Know What's Happening in Legal
Know What's Happening in Legal
Delaware Supreme Court lets insurers pursue contract claims against Blackbaud over ransomware breach
The Delaware Supreme Court reversed lower‑court dismissals, permitting insurers to bring breach‑of‑contract actions against Blackbaud for its 2020 ransomware incident. Blackbaud had previously paid a $3 million SEC fine and $49 million to state attorneys general for misleading breach disclosures.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Oil majors acquire $164M of Alaska oil leases
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is facing two lawsuits from Travelers, the professional indemnity insurer for Axiom Ince, while simultaneously filing a subrogated claim against the insurer. Travelers alleges the SRA breached its duty of care, seeking up to £3 million in one claim and around £6 million plus interest in another. In response, the SRA has issued a protective claim that could total as much as £41 million on behalf of Axiom Ince clients. Meanwhile, the Legal Services Board is moving to formally censure the SRA for shortcomings identified in the SSB Group review, prompting the regulator to accelerate a suite of consumer‑focused reforms.
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has launched a review of referral fees after a BBC Panorama expose on estate agents’ conditional selling practices. The regulator will analyse disclosed fee data and is considering tighter regulation of estate agents to...
Bellevue Law, a 35‑lawyer City firm and newly certified B Corp, has introduced a Sustainable and Responsible Legal Advice pledge that bars it from representing clients in sectors deemed controversial or ineligible by B Lab. The firm also refuses work...
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission has opened a large‑scale GDPR inquiry into Elon Musk’s X over its AI tool Grok, which has been linked to a surge of sexualized deepfakes, including images of minors. Regulators estimate Grok produced three million non‑consensual...
The European Union is considering adding Georgia’s Black Sea port of Kulevi to its 20th sanctions package, accusing it of facilitating Russian crude shipments that fund the war in Ukraine. The draft targets four ports, marking the bloc’s first move...
The CJEU’s judgment in HUK‑COBURG II examined whether Bulgaria’s Article 52 of the ZZD can be treated as an overriding mandatory rule under Rome II. The Court introduced a “sufficient connexion” test, requiring a close link between the facts and the forum before...
On February 13, 2026 Cal/OSHA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to create a “walkaround rule” that would let additional employee, employer and third‑party representatives accompany inspectors during workplace inspections. The draft mirrors the federal OSHA rule but expands representation...
Effective Jan. 1 2028, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 requires hospitals to assign separate NPIs and submit two provider‑based attestations for each off‑campus hospital outpatient department (HOPD) or lose Medicare OPPS reimbursement. Compliance documentation can be extensive—up to 200 pages per...
The episode examines recent federal and California court rulings on whether participation in California’s Safe at Home confidentiality program entitles litigants to retroactively redact or pseudonymize past federal filings. Judge Birotte’s decision in Smith v. Solomon underscores that federal courts...
Law librarians hosted a tabling event to introduce students to emerging legal AI tools such as Lexis Protégé and Westlaw Deep Research, encountering both enthusiasm and skepticism. They used live demonstrations, clear disclaimers about court and academic rules, and a neutral...
The article advocates a case‑driven, tool‑agnostic approach to mobile and cloud forensics, emphasizing that no single platform can address every device type, operating‑system version, or legal requirement. It outlines how forensic tool selection should be based on device characteristics, data...
The SEC charged Archer‑Daniels‑Midland (ADM) and three former executives with accounting and disclosure fraud, culminating in a landmark 2026 enforcement action. ADM was found to have materially overstated its nutrition segment by recording intersegment transactions on non‑market terms, inflating profitability....
A former Home Depot sales associate in Philadelphia has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the retailer of retaliating for his request for intermittent FMLA leave and of race discrimination. The complaint alleges that a store manager referenced the employee’s epilepsy...
Former Red Bull sales manager Jywaun Williams filed a federal lawsuit on Feb. 15, alleging he was fired because of his race and for reporting racial bias. Williams claims his supervisor repeatedly used the term “boy,” treated him differently from...
Long‑time Burlington associate Ana Teixeira, 59, was fired after a 50‑cent purchase triggered a newly revised discount rule. The retailer had altered its associate discount policy five weeks earlier, barring purchases of 25‑cent final markdown items, but failed to notify...
Voting has closed and fifteen legal‑tech startups were selected as finalists for the 2026 Startup Alley at ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago. The finalists will compete in an opening‑night pitch, with the winner receiving a marketing prize package, while all receive...
The South African legal market is shifting from traditional lockstep firms to a gig‑economy model, propelled by AI agents and alternative legal service providers. Lawyers are moving to merit‑based pay and using platforms like Umbiie.com to serve international clients, while...
In L.S. v. Bolduan, the Western District of Washington applied the “legal control” test and held that defense counsel’s possession of State‑court documents did not automatically give the federal defendants possession, custody, or control of those records. The court emphasized...
A7A5, a Kyrgyzstan‑incorporated ruble‑pegged stablecoin, added roughly $90 billion to its circulating supply last year, outpacing USDT and USDC. The issuer’s affiliates and reserve‑bank partner are listed on the U.S. sanctions list, yet the firm claims full KYC/AML compliance and positions...
KLM has stopped providing a timeline for fully restoring its Dubai and Tel Aviv services, continuing to operate only a reduced schedule that favors morning flights while cancelling most afternoon and evening rotations. The airline resumed full operations to Saudi...
The Southern District of New York dismissed a copyright infringement claim against Twitter user Perry after finding his tweet‑embedded screenshot qualified as fair use. Perry’s tweet juxtaposed a Forbes 30 Under 30 profile with a still from a pornographic video...
A broadcast group based in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, led by Bill Curtis (legal name William C. Gleich) and Tim Sabean, has operated 11 radio stations acquired from Northern Star Broadcasting for more than 15 years. The duo now confronts...
EU Digital Services Act (DSA) enforcer Prabhat Agarwal urged regulators and civil‑society groups not to be intimidated by recent U.S. actions that exposed their identities and barred some from entering the United States. He highlighted the Commission’s commitment to protect...
The D.C. Circuit upheld FERC’s 2024 decision allowing PJM to exclude energy‑efficiency resources from future capacity auctions, finding the rule forward‑looking rather than retroactive. A dissent warned that the change undermines reliance interests for providers like Affirmed Energy. In a...
The EU Council approved new customs rules that will end the duty‑free exemption for parcels up to €150, imposing a flat €3 charge per item category starting July 1. Last year, 5.8 billion low‑cost e‑commerce parcels entered the bloc, a 26 % rise...
The UK government plans to embed Henry VIII powers in the Children Wellbeing and Schools Bill, enabling a rapid ban on social media for under‑16s via statutory instrument. Simultaneously, it will broaden mandatory age‑verification for social media, VPNs and AI chatbots,...
The UK Parliament’s Women & Equalities Committee is pressing the government to extend the Employment Rights Act’s ban on non‑disclosure agreements (NDAs) to freelancers in the music sector. While the Act now voids NDAs that silence employees reporting harassment, it...
South African law firms face steep financial and reputational losses from IT downtime, with a single hour costing an average R360,000 for a 20‑person practice and up to R6.5 million for larger firms. The article distinguishes disaster recovery (DR) from simple...
The Federal Communications Commission will discuss a Media Bureau proposal at its February open meeting to create new non‑commercial FM translator authorizations. Translators rebroadcast existing stations, extending coverage into underserved areas. The agenda item targets both religious and secular non‑commercial...
Law schools with leading environmental law programs, notably Columbia’s Sabin Center and NYU’s climate fellowship, are facing a coordinated assault by right‑wing state attorneys general. The campaign includes congressional demands for investigations of senior staff, House Oversight probes, and aggressive...
The Dutch House approved a Box 3 overhaul that will tax the annual change in value of liquid assets such as Bitcoin at a flat 36 % rate, effective Jan 1 2028 pending Senate approval. The regime treats crypto like a marked‑to‑market security, meaning...
The latest EDRM weekly letter highlights two pivotal court rulings: client‑self‑help AI documents were deemed non‑privileged and AI hallucinations prompted Rule 11 sanctions. It also promotes the ComplexDiscovery Winter 2026 eDiscovery Pricing Survey, which benchmarks AI‑driven pricing models. Upcoming webinars and podcasts...
Here is what Democracy Docket is tracking for you: Active Voting Rights Cases: 165 Active Redistricting Cases: 49 Active Anti-Voting Cases: 89 Active Pro-Voting Cases: 72 Active DOJ Lawsuits: 24 Stay informed. Subscribe today. https://bit.ly/4r9A45t
The Supreme Court will hear Sripetch v. SEC in April, a case that challenges whether the SEC must demonstrate actual pecuniary loss to obtain disgorgement orders. The dispute revisits the agency’s expanding use of equitable relief, which has evolved from...
On Jan 2026 the FDA issued updated guidance that relaxes oversight for low‑risk digital health products, including many AI‑enabled clinical decision support tools and consumer wellness wearables. The guidance clarifies which software falls outside the medical device definition, allowing these tools...
JURIST, the student‑run international legal news service, launched a 30th‑anniversary webinar series in February 2026. The inaugural session features Robert McCorquodale, a member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and will be streamed on February 18 at noon...
What it looks like and what’s on the roadmap: 1) E-Sign integration (right now it just sends a copy to the client via email); 2) Check in/Check out functionality (you edit in platform, but would prefer sometimes to edit outside and...
Appellate Practice and Procedure Class (@MercerLAWSchool) No. 5 (Spring 2026), featuring Judge @TrippSelf (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, and @AppealsCourtGA alum). https://t.co/hs80xkZ0nR
David Fontana’s new article examines the entrenched concentration of senior federal officials in the Washington metropolitan area and how administrative law both empowers and restricts officials located elsewhere. He outlines the historical legitimacy challenges of a centralized bureaucracy and evaluates...
Disney sent a cease-and-desist to #Seedance over AI clips of Brad Pitt vs Tom Cruise. They are treating this as a copyright problem. It is not. Gaming's modding economics are coming to video—and half-measures will not stop it. https://t.co/OyzvSOwB7d https://t.co/fgCZBrnrNV
Antitrust filing by Penske Media Corporation claims Google is cannibalizing search traffic of sites repackaged into AI search answers. https://t.co/sHZrDZGsuS via @martinibuster, @sejournal
A Citi Institute report warns that a quantum‑enabled cyberattack on a top U.S. bank could jeopardize $2‑3.3 trillion of GDP, turning quantum computing from theory into an operational emergency. The article highlights the “harvest now, decrypt later” (HNDL) threat, where adversaries...
In December 2025, Mexican businessman Ramon Alexandro Rovirosa Martinez was found guilty in a U.S. bribery trial that featured no fact witnesses. The defense argues the government introduced inadmissible text messages and translations without proper certification, violating the Confrontation Clause....
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched an investigation into a potential fraud at the recently collapsed PM Law, where client money is reported missing. The firm’s complex group structure has delayed quantifying the loss, while 80 affected clients have...
Booking.com has removed two Hilton properties in the Frankfurt region from its platform, cancelling several hundred existing reservations. The hotels – Hilton Frankfurt City Centre and Hilton Frankfurt Gravenbruch – are owned by the Mashali family, linked to Iranian banker...
For community banks to have a fighting chance, we must have regulator support of innovation. Even the smallest steps of progress are scrutinized as “novel”. VC Bowman’s efforts should help, but adoption of her new norm must be faster than...
Regulated enterprises, especially financial institutions, are shifting focus from merely adopting AI to proving that AI data pipelines are secure and well‑governed. New regulations such as the EU AI Act demand detailed disclosures of training data sources, processing methods, and...
The episode examines a recent judicial reprimand of attorney Michael Policchio for filing briefs with fabricated, AI‑hallucinated citations, highlighting a broader pattern of similar errors in other cases. Judge Mark Dinsmore emphasizes that while technology can aid legal work, attorneys...
ESMA’s MiFIR reporting page shows the test environment for schema v1.4.0 will open in February 2026, but exact dates remain unconfirmed. The new XML schema removes the separate FITRS quantitative reporting channel, shifting equity transparency calculations to transaction reporting data...
An Israeli civilian and an IDF reservist were indicted for allegedly exploiting classified military intelligence to place bets on the prediction‑market platform Polymarket. Authorities say the suspects used insider knowledge of operation timing to profit, prompting a joint Shin Bet, Defense...
