questions about if the office has sacrificed patent quality to speed through an examination backlog.

  • September 29, 2026

    NYC Property Owners Say 2nd-Home Tax Is Unconstitutional

    A group of New York City property owners and other parties sued the New York state government on Tuesday over its pied-à-terre tax for certain high-value second homes, alleging in state court that the tax is unconstitutional because it discriminates against people who don't primarily live in the city.

  • September 29, 2026

    X Corp. Says Crypto Gambling Company Bribed X Employees

    X Corp. told a Texas federal court that a company behind two controversial crypto gambling websites, which allegedly bribed X employees, cannot arbitrate claims that X unfairly removed their access to its website.

  • September 29, 2026

    EB-5 Visa Fees More Than Double For Individual Investors

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced increased filing fees Tuesday for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program — more than double for individual investors — saying the higher price tag is needed to close a $48.4 million annual funding gap.

  • September 29, 2026

    NHTSA Fuel Economy Regs Overhaul Crushes EV Ambitions

    The elimination of strict federal mandates for higher fuel efficiency in new cars crushes momentum for the U.S. auto industry to pivot toward alternative-powered vehicles, ensuring that manufacturers will again be caught in litigation limbo as environmental groups prepare challenges to seemingly inconsequential standards with no penalties, experts say.

  • September 29, 2026

    FCC Looking To Duck Mandamus In 2021 RF Exposure Order

    Five years after the D.C. Circuit told the FCC it needed to provide more in-depth reasoning for why it believes cellphones and other wireless devices don't pose a risk to humans, the agency is arguing it needs more time to sort out a response.

  • September 29, 2026

    Lupin Strikes Deal In States' Generic Drug-Price Fixing Suit

    Lupin Pharmaceuticals has reached a settlement with multiple states to resolve allegations that it conspired with G&W Laboratories Inc. to raise prices of the tuberculosis drug Ethambutol during a supply shortage years ago, according to a minute order entered in Connecticut federal court on Monday.

  • September 29, 2026

    Suit Accuses USDA Of Unlawfully Gutting Aid For Rural Solar

    A coalition including farm and renewable energy trade groups has accused the Trump administration of abruptly and unlawfully making most solar projects ineligible for a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant and loan program created to advance renewable energy in rural areas.

  • September 29, 2026

    Fugitive Ex-Conn. Budget Official Seeks To Split Restitution

    A onetime Connecticut budget official now on the lam in Greece asked a federal judge Tuesday to postpone restitution until two admitted co-conspirators who testified against him are sentenced, arguing their plea agreements could force them to shoulder at least some of the costs of a school construction bribery scheme.

  • September 29, 2026

    CFTC Sends Event-Contracts Swaps Proposal To White House

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has submitted two rule proposals to the White House that appear to explicitly establish event contracts as swaps while excluding "casino-style gambling products," updates that could affirm the agency's view that prediction markets are under its "exclusive jurisdiction" and beyond the reach of states.

  • September 29, 2026

    Aldi Sued Over Online Order Delivery Fees By SNAP Users

    Aldi illegally charges ancillary, nonfood-related delivery, expedited fulfillment and convenience fees to customers who use SNAP-EBT benefits to buy grocery items online through Instacart or Aldi Express, alleges a proposed consumer protection class action filed Monday in California state court. 

  • September 29, 2026

    Trump Admin Can't Use Anti-DEI, Citizenship Rules For Grants

    A Rhode Island federal judge on Tuesday said the U.S. Department of Justice can't impose new conditions related to diversity, equity and inclusion activities and immigration status on domestic violence assistance grants, a ruling that sides with a coalition of states and nonprofits that challenged the restrictions.

  • September 29, 2026

    Feds Tell 4th Circ. Ábrego García Delayed His Own Removal

    The Trump administration is telling the Fourth Circuit that a Maryland federal judge shouldn't have granted Kilmar Ábrego García protection from continued immigration detention, saying the unlawful rulings he successfully sought are what's preventing his removal to Liberia.

  • September 29, 2026

    DC Circ. Anthropic Ruling Could Chill Contractor Speech

    The D.C. Circuit's decision backing the U.S. Department of Defense's removal of Anthropic from its supply chain was based on a broad reading of the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act, which could lead contractors to be more careful about publicizing disputes with the department.

  • September 29, 2026

    States' Temporary Aid Data-Sharing Injunction Bid Falls Short

    A D.C. federal judge declined to block a Trump administration policy allowing disclosures of temporary financial assistance recipients' sensitive personal information to federal authorities, saying that while it "seems plausible" this will chill participation in the program, Democratic-led states challenging the policy haven't provided "concrete evidence" of such harm.

Expert Analysis

  • Navigating A Key Inflection Point In Biosimilar Sector M&A

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    As biosimilar mergers and acquisitions gain notice amid U.S. Food and Drug Administration reforms, a maturing patent framework and a looming patent cliff, companies diversifying into the higher-growth biologics space should align their regulatory, intellectual property and transactional strategies, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

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    The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses six recent rulings involving pecuniary loss in false price comparison advertising, privity in an insurance fee class, antitrust standing, immigration class representatives, retirement beneficiary class commonality, and Rule 23(f) appeals in Fair Labor Standards Act claims.

  • How Employers Can Navigate NLRB Rulings Ripe For Reversal

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    Given a recent National Labor Relations Board memo seeking to reverse several precedents — including on severance agreements and workplace policies — employers should prepare now to restore broader protections when the board acts, while following the law as it exists today, says Howard Lavin at Thompson Coburn.

  • What Comes Next For Digital Asset Regs After Clarity Act Flop

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    After the U.S. Senate recently blocked the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, agency rulemaking could still offer a near-term remedy, and companies meanwhile should monitor the existing framework assembled from enforcement precedent and case law in the absence of a purpose-built statute, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • FDA Bill Shows Risk Of Inexact Statute Text, Post-Loper Bright

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    A recent House bill to amend the Food and Drug Administration's drug preclusion framework reveals the increased importance of precision when drafting statutory rules in a post-Loper Bright landscape, as several minor errors in the text could lock in unintended results that will be difficult to repeal, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Species 'Harm' Definition Rollback Brings Risk For Developers

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    A rule recently adopted by federal agencies rescinds the definition of "harm" in Endangered Species Act regulations to exclude habitat destruction — but while the move is aimed at reducing regulatory burdens, it creates new uncertainty for developers, and may trigger increased environmental protections in California, say attorneys at Cox Castle.

  • $95M Nev. Case Provides Clues On Wound Care Enforcement

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    Federal prosecutors’ recent U.S. v. Dubin indictment, charging a Nevada physician with healthcare fraud over an alleged $95 million Medicare billing scheme involving amniotic wound allografts, provides a clearer picture of an increasingly data-driven enforcement strategy that follows the entire wound care transaction, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

  • DOJ Fraud Memo Highlights Trade Enforcement Playbook

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    A recent U.S. Department of Justice memo that outlines the Fraud Enforcement Division's priorities demonstrates that customs and trade fraud enforcement has entered a new and far more aggressive phase, with recent cases highlighting how the False Claims act is driving the new push, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • HPE-Juniper Settlement Teaches Key Tunney Act Lessons

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    A California federal court's recent approval of the U.S. Department of Justice's settlement with Hewlett Packard over its Juniper Networks acquisition offers legal practitioners some crucial lessons, including on unique tech-sector remedies for mergers and acquisitions and the continued viability of the Tunney Act, says Shubha Ghosh at Syracuse University College of Law.

  • What Opt-In Framework Means For Novel Space Activities

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    The U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Space Commerce is advancing a voluntary certification framework for commercial space activities not covered by existing licenses — but it's unclear whether this approach becomes a durable mission authorization regime, and separate legal permissions from agencies may still be necessary, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Negotiating The Scope Of The Stablecoin Customer ID Rule

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    Though comments on bank regulators’ proposed rule for stablecoin issuers under the Genius Act generally agree that oversight would help prevent illicit activity, agencies must reconcile disagreement over whether to extend customer identification requirements from issuers' primary-market relationships to secondary-markets activity, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How To Improve Hiring Transparency Amid Ghost Job Scrutiny

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    Recent regulatory and state law scrutiny of ghost job postings for roles that don't exist or aren't being filled signals a shift toward hiring transparency, and employers that fail to adapt risk enforcement actions, consumer protection claims and financial penalties, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • FTC Push May Create Dual Origin-Claim Risks For Contractors

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    Recent Federal Trade Commission actions involving Made in USA advertising requirements offer a preview of enforcement themes that may impose dual compliance burdens on government contractors that are also subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation Buy American restrictions, says Amy Hoang at Seyfarth.

  • Series

    Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

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