Analysis

Trump Orders On Renewables Get A Judicial Reality Check

By Keith Goldberg

The Trump administration's antipathy toward renewable energy is hitting a courtroom wall as federal judges repeatedly block policies aimed at stymieing wind and solar projects and ding agencies for not adequately justifying their actions.

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DOJ Final Order Loosens Rules For State-Legal Medical Pot

By Sam Reisman

The U.S. Department of Justice published a final order Thursday loosening federal restrictions on medical marijuana products that fall within the ambit of state-regulated programs or have approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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8th Circ. Ends 1st Amend. Challenge To Iowa 'Ag-Gag' Law

By Gina Kim

The Eighth Circuit has rejected an appeal by animal rights groups alleging that Iowa's trespass-surveillance law criminalizing recording on trespassed property is unconstitutional, ruling Thursday that the state can apply the law to forbid the conduct since recording could implicate a substantial government interest to protect its citizens' property and privacy rights.

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Paul Clement, Abbe Lowell To Argue For Firms In EO Appeals

By Lauren Berg

Four BigLaw firms and a national security attorney informed the D.C. Circuit on Thursday that heavyweight litigators Paul D. Clement of Clement & Murphy PLLC and Abbe David Lowell of Lowell & Associates PLLC will present their arguments against the Trump administration's appeal seeking to reinstate executive orders that were deemed unconstitutional.

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NJ Judicial Privacy Law Beats Political Group's Challenge

By Jake Maher

A federal judge ruled this week that the New Jersey judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law does not violate the First Amendment rights of a Democratic campaign finance and fundraising company, finding the law serves a compelling purpose in protecting judges and others from violence.

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DOJ Watchdog To Review Handling Of Epstein Files

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Department of Justice watchdog announced Thursday that it will be reviewing the department's release of the Epstein files after much bipartisan pushback that it has been slow and error-ridden.

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Mich. Councilman Says Suit Over 'Legislative Speech' Barred

By Melanie Dorsey

A Hillsdale city councilman has urged a Michigan federal court to dismiss a businessman's $1.5 million suit over remarks made during a library board appointment debate, arguing the claims are barred by absolute legislative immunity and rest on speculation rather than plausible facts. 

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GOP-Led States Back Trump In Dem AGs' Mail-In Ballot Suit

By Joyce Hanson

A group of 12 Republican-led states have asked a Massachusetts federal judge to let them intervene as defendants in 23 Democratic-led states' lawsuit over President Donald Trump's March 31 executive order placing limits on mail-in voting.

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Ohio Justices Say Electricity Reseller Is Still A Public Utility

By Ganesh Setty

A company that purchases electricity and then resells it to tenants still constitutes a public utility under Ohio law, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ruled, finding the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio therefore retains jurisdiction to regulate the company.

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Judge Questions DOJ Bid To End Suit Over Trans Care Memo

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts federal judge appeared unmoved Thursday by a U.S. Department of Justice lawyer's argument that a suit challenging directives on prosecuting providers of gender-affirming care for transgender children is an abstract debate, noting that some providers have deemed the care too risky and stopped services. 

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Brief

Acting Patent Commissioner To Retire From The USPTO

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's acting patent division leader is leaving the agency and will be replaced by a current deputy commissioner, Law360 confirmed Thursday.

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Latest Squires Order Grants 5 IPRs, Denies 4 On The Merits

By Theresa Schliep

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires granted five America Invents Act patent challenges and denied four others in his latest bulk order making institution decisions with little commentary.

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DC Circ. Doubts Legality Of Trump's Ouster Of VOA Chief

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. Circuit panel appeared Thursday not to buy the Trump administration's argument that the president had free rein to summarily fire the head of Voice of America last year and suggested that Congress had directly stipulated that the VOA director could only be removed by its board.

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Judge Orders Media Matters To Give X Its Employee Lists

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge on Thursday ordered left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for America to hand over employee lists and editorial process information to X Corp. as part of a business disparagement suit, ending a lengthy battle between the parties over the documents.

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NTSB's LaGuardia Crash Probe Flags Lack Of Runway Alerts

By Linda Chiem

Fire truck crew members didn't know that air traffic controllers' instructions to stop were directed at them before they collided with an Air Canada passenger jet landing at New York's LaGuardia Airport last month, and the lack of a transponder on the truck prevented a runway collision warning system from sending out alerts, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

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Ill. House Passes Bill Aiming To Keep Chicago Bears In-State

By David Steele

The Illinois General Assembly has approved a bill amended to provide more tax incentives for the site of a proposed stadium for the Chicago Bears, who are also considering a stadium offer from neighboring Indiana.

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Toplessness Isn't Nudity, Beach Advocates Tell Seattle Court

By Ben Adlin

A court-ordered plan to crack down on nudity at a Seattle public beach is causing confusion, according to a filing from advocates, with private security guards wrongfully targeting topless beachgoers despite police and park rangers greenlighting bare chests.

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7th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-Indiana Worker's Disability Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Seventh Circuit backed the Indiana Department of Transportation's defeat of a former employee's lawsuit alleging she was fired for needing to work from home because of her kidney transplant, saying she couldn't overcome the agency's explanation that she was insubordinate and performed poorly.

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Senators Seek Oversight Of DOL Benefits Agency Probes

By Patrick Hoff

A pair of Republican senators introduced legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm to give Congress more information about its enforcement efforts, an action lawmakers say is necessary to ensure investigations are conducted in a timely manner.

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Bar Complaint Calls Out EEOC Chair's Law Firm DEI Letters

By Grace Elletson

A legal advocacy group asked the Virginia State Bar to investigate whether U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas violated ethics rules by declining to investigate LGBTQ+ bias complaints and sending letters demanding information from law firms on their diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

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Fla. Subpoenas Cos., Green Groups In Plastics Antitrust Probe

By Carolina Bolado

Florida's attorney general has subpoenaed several major corporations, including Unilever, Coca-Cola, Target, Nestle and Mondelez International, and a number of environmental groups as part of an investigation into whether their involvement in organizations aiming to reduce plastic waste might run afoul of antitrust and consumer protection laws.

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Judges Call Ruling On USAID Shutdown Standing Unusual

By Jared Foretek

At least two D.C. Circuit judges on Thursday appeared to take some issue with a lower court's ruling that Oxfam and the union for U.S. Agency for International Development workers couldn't bring their challenges to the agency's dismantling in district court, with one panelist calling the district judge's ruling "unconventional."

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Dems Back Sen. Kelly In DOD Fight Over Illegal Orders Video

By Courtney Bublé

Five Democrats in Congress who previously served in the military and intelligence communities backed U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., in his challenge to the Trump administration's retaliation for warning service members not to carry out illegal orders.

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Brief

Canada PM Carney Announces US Trade Advisory Committee

By Dylan Moroses

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently announced the formation of a new advisory committee on U.S. economic relations in advance of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement's joint review later this year.

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Brief

UK Collected £944M From Digital Services Tax In Past Year

By Kevin Pinner

The United Kingdom collected £944 million ($1.27 billion) from its digital services tax during the 2025-2026 fiscal year, about 0.001% of the country's total tax take, HM Revenue & Customs said Thursday.

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Belgian Lawmakers Push Gov't For 3% Digital Services Tax

By Kevin Pinner

Belgian lawmakers have introduced a bill to create a 3% digital services tax on revenue that large multinational corporations derive from the country, pushing the governing coalition to follow through on a pledge to adopt the unilateral measure if international negotiations on an alternative fail.

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Mo. County's Tax Appeal Process Unfair, State Auditor Finds

By Michael Nunes

A Missouri county's equalization board disadvantaged taxpayers by failing to place the burden of proof on the county Assessment Department during appeals, the state auditor reported Thursday.

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Lender's COVID Boom Bars $5M Worker Credit Claim, US Says

By Jack McLoone

A mortgage lender isn't entitled to a $5 million refund for denied COVID-19 worker tax credits because the company's true business was never halted by a government order, the U.S. government told a California federal court, noting that the company's revenue actually increased by 600%.

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ICE Courthouse Arrest Policy Faces New Stay Bid After Error

By Adrian Cruz

Civil rights groups suing the U.S. government to block immigration courthouse arrests asked a New York federal judge to stay the enforcement of the arrest policy, arguing that government attorneys have retracted their original position on the legality of the arrests.

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Car Wash Workers Say ICE Racially Profiled Them During Raid

By Ganesh Setty

Seven workers at a Massachusetts car wash lodged a Federal Tort Claims Act action alleging they were racially profiled during an immigration raid, saying the officers lacked warrants and made "no meaningful effort" to confirm their status before arresting them.

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Unions Urge Judge To Keep AI Surveillance Case Alive

By Britain Eakin

Unions challenging the Trump administration's alleged surveillance of noncitizens' viewpoints to find targets for immigration enforcement urged a New York federal judge Wednesday to reject the government's dismissal bid, saying First Amendment injuries to their members give them standing.

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Former Ga. State Rep. Avoids Prison For Unemployment Fraud

By Chart Riggall

A former Georgia state representative who stepped down this year amid allegations that she fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic avoided prison time Thursday as a federal judge sentenced her to time served.

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Fake Patients Got Braces Approved In Medicare Scheme

By Carolina Bolado

An investigator with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told jurors on Thursday that a telemedicine doctor signed off on unnecessary orthotic braces for two fake personas he created to test out a software system that the government claims bilked Medicare out of nearly half a billion dollars.

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9th Circuit Clash Flares Over Idaho Tribal Land Swap Decision

By Crystal Owens

The Ninth Circuit's rejection of a global agribusiness' efforts to reverse the invalidation of an Idaho federal land transfer drew the ire of seven Republican-appointed judges, who said in a dissent that the majority is blocking the government's administration of the property that was once owned by an Indigenous nation.

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Apache Group Amends Suit To Reverse Arizona Land Transfer

By Crystal Owens

An Apache nonprofit amended its challenge to the federal government and Resolution Copper Co. over the exchange of nearly 2,500 acres within Arizona's Tonto National Forest, arguing the land transfer, which contains a sacred Indigenous worship site, was rushed in violation of religious freedom and constitutional laws.

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Cos. Say Permit Delays Could Drag Out 'Rip And Replace'

By Christopher Cole

The government's multibillion-dollar effort to pull Chinese-made gear from U.S. telecom networks is almost done, but a carriers' group told the agency this week it was concerned that permit delays could set project timelines back.

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FCC Rejects SpaceX, Iridium Bids To Change 'Big LEO' Rules

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission's staff has turned down requests from SpaceX and Iridium Communications Inc. to revamp spectrum sharing rules in the "Big LEO" bands that sought to let the companies expand mobile satellite services.

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Brief

Amazon Gets OK To Sell Leo Routers Despite Covered List

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission continues to make exceptions for certain foreign-made routers after issuing a blanket ban on their being sold in the United States earlier this year by placing them on the so-called covered list.

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Analysis

Cannabis Cos. Use Opponents' Playbook In Latest Ballot Fight

By Sam Reisman

A campaign to repeal the legalization of retail cannabis in Massachusetts via ballot initiative — the first campaign of its kind in the country — has triggered a legal action from cannabis business owners akin to the sort pushed by legalization opponents for years.

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Brief

DOJ Says Medical Pot Shift Shouldn't Affect Gun Rights Case

By Sam Reisman

Despite an order from the U.S. Department of Justice loosening federal restrictions on medical marijuana, the Trump administration signaled Thursday that it does not intend for the changes to cannabis regulation to apply retroactively.

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How Banks Can React To Risks In FinCEN Whistleblower Rule

Financial institutions should reassess and, if necessary, strengthen existing policies, procedures and other frameworks related to whistleblowers and internal reporting in light of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent proposal to formalize a whistleblower award program, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

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Opinion

DOJ Delay Of ADA Web Rule Undermines Equal Access

The U.S. Department of Justice's recent decision to delay compliance dates for regulations ensuring accessible government services online benefits no one, as it is long overdue for disabled Americans and doesn't lessen covered entities' legal obligations or litigation risk, say Mark Riccobono at the National Federation of the Blind and Eve Hill at Brown Goldstein.

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4 True Lender State Laws And 1 Appeal For Fintechs To Watch

The fintech industry faces increased scrutiny through proposed true lender laws from several states, as well as ongoing litigation regarding the impact of Colorado's opt-out from the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act — all of which should heighten industry participants' vigilance, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

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GHG Endangerment Finding Repeal Brings New Legal Risks

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2009 determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare anchored a matrix of regulation across multiple sectors — and the recent repeal of that finding has fundamentally destabilized the legal landscape governing industrial emissions, corporate liability and climate-related risk management, says Tanya Nesbitt at Thompson Hine.

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New DEI Clauses Will Reshape FCA Exposure For Contractors

As federal agencies mandate new procurement language aimed at curbing contractors' DEI practices and embedding False Claims Act materiality concepts into antidiscrimination obligations, contractors should account for both compliance and litigation risks before signing, and understand the legal constraints that govern FCA materiality, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

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2 New SEC Proposals Represent Welcome Relief For Funds

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent proposals to alter requirements under the names rule and Form N-PORT are favorable developments for registered funds due to lessened reporting burdens and added flexibility, and are illustrative of the market-facilitative regulatory posture under Chairman Paul Atkins' leadership, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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Series

Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

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DLA Piper Clears Vote To End Verein, Unify Leadership

By Tracey Read

DLA Piper announced Friday that firm partners on both sides of the Atlantic have "overwhelmingly approved" a plan to dissolve its Swiss verein structure effective May 1.

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Exclusive

Judge Albright Reflects On 8 Years Shaping Patent Law

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright will be walking away from the Western District of Texas at the end of the summer, ready to head back into patent litigation work. He talked with Law360 on Friday about the rockier elements of his judgeship and lessons he'll take into private practice.

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Commerce Department's General Counsel Departs

By Christine DeRosa

The U.S. Department of Commerce's general counsel has left the agency after just over a year, the agency confirmed on Friday.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

In what may be a first, a federal judge has ordered BJ's Wholesale Club to put an investor's climate-related proxy proposal up for a vote of the shareholders at the company's annual meeting. And a new study shows that more in-house counsel are staying in place despite pay increases slowing amid less competition for talent.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Butler Prather LLP, Bowen Painter LLC and Cannella Snyder LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Fluor Corp. can be held liable for a veteran's state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen a Hong Kong company sue the government and a COVID-19 PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, an oligarch bring a fresh claim against a rival in a long-running feud, a rugby league club sue over a canceled mass dance event, and Visa and Mastercard hit with legal action from H&M, Eurostar, and Bang & Olufsen. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Oregon Lawyer Ordered To Pay Attorney Fees For Use Of AI

By Matt Perez

An Oregon attorney was sanctioned by a state appellate court for filing a brief containing a fabricated list of authorities because she used generative artificial intelligence, marking the first case in the jurisdiction to present the option of awarding attorney fees as a sanction as opposed to fines payable to the court.

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Akin Can't 'Recast' Appeal As Good-Faith Effort, 9th Circ. Told

By Lauren Berg

A European winemaker slammed attempts by a U.S. importer and its Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to "recast a frivolous appeal as a good-faith effort," saying they should have to pay monetary sanctions for pursuing what the Ninth Circuit called a "self-indulgent" appeal of a valid arbitration award.

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Atty, Brother Say Father's Last Will Altered In Secret

By Emily Sawicki

A Blank Rome LLP attorney and his brother have sued the attorney who executed their father's will in New Jersey federal court, alleging the lawyer preyed on their ailing father toward the end of his life to alter his beneficiaries through undue influence, forgery and fraud.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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