When the law changes, you shouldn't need a lawyer just to understand what happened. We explain what changed and what it means for you.
United States · Tax Law · Estate Planning & Probate
The IRS has set the 2027 federal income tax brackets and standard deduction. The seven rates did not change, but the income cutoffs and deduction did, and the numbers generally apply to the return you file in 2028.
United States · Entertainment & Sports Law · Antitrust · Appeals
Not through the nationwide injunction in Wisne v. NCAA. The Tenth Circuit reversed that order on November 6, but the ruling does not decide whether every NCAA eligibility rule is lawful.
California · Criminal Defense · Appeals
Yes. California law still allows a death sentence in specified murder cases, even after Governor Gavin Newsom announced a plan to change every current death sentence to life without parole. That plan is not effective yet, and it would change sentences, not repeal the law.
Colorado · Criminal Defense · Civil Rights · Appeals
Yes. A federal judge refused to pause Colorado's permit-to-purchase rules for specified semiautomatic firearms, so the training and eligibility process remains in effect while the lawsuit continues.
United States · Immigration Law · Appeals
The Ninth Circuit’s 14-day administrative stay begins November 6 and keeps paused the district court order that set aside the Venezuela TPS vacatur and termination.
Oregon · Immigration Law · Civil Rights · Appeals
ICE cannot make a warrantless civil immigration arrest in Oregon unless an officer first has individualized probable cause that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. A November 2 order added reporting and record-production requirements; it says the government's April appeal of the preliminary injunction was still pending, while the public docket also lists a separate July appeal. The order does not decide every encounter or create a nationwide rule.
United States · Class Action & Mass Tort · Antitrust · Consumer Law · Appeals
The Ninth Circuit ordered the jury’s finding against the NFL restored on October 30. The old $4.7 billion award stays set aside, and a new trial must decide damages for the DirecTV subscriber classes.
Idaho · Health Care Law · Civil Rights · Appeals
The Ninth Circuit paused a lower-court injunction, while Idaho officials' October 23 amended notices of appeal also put a separate declaratory judgment before the appeals court. The appeal has not decided the health-exception claim.
United States · Elder Law · Social Security Disability
A federal judge set aside an extra test CMS added for people seeking the medical-frailty exclusion from Medicaid work requirements. The order does not cancel the 80-hour requirement or move its January 1, 2027 start date, and its injunction and six-month state protection apply only to the plaintiff states.
United States · Consumer Law
GM agreed to pay $220 million to 35 states and DC, not individual drivers. The private lawsuit remains separate, and the published Pennsylvania consent document awaits court entry as of the copy available October 30.
United States · Education Law · Banking & Finance Law · Appeals
No. The Education Department and the states filed a joint stipulation to dismiss the Department's appeal of the Massachusetts judgment that vacated a 2025 PSLF employer rule. Separate primary records show a matching stipulation in the nonprofit First Circuit case and a D.C. Circuit order granting dismissal, while borrowers still need to meet the program's ordinary loan, job and payment requirements.
United States · Consumer Law · Real Estate Law
Trump's October 22 housing order calls for a mortgage insurance cancellation pilot limited to future loans. If you're paying PMI now, the existing 80% request and 78% automatic-termination rules still matter most.
California · Civil Rights · Government & Municipal Law · Appeals
Yes, the Ninth Circuit, the federal appeals court for California and eight other Western states, ruled that President Trump's 2025 order taking control of the California National Guard for Los Angeles went beyond the power Congress gave him. The ruling keeps an early court order blocking that order in place while the case goes on. It isn't a ban on every Guard call-up, and it doesn't decide the separate case under the Posse Comitatus Act, the federal law that generally bars using the military as a police force.
United States · Consumer Law · Class Action & Mass Tort
The FTC and 20 states sued over alleged checkout overcharges on October 26. The separate class action settlement had an April claim deadline and a June discount window.
North Dakota · Banking & Finance Law · Consumer Law · Appeals
Yes, the Eighth Circuit upheld a ruling that threw out the Federal Reserve's current 21-cent debit interchange-fee cap. That does not mean a new rate or a new checkout charge takes effect today: the case now returns to the Federal Reserve, and the formal order that makes the judgment effective ordinarily issues later under appellate rules.
United States · Consumer Law · Banking & Finance Law
Replying STOP to a genuine company's text can withdraw your permission, but it is not a cure for scam messages. An FCC rule published October 26 changes how companies can handle opt-outs from November 25.
United States · Consumer Law
The FCC's updated opt-out rules take effect November 25. They let companies separate informational message categories, so stopping payment reminders may leave fraud alerts running.
United States · Social Security Disability · Elder Law
The 3.6% increase is confirmed. SSA's newly filed notice sets the 2027 benefit and work limits, but your own payment notice will show how much reaches your bank account.
United States · International Law · Business & Corporate Law · Consumer Law
No. CBP has moved certain mail-entry requirements to January 20, 2027. Shoppers still cannot rely on the old $800 duty-free allowance for overseas purchases.
United States · Immigration Law · Civil Rights · Appeals
Religious groups won a new chance to seek protection from immigration enforcement on October 20. The D.C. Circuit did not order ICE to stay out of churches, and public worship areas have different entry rules from private rooms.
United States · Criminal Defense · Tax Law · Appeals
The justices will review the federal ban on distilling spirits at home. The October 19 decision to hear the case does not grant hobbyists permission to start, and other licensing and tax requirements remain.
New York · Immigration Law · Government & Municipal Law
New York City's limits on helping ICE survived an October 15 court ruling. The dismissal protects the city's control over its workers and resources, but it doesn't stop federal immigration arrests or give anyone legal status.
United States · Business & Corporate Law · Appeals
The CFTC says a qualifying sportsbook wager is not a swap, while it has proposed treating exchange-traded event contracts as swaps. That distinction matters for Kalshi, but it does not settle whether every state can enforce its gambling laws against the platform.
California · Immigration Law · Civil Rights
ICE must identify its arrest authority as soon as practical and safe at an arrest. On October 14, the Ninth Circuit directed an injunction against California's separate visible-ID requirement; the amended mask ban raises a different question.
Florida · Civil Rights · Consumer Law · Family Law · Appeals
Florida can keep enforcing HB 3 after a unanimous federal appeals court ruling. Children under 14 cannot maintain their own accounts on covered platforms, 14- and 15-year-olds need parental consent, and the underlying First Amendment lawsuit is not over.
United States · Immigration Law
DV-2027 registration is not open yet. The government appealed, but Judge Jinsook Ohta refused to pause the order. The State Department must announce dates by October 29 and open by November 1 unless the Ninth Circuit grants a stay.
United States · Consumer Law · Class Action & Mass Tort · Civil Litigation
A federal judge approved Google's $68 million Assistant privacy settlement on October 13. The ordinary claim deadline has passed, and valid claimants still face payment conditions rather than a guaranteed arrival date.
Virginia · Immigration Law · Education Law · Appeals
A federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s challenge to Virginia’s tuition-equity law. Qualifying undocumented students keep a route to the lower tuition rate, but each college still decides whether the school and tax requirements are met.
Utah · Criminal Defense · Civil Rights · Appeals
Singularism lost its appeal over an order blocking its founder's prosecution, but a separate Utah religious-freedom injunction was outside the appeal. Church membership alone does not answer whether your use of psilocybin is protected.
United States · Immigration Law · Government & Municipal Law
Many refugees and people granted asylum lost access to federally funded full Medicaid on October 1, 2026. Green-card holders and some family members can still qualify, emergency coverage remains, and a Washington court order has a narrower reach.
United States · Tax Law · Transportation & Aviation · Environmental Law
The October 5 order calls for temporary federal relief, not permanent tax forgiveness. State rules and the fuel in your tank still matter.
United States · Consumer Law · Business & Corporate Law · Appeals
The Ninth Circuit revived claims that Align Technology unlawfully restricted competition. The October 5 ruling gives patients and dental practices another chance to prove their case, without awarding refunds.
United States · Civil Rights · Civil Litigation · Appeals
A federal appeals court dismissed the family's tort claims against the United States but revived a separate constitutional claim against an FBI agent. The decision does not award damages or decide the agent's liability.
United States · Antitrust · Class Action & Mass Tort · Real Estate Law
A September 30 ruling keeps the states’ rent-pricing claims alive against RealPage and three landlords. Renter payments depend on a separate proposed settlement.
Oklahoma · Criminal Defense · Civil Rights
An Oklahoma federal judge excluded evidence after a deputy searched a driver's stored plate history without a warrant. The October 1 order also found that the deputy unlawfully prolonged her traffic stop; it does not ban the cameras nationwide.
United States · Immigration Law · Civil Rights · Appeals
The Supreme Court will decide whether ICE can deny bond hearings to people who entered without inspection and were arrested years later. Agreeing to hear the case does not grant anyone a hearing or order their release.
United States · Tax Law · Education Law
If you plan to give to a K-12 scholarship fund in 2027, or hope your child gets a scholarship from one, the IRS has now written the first rules for the education freedom tax credit. Donors could cut their federal tax by up to $1,700 each, but only through scholarship groups in states that opt in, and most of the rules are still proposals.
California · Employment Law
Lyft agreed to pay $272.5 million to resolve California driver-pay claims from 2016 through 2020. Your share would depend on eligibility and driving records, and the announcements do not give an individual payout date.
United States · Immigration Law
If your asylum case is still pending, the yearly fee to keep it open goes from $102 to $105 at USCIS on October 16, 2026, and it is already $105 in immigration court. A first asylum work permit goes up $10. A federal judge has paused the penalties USCIS set for not paying, but not the fee.
United States · Tax Law · Estate Planning & Probate
If you never signed your kid up for a Trump account, Treasury now opens one for them. The $1,000 for babies born in 2025 through 2028 still isn't automatic, and nobody in the family can add money until someone with legal authority claims the account.
United States · Immigration Law · Civil Rights
If you have a final removal order, or a court has protected you from being sent to your home country, ICE can again send you to a third country under its 2025 policy. The Supreme Court paused the ruling that struck that policy down and will hear the case in December.
United States · Immigration Law · Employment Law
If you're hiring an H-1B worker from abroad, or waiting on a petition, the $100,000 payment now runs to September 2027. A federal court set aside the guidance USCIS used to collect it, USCIS says it will comply while the government appeals, and some pending petitions could still be charged if the government wins.
United States · Immigration Law
DV-2027 registration is not open yet. The government appealed the order requiring the lottery to go ahead, but Judge Jinsook Ohta denied its request to pause it. A request to pause the order remains pending at the Ninth Circuit as of October 28.
Ohio · Business & Corporate Law · Appeals
If you run or trade on a prediction market in Ohio or Tennessee, the Sixth Circuit says federal law does not stop either state from applying its sports betting laws to Kalshi's sports event contracts. The court said those contracts are not swaps, and that the states' laws would stand even if they were. Now the Supreme Court is being asked to settle the question for every state.
United States · Criminal Defense · Appeals
From September 30, 2026, eligible federal prisoners can start earning time credits when their sentence begins, not when they arrive at their assigned prison. Credits still depend on the programs or work you complete, and the rule leaves a few questions for the courts.
United States · Civil Litigation · Appeals
In two days, federal courts let California's gun-store recording law and Nevada's betting rules stand, and struck down the government's Anthropic ban and two immigration powers used against speech. Since then, Kalshi has asked for a rehearing, an appeals court has upheld a separate Pentagon label on Anthropic, and an October 23 D.C. Circuit order extended the government's rehearing-response deadline to November 13.
Nevada · Business & Corporate Law · Appeals
If you run or trade on a prediction market, Nevada can keep enforcing its gaming laws against sports event contracts for now. The Ninth Circuit said those contracts are likely sports bets, not swaps, the financial contracts only federal regulators oversee. Kalshi has asked the court to rehear the case.
United States · Business & Corporate Law · Civil Litigation
If your company works for the military and uses Claude, the order that barred you from doing any business with Anthropic has been canceled. But on September 25, 2026, a federal appeals court upheld a second label calling Anthropic a supply chain risk, so Claude stays out of Department of War work.
California · Immigration Law · Civil Litigation
If you are in the U.S. on a visa, a federal judge in California has ruled that using two immigration laws to cancel visas or deport people over protected speech is unconstitutional. The judgment covers the two plaintiffs who sued. The judge stated the law but didn't order the government to stop, and the government can still appeal.
California · Civil Litigation · Appeals
If you run a licensed gun store in California, you still have to record video and indoor audio around the clock. A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of the lawsuit against the law, but a specific search can still be challenged.