Public Policy

  • August 24, 2026

    AGs Want Meta's Privilege Claims Reviewed In Bellwether Trial

    During a break in a jury trial Monday over states' claims Meta hid social media's harm, states' counsel urged a California federal judge to require Meta to re-review all of its attorney-client privilege designations, arguing that "it seems actually logically impossible" that Meta described the wrong standard in only a single document.  

  • August 24, 2026

    Nevada Challenges Feds' Plan For Colorado River Shortages

    Nevada on Monday asked a federal judge to block a framework for Colorado River water cuts the Trump administration finalized, arguing that a flawed review and analysis threaten to put shortages on the backs of it and two other lower basin states.

  • August 24, 2026

    DOJ Seeks To Beat UC Researchers' Challenge Of Grant Axings

    The U.S. Department of Justice argued on Friday that the Trump administration should prevail over University of California researchers' challenges of the termination of their grants, telling a California federal judge that the First Amendment doesn't apply to competitively awarded grants.

  • August 24, 2026

    Google Says Publishers Can't Get 'Fake Privilege' Discovery

    Google urged a New York federal judge not to grant additional discovery to a group of publishers targeting its advertising placement technology dominance in a wider multidistrict litigation, arguing claims of insufficient detail into corporate policies allegedly hiding evidence are belied by the volume of information already cited.

  • August 24, 2026

    Ukraine Says Tatneft Appeal Over $173M Stay Should Be Axed

    Ukraine has pressed the D.C. Circuit to nix an appeal by a large Russian oil company that seeks to overturn a lower court's stay order in the business's suit to enforce a $173 million arbitral award against the country, saying its domestic law prohibits it from paying the award.

  • August 24, 2026

    4th Circ. Says Vacated Drug Conviction Can't Bar Admissibility

    The Fourth Circuit concluded Monday that a Mexico native's since-vacated marijuana conviction in North Carolina state court does not render her inadmissible in the U.S., departing from a long-standing framework that considered vacated convictions valid for immigration purposes unless they're vacated due to substantive or procedural defects. 

  • August 24, 2026

    USPTO Anonymous Reexam Proposal Spurs Concern, Praise

    A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office proposal to effectively end the ability to be completely anonymous when requesting patent reexaminations drew numerous concerns from industry and attorney groups, as well as supportive remarks from patent owners and calls for the office to go further.

  • August 24, 2026

    Mich. Judicial Council Seeks Input On Long-Term Courts Strategy

    The Michigan Judicial Council heard input on its six-point strategic plan to improve the courts system Monday during a Zoom public forum.

  • August 24, 2026

    Feds Scrap Biden-Era Policy On Credit-Access Programs

    The Trump administration is withdrawing Biden-era guidance that encouraged banks and other lenders to offer specialized programs to boost credit access for underserved borrowers, according to a new Federal Register notice. 

  • August 24, 2026

    Consumer Groups Urge DOT To Keep Airline Full-Fare Ad Rule

    Consumer advocates have asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to reconsider its plans to upend decades-old requirements that airlines display the total airfare more prominently than other components like taxes and fees, saying the Trump administration is effectively endorsing "drip pricing."

  • August 24, 2026

    Feds Seek Circuit Court Reversals In Sanctuary Policy Battle

    The Trump administration has asked separate federal circuit courts to review lower court decisions rejecting its challenges to various state and local sanctuary immigration policies, arguing to the Tenth Circuit that such policies from Colorado and Denver affirmatively obstruct federal immigration enforcement.

  • August 24, 2026

    AT&T, Duke Energy To Arbitrate Pole Rate Dispute

    AT&T and Duke Energy are headed for arbitration in the hopes of settling their dispute over the rates the power company charges the telecom behemoth for pole attachments, the Federal Communications Commission has said.

  • August 24, 2026

    Calif. Takes Trump Admin Pipeline Fight To 9th Circ.

    California has asked the Ninth Circuit to review a district court's rejection of its bid to block the Trump administration's reopening of a controversial coastal oil pipeline, which a judge said was a valid use of federal emergency authority under the Defense Production Act.

  • August 24, 2026

    Aviation Cos. Urge FCC To Pull Ligado Network Order

    The FCC ought to revoke its controversial 2020 order giving Ligado Networks permission to build a mobile satellite network because the company won't be able to build it in a way that meets the "stringent conditions" the agency gave it, a coalition of groups and companies tells the agency.

  • August 24, 2026

    White Nationalist Group Says Probes Violate Free Speech

    A white nationalist association and other related parties have claimed that federal, state and local authorities are violating their constitutional free speech rights by conducting unfair investigations into the group's "whites-only" community in the state.

  • August 24, 2026

    Merck Loses HHS Suit Over Medicare Drug Price Program

    A D.C. federal judge shot down Merck's challenge to the Inflation Reduction Act's Drug Price Negotiation Program on Monday, ruling that the pharmaceutical giant's voluntary participation in connected Medicare and Medicaid programs meant that its inclusion in the negotiation program doesn't constitute an unconstitutional taking.

  • August 24, 2026

    'History And Tradition' Allow For Religious Emails, USDA Says

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture urged a California federal court to toss a suit by federal workers and their labor union accusing the agency's secretary of sending "proselytizing" religious emails to employees, arguing the messages align with the "history and tradition" of public officials making references to religion.

  • August 24, 2026

    DHS Must Face Bias Suit Over Candidate's Ayahuasca Use

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security can't escape a lawsuit alleging it unlawfully nixed an applicant's job offer because her religious practice includes consuming the psychoactive tea ayahuasca, a Florida federal judge ruled Friday, rejecting the agency's assertion that the court can't review its hiring decisions on national security grounds.

  • August 24, 2026

    DOJ Backs Biotech Co. Against Red Cross At 1st Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Justice is continuing to back a biotech company that accuses the American Red Cross of blocking competition for blood platelet testing, telling the First Circuit the nonprofit is not part of the government and is not immune from the antitrust claims.

  • August 24, 2026

    Colo. Judge Certifies Class In Hospital Gender Care Suit

    A Colorado state judge granted class certification in transgender adolescents' lawsuit seeking to have Children's Hospital Colorado resume providing gender-affirming medical care for them and other transgender youth patients.

  • August 24, 2026

    FCC's Trusty Sees Need For Fresh Look At Universal Service

    Since taking a seat on the Federal Communications Commission more than a year ago, Olivia Trusty says her travels around some of the most rural parts of the country have convinced her of a need to bring the FCC's universal service programs up to date.

  • August 24, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Agrees To Speed Up Args In COVID Vax Patent Case

    The Federal Circuit on Monday agreed to accelerate the schedule in a COVID-19 vaccine patent dispute between Moderna and Arbutus Biopharma Corp. by holding arguments in November.

  • August 24, 2026

    Judge Says ICE Skirted Review In CAT Removal Reversal

    A Maryland federal judge ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a Mexican national who testified against drug cartel members, saying the government violated his due process rights by revoking his removal protection after trying to deport him unsuccessfully twice prior.

  • August 24, 2026

    9th Circ. Sends Juneau Trust Fight Back After DOI Reversal

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday remanded a dispute over a 787-square-foot parcel in downtown Juneau after the U.S. Department of the Interior changed its position on the land-into-trust decision for an Alaskan tribal government.

  • August 24, 2026

    Social Media Giants Denied Pause Of Calif. Kids Algorithm Law

    A California federal judge on Friday again refused to block the Golden State law that bars social media companies from using algorithmic feeds to deliver content to children without parents' consent, telling Meta, Google and TikTok that predictive algorithms that show "interesting" content aren't protected free speech.

Expert Analysis

  • How DOJ Is Approaching Monitorship After Signaling Limits

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    As the U.S. Department of Justice keeps more monitors in place than expected, a look at the matters in which prosecutors are maintaining oversight reveals the sort of companies enforcers might trust to self-remediate, and also those that may receive independent supervision, say attorneys at Kendall Brill.

  • Opinion

    DHS' World Cup Influencer Warning Overreads Visa Law

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    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s reported position that foreign influencers covering the 2026 World Cup need work visas if their content is monetized runs contrary to both legislative intent and long-standing precedent that structure the visa inquiry around labor market substitution, says Jun Li at Reid & Wise.

  • 3 Steps For Banks As Section 1071 Rule Finally Becomes Final

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    Some community banks and other lenders will get some breathing room in the final Section 1071 rule exempting them from small business lending reporting duties, but other reporting institutions should update applications, systems and staff training ahead of the 2028 compliance date, says Memrie Fortenberry at Jones Walker.

  • Why DOE Isn't Phasing Out Appliance Efficiency Regs

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    While the U.S. Department of Energy recently acted on President Donald Trump's 2025 executive order requiring it to consider sunsetting many energy regulations, the DOE has not proposed phasing out efficiency standards for appliances and industrial equipment — but it could pursue other approaches to ease such requirements, say attorneys at HWG.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

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    Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five recent rulings from cases involving allegations of internet data misuse, consumer fraud claims, immigration, insurance and First Amendment violation claims.

  • Justices' FCC Fine Ruling May Weaken Agency Leverage

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T upheld the commission's forfeiture framework as consistent with Jarkesy, but it is also likely to reduce the effectiveness of the commission’s forfeiture proceedings as a collection and deterrence tool, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Takeaways From 1st Del. Ruling Applying Moelis Amendments

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    Delaware corporations should carefully review contractual arrangements and governance documents following the Court of Chancery's recent enforcement of a non-Delaware forum selection clause in a CEO's employment agreement under 2024 amendments to the state's General Corporation Law, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

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    An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

  • Google Antitrust Case Puts Spotlight On De Facto Exclusivity

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    Mozilla's recent amicus filing in U.S. v. Google arguing that its agreement to make Google the default search engine did not amount to de facto exclusivity highlights the growing debate over traditional indicators of exclusivity, with implications for any business that uses rebates, preferred contracts or volume incentives, says Chris Gowen at WilmU Farnan School of Law.

  • Justices' Montgomery Ruling Doesn't Expand Shipper Liability

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    Whether negligent hiring liability claims against shippers will increase after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II is anyone's guess, but the ruling itself will have no impact on shippers' actual liability in personal injury claims relating to trucking accidents, says Ronald Leibman at McCarter & English.

  • GHG Rescission Undermines State Climate Suit Preemption

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    As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the fate of state climate litigation in Suncor Energy Inc. v. Boulder County, it must confront the fact that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescission of its greenhouse gas endangerment finding has also removed the foundation for federal preemption of state climate suits, says attorney Gregg Goldfarb.

  • Constructing AI Compliance Plans As State Laws Diverge

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    With Colorado, Connecticut and the federal government recently announcing wildly different approaches to artificial intelligence regulation, creating a workable compliance program means addressing overlapping obligations using shared systems rather than separate silos, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • How McDonnell Still Shapes Bribery Defense Strategy

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    The pending federal bribery allegations against Washington, D.C., Council member Trayon White Sr. highlight for defense counsel the importance of overcoming the “official act” requirement established by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McDonnell v. U.S., and juries' critical role in distinguishing between official and unofficial acts, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Assessing Issues The CFTC's Sports Betting Rules May Face

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently proposed a rule to consolidate its control of sports bets made on prediction market trading platforms, but problems may arise from possible conflicts between the proposed changes and state laws — and maybe even the Commodity Exchange Act itself, says David Slovick at Kopecky Schumacher.

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