Public Policy

  • March 31, 2026

    FTC Backs Florida's Move To Kill ABA's Accreditation Monopoly

    The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it supports the Florida Supreme Court's recent decision to end the American Bar Association's longstanding accreditation monopoly, agreeing with the finding that it is "not in Floridians' best interest for the ABA to be the sole gatekeeper" in deciding who sits for the bar exam.

  • March 31, 2026

    Lobbyist Blocked Rivera After Tying Him To $50M Oil Deal

    Republican lobbyist Brian Ballard was "exceptionally angry" and blocked former Florida Congressman David Rivera's number after Rivera insinuated Ballard was tied to a $50 million consulting agreement Rivera signed with the U.S. affiliate of Venezuela's state-owned company, Ballard testified Tuesday in federal court.

  • March 31, 2026

    DOL's Push To Curb 401(k) Suits Could Face Court Challenges

    The U.S. Department of Labor's recent proposal to give retirement plan fiduciaries legal cover to select a broader range of investments aims to reduce ERISA litigation, but attorneys on both sides of the bar say they expect the rule to face legal challenges if finalized as proposed.

  • March 31, 2026

    'God Squad' Exempts Gulf Drillers From Species Protections

    A federal committee with the power to waive Endangered Species Act protections convened for the first time in 34 years on Tuesday and granted an exemption for oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico.

  • March 31, 2026

    Trump Order Cutting Off Funds For NPR, PBS Blocked

    A D.C. federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump's executive order stripping all federal funding from the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio was unconstitutional Tuesday, writing that the order met all three elements of retaliation for protected speech.

  • March 31, 2026

    FCC Floats Adding Yet More Foreign Gear To 'Covered List'

    The Federal Communications Commission wants to block the importation of telecommunications gear that was put on its so-called covered list — a list of equipment the agency has deemed poses national security risks — before it had passed rules banning the authorization of such equipment.

  • March 31, 2026

    Bias Challenge To Juror Strike Wasn't Waived, Justices Told

    A Black man on Mississippi's death row told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday that state courts failed to properly address his objections to the prosecution's peremptory juror strikes at his 2006 trial, which he said were racially motivated.

  • March 31, 2026

    Senate Dems Probe Musk's Alleged Role In CTA Retreat

    Three Democratic senators have asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to provide information on Elon Musk's possible involvement in the rollback of the Corporate Transparency Act, saying the department's moves allow entities tied to the billionaire to operate in obscurity.

  • March 31, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Rethink Apple App Store Injunction

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday refused Apple's bid to reconsider part of a panel decision in Epic Games Inc.'s favor that largely affirmed an injunction blocking Apple from charging developers "prohibitive" commissions on iPhone app purchases made outside its payment systems, declining to clarify what fees Apple can charge.

  • March 31, 2026

    Judge Vacates DHS' Termination of Noncitizens' Parole Status

    A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration has broad authority to mass terminate parole, but failed to justify canceling parole for hundreds of thousands of noncitizens who used a government app to be admitted to the U.S.

  • March 31, 2026

    Nonprofit Says Colo. County Jail Censors Incoming Mail

    Weld County, Colorado, officials have mail policies that unconstitutionally prevent a nonprofit from sending educational and outreach materials to people incarcerated at the county's jail, the nonprofit alleged Tuesday in Colorado federal court.

  • March 31, 2026

    7th Circ. Scolds Ex-Judge For Citing Fake Cases In Brief

    A Seventh Circuit panel admonished an attorney and former chief federal immigration judge for submitting a brief citing two nonexistent cases and a false quotation, saying while such errors can be "tell-tale signs" of AI hallucinations, her denial she used AI is "plausible" and the court won't consider further sanctions.

  • March 31, 2026

    Blumenthal Presses DHS Chief To Scrap ICE Warrant Memo

    Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, is looking for assurances from the newly installed secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, that he will honor his apparent pledge to rescind a policy that allows immigration agents to enter private property without a judicial warrant.

  • March 31, 2026

    Cruz, Dems Rip FCC's Staff-Level OK Of $6.2B Nexstar Deal

    Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined Senate Democrats to attack the Federal Communications Commission's decision to approve the planned $6.2 billion tie-up of broadcast chains Nexstar and Tegna at the staff level without a vote by the regulatory body.

  • March 31, 2026

    Mich. Judge OKs Bias Training For Healthcare Workers

    A Michigan judge has upheld a state requirement that healthcare professionals undergo implicit bias training to obtain or renew their licenses, finding the mandate was within the state licensing bureau's power.

  • March 31, 2026

    Protest Targets Noem-Approved $641M Border Barrier Deal

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection violated federal contracting law when it awarded a $641 million contract to construct waterborne barriers in the Rio Grande Valley without conducting a competitive bidding process, a joint venture told the U.S. Government Accountability Office on Monday.

  • March 31, 2026

    DC Circ. Clears Maritime Commission's Refusal-To-Deal Rule

    A D.C. Circuit panel sided Tuesday with the Federal Maritime Commission as it defended a regulation governing how it will consider whether an ocean shipping company unreasonably refused to deal with would-be shippers, rejecting a trade group challenge and concluding the agency rightly baked rate analysis into its considerations.

  • March 31, 2026

    Transpo Tracker: Congestion Pricing Survives, EV Rule At Risk

    In our inaugural Law360 Transportation Tracker, a New York district court walloped the Trump administration's effort to cancel Manhattan's congestion pricing, the federal government continued its assault on California's vehicle emissions regulations, and Boeing investors scored class certification in 737 Max-related securities fraud litigation.

  • March 31, 2026

    Feds Ask 1st Circ. To Nix 'Slapdash' 3rd Country Notice Order

    A Massachusetts federal judge overstepped his authority in ordering the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide deportees being sent to so-called "third" countries where they have no prior ties an opportunity to challenge their destinations, the Trump administration told the First Circuit.

  • March 31, 2026

    Next-Gen TV Switch Must Happen Soon, Lawmakers Say

    More than 90 lawmakers called on the Federal Communications Commission to advance next-generation TV by setting a timeline for the switch to the latest broadcast standard.

  • March 31, 2026

    Squires Ends TikTok IP Challenges For Not Listing Foreign Ties

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has terminated Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges to seven Cellspin Soft patents that TikTok has argued were invalid, saying TikTok didn't list all the interested parties in the case, particularly those outside the U.S.

  • March 31, 2026

    Public Health Groups Challenge EPA's Mercury Limits Repeal

    The American Academy of Pediatrics and more than a dozen environmental and public health groups are calling on the D.C. Circuit to vacate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's repeal of Biden-era limits on mercury and air toxins, saying the move will jeopardize children's health across the country.

  • March 31, 2026

    Judge Further Delays Trump Admin's College Data Demand

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday again pushed off a deadline for public colleges in 17 states to provide seven years of detailed admissions data to the U.S. Department of Education, as two organizations representing private schools seek to join a legal challenge to the new survey.

  • March 31, 2026

    11th Circ. Won't Revisit Order Keeping Migrant Facility Open

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday denied a request from environmental nonprofits to allow a lower court's order halting operations of a Florida immigrant detention facility, saying in a split decision that new issues were improperly raised for the first time. 

  • March 31, 2026

    US Bipartisan Bill Will Extend Key Tribal Housing Program

    U.S. lawmakers have proposed bipartisan legislation that will update and extend the key law for tribal housing support through 2032, arguing that for too long Indigenous communities have gone without the resources they need to build and maintain affordable housing.

Expert Analysis

  • Breaking Down Expense Allocation In Mixed-Use Properties

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    Rapid increases in condominium fees and special assessments, driven by multiple factors such as rising insurance costs and expanded safety requirements, are contributing to increased litigation, so equitable expense allocation in mixed-use properties requires adherence to the governing documents, says Mike Walden at FTI Consulting.

  • Opinion

    Minn. Can Still Bring State Charges In Absence Of Fed Action

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    After two fatal shootings by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota's role isn't waiting to see if the federal government brings criminal charges, but independently weighing state homicide charges and allowing the judiciary to decide whether the subject conduct falls within the narrow protections of supremacy clause immunity, says Sheila Tendy at Tendy Law.

  • 4 Lessons From FTC's Successful Bid To Block Edwards Deal

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent victory in blocking Edwards Lifesciences' acquisition of JenaValve offers key insights for deals in life sciences and beyond, including considerations around nonprice dimensions and clear skies provisions, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Limiting Worker Surveillance Risks Amid AI Regulatory Shifts

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    With workplace surveillance tools becoming increasingly common and a recent executive order aiming to preempt state-level artificial intelligence enforcement, companies may feel encouraged to expand AI monitoring, but the legal exposure associated with these tools remains, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Can OCC State Banking Law Preemption Survive The Courts?

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    While two December proposals from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency seek to foreclose pending consumer litigation against national banks related to residential mortgage lending, it's unclear whether this aggressive approach will withstand judicial scrutiny under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 rulings in Cantero and Loper Bright, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • How Selig May Approach CFTC Agricultural Enforcement

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    As the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission begins a new chapter under recently confirmed Chairman Michael Selig's leadership, a look back at the agency's actions in agricultural markets over the past six years sheds light on what may lie ahead for enforcement in the area, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Assessing Factors Behind Biosimilar Uptake And Competition

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    As biosimilar uptake remains uneven and questions linger over whether the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act can deliver robust competition between biologics and biosimilars, a case study of Humira and its biosimilars illustrates how many factors, including payor reimbursement and formulary strategy, collectively shape competitive dynamics, say analysts at Analysis Group.

  • State Of Insurance: Q4 Notes From Illinois

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    In 2025's last quarter, Illinois’ appellate courts weighed in on overlapping homeowners coverages for water-related damages, contractual suit limitation provisions in uninsured motorist policies, and protections for genetic health information in life insurance underwriting, while the Department of Insurance sought nationwide homeowners' insurance data from State Farm, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

  • How 3 CFTC Letters Overhauled Digital Asset Guidance

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently issued three letters providing guidance for the use of digital assets in derivatives markets, clarifying the applicability of CFTC regulations across numerous areas of digital asset activities and leading to the development of standards to allow market participants to post digital assets as collateral, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

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    Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

  • Ruling Helps Clarify FERC's Post-Jarkesy Enforcement Power

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    A North Carolina federal court's recent ruling in American Efficient v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may be a step in providing clarity on FERC's enforcement authority under the Federal Power Act in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Dispatches From Utah's Newest Court

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    While a robust body of law hasn't yet developed since the Utah Business and Chancery Court's founding in October 2024, the number of cases filed there has recently picked up, and its existence illustrates Utah's desire to be top of mind for businesses across the country, says Evan Strassberg at Michael Best.

  • Aerospace And Defense Law: Trends To Follow In 2026

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    Some of the key 2026 developments to watch in aerospace and defense contracting law stem from provisions of this year's National Defense Authorization Act, a push to reform procurement, executive orders that announced Trump administration priorities, the upcoming Artemis space mission and continuing efforts to deploy artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Aviation Watch: Busy Skies, Tough Market For Airlines In 2026

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    After a turbulent year in the U.S. commercial aviation sector, demand for air travel and premium service shows no signs of slackening in 2026, with airlines facing the need to compete in a saturated market, while seeking opportunities for consolidation and pursuing other avenues to profitability, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Viewing The Merger Landscape Through An HPE-Juniper Lens

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    If considerations beyond antitrust law were taken into account to determine whether Section 7 of the Clayton Act was violated in the Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks deal, then legal practitioners advocating deal clearance may now have to argue that deals should be justified by considerations not set forth in the merger guidelines, says Matthew Cantor of Shinder Cantor.

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