The California Legislature is currently considering a bill that would substantially expand the scope and enforcement mechanisms of California’s antitrust regime. On January 30, 2026, the California Law Revision Commission officially approved a final legislative proposal to broaden the state’s antitrust statute, the Cartwright Act, to include single-firm conduct and to allow state enforcers to go beyond the federal Sherman Act. While the bill, AB 1776, remains under consideration in the state Legislature, it reflects a broader trend toward more aggressive antitrust regulation and enforcement at the state level, both in California and nationally. Read the Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.
Republican State Attorneys General Issue Warning Letter to 80 Corporations Regarding Potential Anticompetitive Coordination Through Plastics Environmental Initiatives
On February 10, 2026, Republican attorneys general from 10 states sent letters to 80 companies warning them that their participation in groups seeking to reduce plastic usage may constitute a violation of federal and state antitrust and consumer protection laws. The letter campaign was led by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
Uthmeier’s office posted online a sample letter addressed to Costco.
The letters target companies the AGs believe to be members of one or more of three environmental organizations—the U.S. Plastics Pact, the Consumer Goods Forum, and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition—that allegedly seek coordination among the companies with the goal of reducing the use of plastics. These organizations, the AGs allege, “pressure companies into artificially changing the output and quality of their goods and services,” thus distorting normal market forces. Such initiatives, the AGs warn, may constitute “unlawful restraints of trade in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act,” and their states’ antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Coordinated reductions in the output or quality of goods and services, under some circumstances, can be anticompetitive.
The AGs put the companies on notice that they should expect “formal investigative demands, subpoenas, or other compulsory legal process” regarding their participation in these initiatives, and that they should preserve relevant documents, communications, and data.
In addition to Florida, the letters were signed by the AGs of Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Texas, and West Virginia.
The letters are the latest example of a significant uptick in antitrust enforcement by state attorneys general across the country.
Multistate Cannabis Operators Face First-of-Their-Kind Antitrust Claims from Ohio Attorney General
By Sean P. McConnell, Wayne A. Mack, Christopher H. Casey, Paul P. Josephson, Tracy Gallegos, Michael D. Schwamm, and James Hearon
The Ohio attorney general recently filed an unprecedented state antitrust enforcement action against nine of the nation’s largest multistate cannabis operators. The complaint alleges these defendants formed illegal cartels through reciprocal supply agreements, competitively sensitive information exchanges and discriminatory distribution practices designed to exclude independent Ohio cannabis operators from the market and artificially inflate consumer prices. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, civil forfeitures of $500 per day per defendant for each day the alleged combinations were in effect, and attorneys’ fees. Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris website.
New Leadership in New Jersey: Acting Attorney General Davenport Announces Her Team
By James Hearon, Paul Josephson and Eric Boden
With the inauguration of New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill on January 20, 2026, her nominee to serve as Attorney General, Jennifer Davenport, assumed the office of Acting Attorney General of New Jersey. New Jersey is one of only seven states with an appointed AG. New Jersey’s AG has wide-ranging criminal, civil, regulatory, and law enforcement powers.
As New Jersey’s chief law enforcement officer, the Attorney General oversees over 42,000 state and local law enforcement officers and the 8,000 employees of the Department of Law and Public Safety. The Department’s responsibilities touch upon nearly every aspect of life in New Jersey. Its sweeping responsibilities include investigating and prosecuting crimes, representing state interests in court, and enforcing strong consumer protection and civil rights statutes.
Davenport’s confirmation has proceeded smoothly so far; she cleared Senate committee on February 2, 2026 and Senate confirmation is expected shortly.
Davenport has announced an impressive leadership team poised to carry out her many duties.
She named Katherine Calle to serve as First Assistant Attorney General. A former federal prosecutor and Harvard Law School graduate, Ms. Calle previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, where she held senior leadership roles, including Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, and supervised the Camden and Trenton Branch Offices.
AG Davenport named Eliza Lehner to serve as her Chief Counsel. Ms. Lehner clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan before entering private practice at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
Ms. Lehner will replace Sundeep Iyer, who will transition from Chief Counsel under the outgoing administration to AG Davenport’s Executive Assistant Attorney General.
Davenport also appointed Martha Nye and Nicholas Kormann as Deputy First Assistant Attorneys General. Ms. Nye spent more than seven years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, most recently in the role of Attorney-in-Charge of the Trenton Branch Office, and previously as an Assistant Prosecutor at the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Mr. Kormann’s background includes private practice at Day Pitney, followed by over a decade in the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender in Union County, first as an Assistant Deputy Public Defender and then as First Assistant Public Defender. He also served as Director of Investigations of Fatal Police Encounters with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.
AG Davenport named James Haggerty her Chief of Staff. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Haggerty served as the New Jersey Attorney General’s Deputy Executive Director of the Office of Policing Strategy and Innovation, and as Chief of Staff to the Officer in Charge of the Paterson Police Department.
Davenport has retained highly regarded Solicitor General Jeremy Feigenbaum in that role. Mr. Feigenbaum spearheaded many of New Jersey’s legal battles against the Trump Administration and received high marks and national acclaim for his U.S. Supreme Court argument defending birthright citizenship on behalf of several states.
These leadership appointments come at a pivotal moment, as AG Davenport has already initiated several high-profile legal actions. On February 3, 2026, 2026, AG Davenport joined a multistate antitrust lawsuit against global pharmaceutical companies, Novartis and Sandoz, alleging price-fixing of generic prescription drugs. The following day, her office joined the New York Attorney General in suing the federal government over the suspension of funding for the Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project.
Looking ahead, additional legal clashes with the Trump Administration—particularly over ICE operations in New Jersey—appear likely. Governor Sherrill has also been very critical of ICE’s current operations and plans to create a portal where people can upload videos of ICE operations in the state. During her confirmation hearings, Davenport testified that she would prosecute any ICE agents who violate state laws.
The Acting Attorney General has announced her priorities include protecting communities from gun violence; combating human trafficking; protecting the physical and mental health of children, including from threats online; promoting a robust affordability agenda; and protecting New Jersey residents from attacks on their pocketbooks and their rights coming out of Washington, DC.
The Duane Morris State Attorneys General group has deep experience with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and Acting AG Davenport’s team. We will periodically post on important developments and initiatives as they arise.
23 State Attorneys General Urge FCC to Stand Down on AI Preemption Rule
On December 19, 2025, a bi-partisan coalition of 23 state attorneys general submitted reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging the agency not to issue any declaratory ruling purporting to preempt state and local laws that seek to govern or limit uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The AGs stated that such a ruling would be beyond the FCC’s authority.
In its Notice of Inquiry, the FCC requested comment on the question “As [AI] begins to play a bigger role in the provision of communications services, should the Commission consider whether state or local laws seeking to govern or limit uses of AI are prohibiting or effectively prohibiting the provision of wireline telecommunications services?” Various commenters supported a declaratory rule preempting state or local laws regulating AI. The state AGs’ comments were issued in reply to these comments.
While acknowledging that AI is “a transformative technology with a number of promising uses,” the AGs claim that “[s]tates across the political spectrum are legitimately concerned about how businesses using AI may harm their citizens and/or interfere with their own core responsibilities.”
The state AGs argue that AI is a broad and undefined term that encompasses a wide category of information services that are beyond the FCC’s jurisdiction to regulate and urge the FCC to “stand down and allow Congress to first decide what, if any, federal preemption of state (and local) regulation of AI is appropriate.”
Examples of current or pending state and local laws that seek to govern or limit AI include laws involving: AI-generated deepfakes and AI-generated explicit material; basic disclosures when consumers are interacting with specific kinds of AI; the setting of rents through the use of AI; new forms of consumer scams; ensuring identity protection for endorsements and other AI-generated content; and consumer opt-out of consequential automated decisions.
The state AGs argue that none of these laws is “remotely related to limiting the entry or operation of telecommunications networks.”
The reply comments follow a December 11 Executive Order by the President setting forth a national policy framework for AI and directing the FCC to initiate a proceeding to determine whether to adopt a federal reporting and disclosure standard for AI models that preempts conflicting State laws.
The reply comments are signed by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
Update: NJ Watchdog Reform Legislation Shelved; Office of Inspector General Floated
In a fairly remarkable turn of events, New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari announced yesterday that he is pulling his proposed legislation, S. 4924, to transfer investigative and subpoena powers of the State Comptroller to the State Commission of Investigation. Instead, he intends to pursue legislation to re-establish an Inspector General in the next legislative session in 2026.
This move follows intense criticism at and after a marathon lame duck legislative hearing last week. Criticism centered on the substance of the proposal and the process by which it was considered, including the treatment of witnesses at the legislative hearing.
This development is expected to allow for more fulsome and considered discussion among stakeholders about how best to re-organize New Jersey’s government watchdog functions. It is sure to give Governor-Elect Mikie Sherrill control of the issue as she transitions into office on January 20.
Stay tuned for further developments on this and the Governor-Elect’s plans more generally for the State’s Department of Law and Public Safety post-transition. Like New Jersey’s Governor, New Jersey’s Attorney General possesses some of the broadest powers in the nation, with wide-ranging responsibility for State Police, licensing boards and many other government functions well beyond prosecuting crimes and advising state agencies. We will continue to provide updates on what her nominees and priorities mean for companies doing business in New Jersey.
NJ Watchdog Reform Legislation Moves to Full Senate; AG Defends Record at Extraordinary Senate Hearing
Addressing legislation proposed by the Senate President to reform New Jersey’s watchdog agencies at a New Jersey Senate hearing on December 1, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin defended his record, and that of the State Comptroller, against pointed criticism from state senators.
The Senate President’s bill calls for the transfer and reform of current oversight efforts in the interest of efficiency among three current watchdog agencies – the AG, the Office of State Comptroller, and the State Commission of Investigation (SCI), a quasi-independent investigative agency in the legislative branch led by a board of four part-time political appointees.
The hearing was a rare open display of sharp disagreements. The AG and State Comptroller both characterized the bill as targeting them for publicizing and prosecuting incidents of waste, fraud and abuse involving powerful public officials.
At the close of public comments largely opposed to the proposed changes, the committee chair contended the legislation was proposed because of legislators’ concerns about AG Platkin’s management of his office.
New Jersey’s AG exercises a broad scope of authority, being responsible for state criminal prosecutions (including the power to supersede and take charge of county prosecutor offices), civil representation of most state agencies, as well as control of the State Police, the Division of Consumer Affairs, the Division of Civil Rights, and dozens of boards that regulate professions and industries.
The bill would move investigative powers from the State Comptroller to the SCI—and would provide the SCI more explicit authority to investigate the AG and county prosecutors, and grant the SCI wiretap authority. The bill would also allow legislative leaders to select the SCI chair, currently appointed by the Governor, and increase the salaries of SCI commissioners.
The AG noted significant separation of powers concerns raised by granting the SCI (a legislative commission) authority over criminal prosecutions and to conduct wiretaps. New Jersey’s Constitution provides that “[n]o person or persons belonging to or constituting one branch shall exercise any of the powers properly belonging to either of the others, except as expressly provided in this Constitution.”
New Jersey’s Constitution, adopted in 1947, established a strong governor who appoints virtually all statewide officials, including the AG, all 21 county prosecutors, and all state court judges. New Jersey is among only 7 states that do not elect their AG: Alaska, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Wyoming (Governor); Tennessee (Supreme Court), and Maine (Legislature). New Jersey’s Constitution also grants the AG and county prosecutors a broad degree of independence, insulating the AG from removal except by way of impeachment.
Also unlike many other states, county prosecutors and the State Comptroller are not elected. They too are appointed by the Governor with Senate advice and consent. However, the Senate has declined to vote on the Governor’s nominee for State Comptroller, who nevertheless has aggressively pursued waste, fraud and abuse in state and local government despite his acting status.
Introduced on Thanksgiving Eve, the proposed legislation was the subject of a Senate committee hearing the following Monday. The move during New Jersey’s lame duck legislative session sparked criticism from numerous governance groups who packed the hearing room with opponents of the bill.
The bill was approved unanimously, though Democrat John McKeon and Republican Michael Testa expressed reservations they hope to address before a full Senate vote.
Whether the proposed reform will pass before the end of the lame duck session on January 20 remains to be seen. No Assembly analogue has yet been introduced in the lame duck session following New Jersey’s off-year election. Democratic Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill and outgoing Governor Phil Murphy have taken no position on the proposal to date. We will report on developments and implications as matters progress.
New Jersey’s unique system of law enforcement, regulatory oversight and watchdog agencies can present challenges for business and individuals who do business with or in the state. Duane Morris attorneys have served in these offices and have decades of experience advising our clients with matters before each of these offices.
More State Attorneys General Form Workers’ Rights Units to Enforce Employee Protection Laws
On November 13, 2025, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown announced the formation of a unit in the state attorney general’s office focused on workers’ rights. Attorney General Brown said the unit will help enforce already strong state laws protecting workers, including laws against wage theft. The move is the latest effort by Democratic attorneys general to strengthen state enforcement of laws protecting workers in response to Trump Administration changes to federal enforcement that they allege have weakened worker protections.
In September, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced the formation of a “working families unit” in a new section of the state Attorney General’s Office designed to address “unfairness in the workplace,” in light of “federal rollbacks.” At least 13 state attorney general offices now reportedly have such units, including California, Massachusetts, New York, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Colorado.
Employers with operations in these states face potentially more significant enforcement threats from the state attorneys general than from private suits. Attorneys general can pursue broad investigations and obtain consent orders requiring enhanced reporting or training in areas such as minimum wage, overtime pay, independent contractor classification, meal and rest breaks, recordkeeping and tipping compliance.
20 Republican State Attorneys General Urge SEC to Define When Digital Assets Are Securities Under Federal Law
On October 20, 2025, 20 Republican state attorneys general, led by Iowa’s Brenna Bird, wrote a letter to SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, urging the SEC to provide “clear, narrowly tailored definitions regarding when a digital asset or related transaction constitutes a security under federal securities laws.” The letter, sent in response to the SEC’s solicitation of public input on issues relating to cryptocurrency and digital assets, states that clarity is essential to prevent federal overreach which could negatively impact the AGs’ ability to enforce consumer protection laws in their states.
The AGs contend that the federal government has only limited powers to protect consumers, and that the states have primary responsibility over consumer protection and economic regulation. In the absence of clear definitions, they argue, there is a risk of federal overreach, which could lead to preemption of important state laws that are specifically tailored to digital assets. The AGs point out that at least 40 states have introduced or enacted legislation on digital assets–laws that provide regulatory certainty for businesses, allowing them to innovate, invest, and create jobs in their states. The AGs argue that federal overreach could also preempt state money transmitter statutes, criminal laws, and consumer protection laws.
The AGs also argue that states’ unfair and deceptive acts and practices (UDAP) laws are better suited to protect consumers in the digital assets space than any federal law. State UDAP statutes are broader than federal securities laws, they claim, allowing states to capture practices that may not qualify as securities violations. Finally, the AGs argue that clear definitions are necessary for states to determine whether it is lawful for them to enforce their unclaimed-property statutes. Many states have laws that treat abandoned virtual currency as escheatable property that must be remitted to the state. Because many states do not have digital wallets, they require the holder of unclaimed digital assets to “liquidate” those assets and then remit the cash to the state. The AGs are concerned that such a transaction could constitute the unlawful sale of unregistered securities.
13 State Attorneys General Move to Intervene in Federal Review of DOJ’s Settlement Allowing $14 Billion Merger
On October 14, 2025, a coalition of 13 state attorneys general, including those from California, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois, filed a motion seeking to intervene in the Tunney Act review by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) settlement that allowed the $14 billion merger between Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper Networks to proceed.
Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris website.