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.
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By the numbers: Oil majors acquire $164M of Alaska oil leases
The SECURE 2.0 Act removed required minimum distributions (RMDs) from Roth 401(k) accounts, effective 2026. The change gives higher‑income workers greater control over retirement cash flow and forces advisors to revise long‑term income strategies.
Arthur Cox has appointed Jennifer Ward as its first chief technology officer, giving the firm a dedicated executive to drive AI, technology and innovation initiatives. The move signals the Irish firm’s commitment to modernising client services and keeping pace with...
Indonesia has begun enforcing a new regulation that bars anyone under 16 from creating accounts on major social media platforms, affecting roughly 70 million children. The law targets sites such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,...
A bipartisan Safe SPEEDS Act has been introduced to give the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission authority to create national classifications, labeling and age guidelines for electric bikes, e‑motos and similar micromobility devices. The bill would replace the patchwork of state...
European Union officials announced a push to increase deportations, adopting stricter asylum measures similar to those seen in the United States. The move has ignited legal battles across member states and raised questions about the future of European migration law.
Bank of America has agreed to a $72.5 million settlement with victims of Jeffrey Epstein, ending a multi‑year lawsuit that drew intense public and regulator attention. The deal, which was not fully disclosed beyond the total amount, aims to resolve claims...
Compliance teams can pass audits and keep perfect documentation yet remain vulnerable to third‑party breaches. The article argues that without real‑world validation, controls are merely theoretical and provide a false sense of security. It highlights that 68% of organizations experience...
Seyfarth Shaw labor‑and‑employment partner David Baffa urges law firms to fund AI curricula in law schools and launch associate‑level training programs. He argues that current business barriers—budget constraints, legacy systems, and cultural resistance—stifle innovation. By embedding AI skills early, firms...
Meta’s associate general counsel Jen Fryhling highlighted that emerging legal technology, especially AI, is fundamentally reshaping the outsourcing model for law services. She argued that client‑firm relationships will evolve from transactional engagements to strategic partnerships, driven by custom AI tools...
China has adopted a sweeping environmental protection law, replacing ten existing statutes and expanding regulation to microplastics, PFAS, and light pollution. The code aims to shift from reactive penalties toward preventive controls, reinforcing the country’s long‑term "war on pollution" and...
The Jan Vishwas Bill proposes sweeping de‑criminalisation of export offences in textiles, handlooms and related agricultural products. Imprisonment provisions are removed, replacing them with warnings and fines up to Rs 25 lakh (≈$26,000). Handloom compliance violations now face fines between Rs 10,000 and...
The UK‑registered Potanin Foundation, linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin, has initiated legal proceedings against Barclays Bank in the London Circuit Commercial Court. The charity, now overseen by interim manager Guy Hollander of Forvis Mazars, holds investment assets exceeding £60 million (about...
On 30 March 2026 the European Banking Authority published a final report containing draft regulatory technical standards that amend Delegated Regulation EU No 529/2014, which governs the materiality assessment of Internal Ratings‑Based (IRB) model changes. The revisions align the regulation with the recent CRR 3 amendments,...
On 30 March 2026 the Financial Conduct Authority announced a joint taskforce with the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Advertising Standards Authority to curb poor practice in motor‑finance claims. The collaboration will enable regulators to share intelligence and...
Hungary’s Supreme Court (Kúria) rejected a trans‑person’s request to amend the "sex" field in the personal data and address register, arguing the register must mirror the birth‑registry’s biological "sex at birth" entry. The claimant invoked Article 16 GDPR and the CJEU’s...
The Justice Department is on the brink of a deal to share state voter‑roll data with the Department of Homeland Security, sparking privacy concerns. Meanwhile, Mississippi and South Dakota have moved forward with proof‑of‑citizenship registration bills, while Georgia’s Senate approved...
A consortium of music publishers—including Capitol Music Group, Warner‑Tamerlane, BMG Rights Management and Essential Music Publishing—purchased a 25% stake in the song *Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love)* from Robert Resnik and are moving to substitute themselves as defendants in...
Tennessee Senate Bill 1947 aimed to guarantee patients the right to receive autologous or directed blood transfusions ordered by their physicians. The measure cleared the Senate Health Committee and passed the Senate floor 25‑6, but stalled in a later committee...
Florida enacted HB 399, a sweeping state law that limits local zoning authority to accelerate housing production. The measure forces municipalities to tie development fees directly to the cost of project review, adopt objective standards, and prioritize conflict resolution over...
Canada’s Competition Act has been overhauled to give private parties a clearer path to the Competition Tribunal and to lower the evidentiary hurdles for the Commissioner, especially in abuse‑of‑dominance cases. The amendments also introduce tougher penalties, allowing fines of up...
Two South African candidate attorneys were denied admission after serious misconduct. Reza Bhayat had his January 2025 admission rescinded when the Legal Practice Council proved he forged exam results, correspondence and affidavits, prompting judges to refer the case to the National...
The General Services Administration’s draft AI contract clause asserts government ownership of all data, outputs, and derivative value, while prohibiting vendors from reusing that information for model improvement. Anthropic has pushed back, arguing the clause undermines the feedback loops essential...
The forthcoming Georgetown Law Journal article by Harvard and UPenn scholars highlights nonprofits as a growing force in external corporate governance. While traditional analyses focus on shareholders, directors and market intermediaries, the authors argue that nonprofit organizations now shape board...
Texas is rapidly emerging as a premier corporate jurisdiction, highlighted by a wave of redomestications—including ExxonMobil’s March 2026 move—newly launched Texas‑based stock exchanges, and an expanded Business Court. Recent amendments to the Texas Business Organizations Code and SEC guidance easing...
Aderant announced on March 30 that its outside‑counsel guideline platform, Onyx, successfully completed a SOC 2 Type 2 audit. The examination, conducted by Schellman & Company, assessed controls for security, availability, and confidentiality over the period Nov 1 2025 through Jan 31 2026. Achieving Type...
Stuart J. Green warns that relentless efficiency can make compliance governance fragile in today’s discontinuous regulatory landscape. He argues that tightly calibrated controls, while cost‑effective in stable times, lack the capacity to adapt when sanctions, enforcement interpretations, or technology‑driven risks...
Quint Group’s chief legal, risk and compliance officer Sheraz Afzal marks his five‑year anniversary, highlighting the firm’s aggressive AI rollout across legal workflows. He notes that AI now automates routine tasks such as financial‑promotion approvals and answers basic HR and contract...
In Canada, a lawyer who repeatedly advises a client to stop violating court orders faces ethical duties that may compel withdrawal. The Federation of Law Societies’ Model Code prohibits lawyers from assisting dishonest conduct and requires them to report up...
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has ordered mobile network operators to compensate subscribers with airtime credits when service quality falls below prescribed standards. Compensation will be calculated based on users' average spending and the specific locations of outages, and must...
A growing majority of U.S. jurisdictions now enforce "no‑touch" cellphone laws, prohibiting drivers from handling phones even at red lights unless mounted. The Governors Highway Safety Association reports 33 states, D.C., and several territories have such bans, with fines ranging...
On 27 March 2026 the European Commission opened infringement procedures against dozens of EU Member States for not fully transposing three key directives: the European Single Access Point (ESAP) Omnibus Directive, the amended Capital Requirements Directive VI, and the e‑Evidence Directive. Formal letters...
The Internal Revenue Service has begun strict enforcement of the 10‑year withdrawal rule for inherited IRAs, requiring most non‑spouse beneficiaries to fully distribute the account within ten years of the original owner's death. The move compels millions of Americans to...
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William J. Pulte directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to recognize cryptocurrency holdings when underwriting mortgages. The move gives digital‑asset owners a new path to homeownership without liquidating their crypto, but it also raises tax...
Vibrantz Technologies, a paint‑additives maker owned by a private‑equity firm, required its smaller creditors to sign nondisclosure agreements as a condition for participating in a side‑deal restructuring. The tactic, highlighted by Bloomberg, underscores a shift toward more aggressive creditor‑control measures...
U.S. lawmakers have introduced the Critical Minerals Investment Tax Modernization Act, which would lift the depletion allowance for domestically mined rare earth elements and scandium from 14% to 22%. The move is a direct response to Beijing’s April 2025 export...
At a National Judicial Academy conference in Chandigarh, Justice Anoop Chitkara and fellow judges praised AI and blockchain for speeding up case handling, but warned that unchecked ‘robo‑justice’ could erode human oversight. Their remarks signal a major policy shift for...
The U.S. Department of Labor issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would lift prevailing wage percentiles for H‑1B, H‑1B1, E‑3 and PERM visas, potentially raising entry‑level salaries by more than 30%. The change, announced on March 26 and published...
New Jersey lawmakers introduced a bill prohibiting grocery‑delivery platforms from using personal data to set individualized prices, joining at least 11 other states considering similar measures. The effort follows Consumer Reports findings that algorithms can raise prices by as much...
Vedanta Ltd has lodged a petition in India's Supreme Court contesting the Adani Group's Rs 14,535 crore (about $1.9 billion) resolution plan for Jaypee Group assets after the NCLT approved the deal. The dispute highlights intense competition in India's infrastructure sector and could...
RingCentral's chief accounting officer, Tarun Arora, sold 8,840 shares of the company's common stock on March 10, 2026 for an average price of $40.69 per share. The transaction, disclosed in an SEC Form 4 filing, lowered his direct holdings to...
Queensland has introduced a ban on e‑bike riders under 16 and 28 safety reforms after eight youth deaths in the past year. The measures, including a learner’s licence for 16‑17‑year‑olds and a 10 km/h footpath speed limit, aim to curb a...
No verifiable sources were provided to confirm Vietnam's plan to require real‑name registration for all bank accounts starting April 2026, so a factual report cannot be produced.
A U.S. district court ordered Google to share portions of its search index and user‑interaction data with rivals, and the company released a spam update and a core update within 72 hours. The twin shocks are prompting marketers to overhaul...
The Federal Trade Commission released its 2024 annual fraud report, finding that Americans lost $12.5 billion to bank‑account scams—a 25% increase from 2023. The surge underscores growing vulnerabilities in digital banking and puts pressure on fintech companies to upgrade fraud‑prevention tools.
RedotPay, the Hong‑based stablecoin payment fintech, received ISO/IEC 27001 certification from SGS, confirming its information‑security management system meets global standards. The audit highlights robust encryption, data‑access controls and a security‑first culture, positioning the firm for deeper institutional partnerships.
SkyRefund, a legal‑tech startup founded in 2017, builds a data‑driven platform that automates air‑passenger compensation claims across the EU, UK, Canada, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Brazil. By aggregating airline, flight‑status, weather and news data, the company reconstructs the factual picture...
The Competition and Markets Authority opened a Chapter I investigation on 24 June 2025 into suspected anti‑competitive conduct among three waste‑management firms—Bagnall & Morris, Gaskells (North West), and Ash Waste Services. The probe focuses on possible coordination of pricing or market allocation that could raise...
European transaction reporting has moved from deadline compliance to demonstrable data control, as regulators tighten focus on quality, reconciliation and traceability. The EMIR Refit, effective April 2024, raised granularity and validation demands, and by early 2026 regulators are actively enforcing...
The chief magistrate has quashed 74,000 fare‑dodging convictions, putting a spotlight on rail ticket enforcement. Fare evasion costs the UK rail industry about £330 million (≈ $420 million) a year, roughly 3.2% of total revenue. Penalty fares have risen to £50 (≈ $64) or...
Trial attorney Susan Cohodes recounts two recent in‑person court hearings that underscored the tactical advantage of face‑to‑face interaction. She argues that meeting clients and opposing counsel in person improves vetting, rapport, and the ability to negotiate settlements, citing that both...
