Public Policy

  • August 28, 2026

    FCC Wants To Fine Covered Chinese Cos. $188K

    The Federal Communications Commission wants to fine ZTE and Hytera Communications more than $180,000 for failing to provide the agency with all its various corporate identities after the agency placed both Chinese companies on the covered list.

  • August 28, 2026

    Mich. Judge Backs 'Mass Casualty' Privacy Waiver In Schools

    A Michigan state education budget package requiring schools to give up certain privacy protections in exchange for specific funding is not unconstitutional or vague, a federal judge said Thursday in a ruling mirroring a state appeals court's decision issued earlier this month.

  • August 28, 2026

    8th Circ. Says Alleged Parole Lies Aren't Unconstitutional

    An Eighth Circuit panel has upheld the dismissal of an Arkansas sex offender's lawsuit alleging his parole officer used a fake daycare to reject his housing plans, saying parole is not a constitutionally protected right.

  • August 28, 2026

    Judge Wants Info On Effort To Return Deported Nigerian

    A California federal judge ordered the Trump administration Friday to explain how it is facilitating the return of a Nigerian citizen who was granted protection from being deported to Nigeria but who is now hiding in Togo after Ghanaian officials tried sending him to Nigeria.

  • August 28, 2026

    4th Circ. Reverses $42M Abu Ghraib Verdict Against CACI

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday reversed a $42 million jury verdict finding CACI conspired to torture Iraq War detainees, ruling on rehearing the detainees' claims must be dismissed following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that courts can't create a private right of action under the Alien Tort Statute.

  • August 28, 2026

    Reform For Upper Microwave Bands Needed Soon, FCC Told

    A satellite industry group urged the Federal Communications Commission to move quickly on reforms to rules covering the upper microwave spectrum bands to make it easier to deploy satellite earth stations.

  • August 28, 2026

    NJ Says TikTok Is Withholding Key Child Usage Data

    New Jersey urged a state judge to force TikTok to hand over detailed user engagement data the state said was essential in proving that the platform's design harmed children, accusing the company of months of evasive answers, shifting explanations and contradictory statements about whether the information even exists.

  • August 28, 2026

    Calif. Challenges Trump Admin's Offshore Wind Lease Buyout

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a federal lawsuit on Friday against the Trump administration and Golden State Wind LLC, claiming the government unlawfully used a $120 million buyout of the company's offshore wind energy lease to end the renewable energy project and facilitate fossil fuel development.

  • August 28, 2026

    Feds Gain Ground In Energy Permit Turf War With States

    A federal judge's endorsement earlier this month of the Trump administration's restart of a pipeline over California's objections will likely embolden the federal government to override state opposition to energy project development, but the ruling won't be the last word on the legality of such moves.

  • August 28, 2026

    Mass. Coke Bottler Misclassified Worker To Save OT, Suit Says

    A regional Coca-Cola bottler misclassified a worker as an exempt employee to avoid paying overtime, a new lawsuit in Massachusetts state court alleges.

  • August 28, 2026

    DOJ Cites National Security In $173M Ukraine Award Suit

    The Trump administration Thursday backed Ukraine as it fights efforts by one of Russia's largest oil companies to unpause litigation aimed at enforcing a confirmed $173 million arbitral award, pointing to Russia's increasing reputation as a "surveillance state with severely eroded rule-of-law protections."

  • August 28, 2026

    Ariz. Tribe Seeks To Pause Border Wall Work During Appeal

    The Tohono O'odham Nation is asking a district court to pause an order that denied its bid to block construction of a border wall near its Arizona reservation while it appeals the ruling to the D.C. Circuit, saying the federal government "plainly feels emboldened" by the decision.

  • August 28, 2026

    2 Men Sentenced For Car Crash Insurance Scam In NY

    Two men have been sentenced to prison over an insurance fraud conspiracy in which they staged car crashes on local highways — including one captured in a video that went viral on social media — New York City and state officials announced.

  • August 28, 2026

    FCC Creates New Innovation Zone In Iowa, Expands Old Ones

    For the first time in five years, the Federal Communications Commission has greenlit the creation of a new "innovation zone," which will give a university an experimental spectrum license that allows it to conduct wireless research, this time at Iowa State University.

  • August 28, 2026

    Circuit Split Raises Stakes For Timing Of Detention Review

    An emerging circuit split on whether district courts can hear habeas claims from noncitizens who say the government wants to deport them for their political speech raises questions about how quickly they can challenge the constitutionality of their detention before an independent judge.

  • August 28, 2026

    FCC Urged To Act On 5G Broadcast Petition

    Low power TV station operator HC2 Broadcasting wants the Federal Communications Commission to allow low-power broadcasters to transmit local programming via 5G signals if they want to.

  • August 28, 2026

    DOJ Says KKR's $250M Deal Will Deter HSR Violations

    The U.S. Department of Justice has issued its formal defense of a $250 million settlement with KKR & Co. and affiliated entities resolving allegations that the private equity firm repeatedly violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act's premerger notification and waiting period rules.

  • August 28, 2026

    Boston Eyes Liquor License Sold By Celebrity Chef

    The city of Boston asked a judge on Friday to block the anticipated transfer of a liquor license once held by celebrity chef Barbara Lynch, contending that Lynch's original sale of the license to its current holder was a fraudulent effort at evading what ultimately became a nearly $1 million judgment over unpaid property taxes.

  • August 28, 2026

    3rd Circ. Rejects Trump Admin's No-Bond Policy

    The Third Circuit has added to the circuit split over the Trump administration's detention without bond of unauthorized noncitizens apprehended inside the U.S., finding the policy runs afoul of the Immigration and Nationality Act and violates their due process rights.

  • August 28, 2026

    Consumer Groups Back Ore. In Fight Over Rate Opt-Out Law

    Consumer advocacy groups have rallied to Oregon's defense in litigation over its new law aimed at capping interest rates on loans from out-of-state banks, arguing the state's financial industry challengers don't have history or federal law on their side.

  • August 28, 2026

    DOL Scraps 1980s Farmworker Protection Coordination Rule

    The U.S. Department of Labor is repealing longtime regulations that required federal agencies to coordinate protections for migrant and seasonal workers, saying they are obsolete and have not been used for decades.

  • August 28, 2026

    ITC Finds Pipes From 3 Countries May Harm US Industry

    Stainless line and pressure pipes from India, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates that are allegedly being sold at unfair prices appear to be harming domestic U.S. industry, the U.S. International Trade Commission preliminarily found Friday.

  • August 28, 2026

    Medical Marijuana Industry Grapples With DEA's New Role

    After years of allowing the state-sanctioned medical marijuana industry to operate without interference, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is stepping in to regulate a drug it once treated exclusively as contraband, but attorneys and regulators say the cannabis industry's interactions with the agency are off to a rocky start.

  • August 28, 2026

    Trump Admin Wants Oklahoma Smelter Suit Thrown Out

    The U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge to dismiss Oklahoma's challenge of a massive aluminum smelter project the Trump administration has backed with a $500 million grant, arguing that the case is premature and that the facility is vital to national security.

  • August 28, 2026

    Fla. Says PBMs Fixed Prices For Prescription Drugs

    Florida's attorney general on Thursday sued two competing pharmacy benefit managers for allegedly colluding to fix prescription drug reimbursement rates to pharmacies, which the state said threatens Floridians' access to affordable medications.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • New Va. Finance Laws Signal Consumer Protection Push

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    Virginia's 2026 legislative session produced several noteworthy developments for financial institutions, including garnishment reforms, mortgage assumption requirements and debt collection reforms, signaling broader trends toward increased consumer protection, enhanced fraud prevention obligations and greater accountability in financial services operations, says Jay Spruill at Woods Rogers.

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