Public Policy

  • August 05, 2026

    FCC Returns $881M In Unused TV Broadcaster 'Repack' Funds

    The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it has returned $881 million that went unused in the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund.

  • August 05, 2026

    Ill. Feds Fight Contempt Proceedings In ICE Protest Case

    Federal prosecutors urged an Illinois federal judge Tuesday to reject further hearings and a special prosecutor over grand jury misconduct in a dismissed case against anti-ICE activists, arguing that the dismissal of the charges, the payout of their attorney fees, "substantial" internal reforms and a pending ethics probe render criminal contempt proceedings unnecessary.

  • August 05, 2026

    Trade Group Seeks Injunction Over Colo. Recycling Law

    A trade group made up of about 35,000 wholesale distribution companies asked a Colorado federal judge Wednesday to issue an injunction preventing the state from enforcing a new recycling law, arguing that the law is unconstitutional.

  • August 05, 2026

    Texas Governor Calls For Data Center Audit

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to audit any data centers that are going through ERCOT's electric grid interconnection process, saying that an audit is needed because the demand from data centers seeking to connect to Texas' electric grid could overwhelm it.

  • August 05, 2026

    Mass. City Must Refund $2.4M In Cannabis 'Impact' Fees

    A Massachusetts state court judge has ordered a Boston suburb to refund $2.4 million in fees it collected from cannabis retailers, saying the city of Newton failed to show the fees were tethered to the costs of hosting the businesses.

  • August 05, 2026

    Texas Cos., Others Urge Cruz, Cornyn To Block Rio Barriers

    More than 140 river outfitters, local businesses and recreation groups have urged Texas' two U.S. senators and Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene and stop planned border barrier construction in and around Big Bend National Park, warning the project would devastate the region's recreation economy and cut off public access to the Rio Grande.

  • August 05, 2026

    Judge Says Firearms Act Can't Stand After Gun Taxes Zeroed

    A Texas federal court ruled Wednesday that the National Firearms Act and its enforcement of registration and transfer requirements are unconstitutional in light of the 2025 federal budget bill's elimination of taxes on certain firearms, handing a win to several gun rights advocacy groups.

  • August 05, 2026

    Utah Can Enforce Gambling Laws Against Kalshi, Judge Says

    A Utah federal judge has allowed the state's gambling regulators to crack down on Kalshi's sports event contracts, rejecting the prediction market giant's argument that it should be shielded by federal law.

  • August 05, 2026

    Senate Panel Presses DOJ Antitrust Pick On Independence

    President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, Adam Candeub, faced tough questions Wednesday during a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing, where several Democrats challenged his independence.

  • August 05, 2026

    Convicted Tax-Offender Atty Rebuffed In Bid To Have Firearm

    A Connecticut attorney who served prison time for tax offenses cannot proceed with most of a suit that seeks the restoration of his right to possess a firearm, a federal judge said in a ruling Wednesday.

  • August 05, 2026

    These Firms Are Picking Up The Most PTAB Work

    Intellectual property heavyweight Fish & Richardson PC remains the busiest firm in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, as it again secured the top spot on a list of firms with the most PTAB trials over the past three years.

  • August 05, 2026

    9th Circ. Urged To Revisit Klamath Project ESA Ruling

    A water association is asking the Ninth Circuit to rethink a ruling that held the Endangered Species Act applies to the operation and management of an Oregon irrigation project, arguing that the appellate court left "an unworkable" framework to determine a threshold question over nondiscretionary federal agency actions.

  • August 05, 2026

    CFPB Sends Open-Banking Rule Redo To White House

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finished a proposal to overhaul its Biden-era open-banking rule and has submitted it for White House clearance, a move that signals the agency is nearing publication of the highly anticipated draft changes.

  • August 05, 2026

    Texas Firm Lands $150M HHS Services Deal For Migrant Kids

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has entered into a $150 million contract with a small Texas law firm to provide legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children, raising concerns from former subcontractors about the firm's experience with immigration matters.

  • August 05, 2026

    Mich. Wineries Fight 'Secret Evidence' In Intervention Bid

    A group of northern Michigan wineries on Tuesday urged a federal judge to block a local advocacy group's attempt to introduce "secret evidence" into an ongoing lawsuit between the wineries and Peninsula Township, which they claim is undermining their business in the popular tourist locale. 

  • August 05, 2026

    Feds Sued Over Man's Death After ICE Raid At Cannabis Farm

    The family of a man who died following a chaotic ICE raid last summer at a cannabis farm has sued the U.S. government for negligence in California federal court, alleging that law enforcement agents used excessive force during the incident and prevented him from receiving timely treatment by medical personnel.

  • August 05, 2026

    Holland & Knight Hires Energy Finance Advisers In DC

    Holland & Knight LLP has hired a trio of advisers from lobbying and consulting firm Boundary Stone Partners to bolster its work on energy, technology and infrastructure funding and finance in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Tuesday.

  • August 05, 2026

    Ex-Congo President Challenges US Sanctions As Baseless

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control based its placement of the former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a sanctions blacklist on unsupported claims he backed armed rebel groups, he told a federal court in Washington, D.C.

  • August 05, 2026

    DC Gun Ban Suit Paused For High Court Look At Ill. Case

    A D.C. federal judge has stayed the Trump administration's challenge to the city's prohibition on silencers and AR-15s, ordering the case to remain on ice until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a similar challenge to semiautomatic bans in Illinois and Connecticut.

  • August 05, 2026

    Wyoming Judge Says Congress Nixed Coal Lease Fight

    A Wyoming federal judge dismissed a series of cases challenging resource management plans that ended new coal leasing on federal lands in the Powder River Basin, agreeing that the dispute ended when Congress repealed the plans.

  • August 05, 2026

    Court Wrongly Nixed $750K Tax Debt Collection, 6th Circ. Told

    An Ohio federal court wrongly found that the U.S. government couldn't collect on a man's federal tax liabilities of over $750,000 via a property sale, the government told the Sixth Circuit, saying while the man's mother holds legal title to the property, he is its equitable owner.

  • August 05, 2026

    High Court's Trans Athlete Ruling Roils Volleyball Dispute

    A legal fight over San Jose State University's decision to roster a transgender player on its women's volleyball team has intensified as the litigants feverishly debate the impact of recent U.S. Supreme Court case law.

  • August 05, 2026

    T-Mobile Asks Judge To Reconsider Data Breach Ruling

    T-Mobile has asked a Washington judge to address issues that the company says were overlooked in his June ruling finding that T-Mobile committed more than 722,000 violations of a state data breach notification law.

  • August 05, 2026

    PTAB Filings Crashed After Squires And Stewart's Shake-Ups

    The number of America Invents Act filings with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board cratered at the end of 2025 after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office enacted policies that made the petitions a disfavored route for challenging patents, according to a new report.

  • August 05, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Told Injunction Against Samsung Is Warranted

    Collision Communications Inc. wants the Federal Circuit to undo a Texas federal judge's decision denying its bid to block Samsung from selling products a jury found were infringing, saying the judge "went inexplicably astray" following the $445 million verdict.

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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