Today's Legal Pulse
UK pushes commonhold reform to boost housing supply
The Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill proposes abolishing leasehold and mandating new homes be sold as commonhold, tying the change to a target of delivering 1.5 million homes annually—the highest since 1968. The model remains untested, with fewer than 25 developments and unresolved issues around dispute resolution.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader clear final merger hurdles
The Financial Stress a Simple Document Could Have Prevented
A will alone does not shield an estate from probate, which can lock assets for more than a year and generate hefty attorney fees. The article illustrates how a revocable living trust could have let a daughter access her father's home and accounts within weeks, avoiding $15,000‑$20,000 in probate costs. Preparing a trust, will, and related documents typically costs $2,500‑$4,000, far less than the fees incurred during probate. Affordable online services now let families set up a trust for as little as $99, dramatically reducing financial stress after a loved one’s death.
LLCs Protect Only When Properly Structured and Maintained
Most wealthy families think forming an LLC automatically protects them. It doesn’t. I regularly see successful investors and business owners unknowingly expose personal assets because their LLC structure was never properly maintained, coordinated, or designed strategically. An LLC can be one of the...
Spanish Court Rejects LaLiga Fine, Upholds VPN Blocking Order Against NordVPN
The Commercial Court of Córdoba dismissed LaLiga's bid to impose coercive fines on NordVPN, upholding a February injunction that obliges the VPN to block IP addresses used for illegal LaLiga streams. The ruling hinges on technical evidence that blanket IP...
Supreme Court Leaves False Claims Act Qui Tam Structure Intact in Eli Lilly Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Eli Lilly’s constitutional challenge to the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision, leaving the whistleblower enforcement tool untouched. The case stems from a whistleblower lawsuit alleging Medicaid drug‑rebate reporting misconduct. By denying review, the Court...
District Courts Weigh in on Shareholder Proposal Exclusions
Three federal district courts issued the first Rule 14a‑8 rulings of the 2026 proxy season, denying preliminary injunctions in two cases and granting relief in a third subject to a $20,000 bond. All three decisions centered on the “ordinary business” exclusion...
Athens Delivery Vehicle Accident Attorney: Legal Help After a Serious Delivery Truck Crash
A surge in e‑commerce deliveries has flooded Athens streets with vans and trucks, raising the frequency of serious collisions. Drivers, pressured by tight schedules, often resort to speeding, multitasking with GPS, or driving while fatigued, creating hazardous conditions for pedestrians...
Ex-Binance Lawyer Launches AI‑Powered Boutique Firm for Crypto Clients
Teresa Goody Guillén, former head of Baker & Hostetler’s crypto practice and counsel to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, has founded Bellementis, a boutique law firm that will use a proprietary AI platform to serve crypto‑focused clients. The move signals a...
Trump's $1.8 B “Anti‑Weaponization” Fund Sparks Congressional and Legal Firestorm
The Trump administration unveiled a $1.8 billion “anti‑weaponization” fund to compensate people claiming political persecution. Senate Republicans and Democrats have condemned it as a slush fund, while DOJ officials and legal scholars call the structure unusual and potentially unlawful.
Uber Faces Legal Battles and Robotaxi Competition, Sparking Leadership Scrutiny
Uber is locked in a dual fight: a clash with California trial lawyers over two competing ballot measures and a wave of sexual‑assault lawsuits, while robotaxi rivals Waymo and Tesla accelerate. The legal skirmishes and competitive pressure are prompting analysts...
Richard Desmond’s £55M Lottery Lawsuit Disaster Sends Shock Through Corporate Britain
Richard Desmond’s media group Northern & Shell lost a High Court challenge to the UK National Lottery licence, prompting a judge to label its tactics “highly unreasonable.” The ruling forces the company to cover indemnity‑based legal fees that could exceed...
A Nationwide Ban on Noncompete Clauses
The Federal Trade Commission’s 2024 rule that would have banned most non‑compete agreements was struck down by a Texas federal court, which found the agency lacked authority. The FTC later abandoned its appeal in September 2025, meaning the nationwide ban...
Navigating the Global Maze: AML Challenges in Multinational Corporations
Multinational corporations (MNCs) must navigate a patchwork of anti‑money‑laundering (AML) regulations across dozens of jurisdictions, each with distinct reporting and enforcement rules. The complexity of cross‑border transaction monitoring, fragmented data systems, and evolving financial‑crime tactics forces MNCs to invest heavily...
Biding Time: SCOTUS Denies Cert in Lilly, but the Constitutional Threat to FCA Relators May Only Be Getting Closer
The Supreme Court denied Eli Lilly's petition for certiorari on May 18, 2026, leaving an approximately $220 million False Claims Act judgment untouched. The case stems from a qui tam action alleging underpayment of Medicaid rebates, while a parallel constitutional challenge—whether relators are unconstitutionally...
UK Jurisdiction Taskforce Publishes Report on Control of Digital Assets
The UK Jurisdiction Taskforce’s Control Panel released a non‑binding Report outlining how factual control over digital assets is established under English law. Chaired by Lord Justice Zacaroli, the guidance translates the Law Commission’s “third‑category” property concept into practical terms for...
The Role of Attorney Review in Connecticut Residential Real Estate Transactions
In Connecticut, residential real‑estate transactions customarily involve a licensed attorney from contract signing through closing. The attorney review period allows the lawyer to scrutinize purchase agreements for ambiguous or one‑sided clauses, financing contingencies, inspection terms, and title defects. Attorneys also...
Irreconcilable Differences: Analyzing the Split in the First and Second Circuit Courts of Appeals’ Decisions on National Bank Act Preemption...
On May 5, 2026 the Second Circuit ruled that the National Bank Act preempts New York’s interest‑on‑escrow law, reversing the Supreme Court’s guidance in Cantero II and joining its 2022 decision. The ruling creates a circuit split with the First and Ninth Circuits, which...
Harvey Teams with DeepJudge to Fuse AI Reasoning with Firm Knowledge
Harvey has joined forces with DeepJudge to integrate its legal AI platform with DeepJudge's institutional knowledge system, creating a unified workflow that surfaces a firm’s own historical documents during AI‑assisted research, drafting and decision‑making. The partnership targets the long‑standing problem...
California Bar Launches First Privacy Law Specialization in Over Two Decades
The State Bar of California has approved a privacy‑law specialization certification, the first new legal specialty the bar has added in more than 20 years. The move makes California only the second state, after North Carolina, to offer a formal...
Two Senior Litigation Partners Exit Paul Weiss Amid Ongoing Talent Drain
Andrew Ehrlich and Roberto Gonzalez, senior litigation partners at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, are leaving the firm this month, underscoring a persistent talent outflow that began after the firm’s 2025 Trump deal. Ehrlich is exploring nonprofit or public‑sector...
OpenAI Adds Dozen Elite Law Firms as It Preps for IPO and Fights High‑Stakes Lawsuits
OpenAI has enlisted more than a dozen of the United States' largest law firms, including Wachtell Lipton, Morrison & Foerster and Latham & Watkins, to handle a wave of high‑stakes litigation and upcoming corporate transactions. The move follows a federal jury’s verdict that dismissed Elon...
Quinn Emanuel Hit with $3 Million Fine and Firm‑Wide Ethics Training After Misconduct Ruling
A Northern California federal judge imposed a $3 million penalty and required firm‑wide ethics training on litigation boutique Quinn Emanuel after finding its attorneys violated professional conduct rules. The sanction, described as “unusual,” underscores growing scrutiny of big‑law ethics compliance.
OCC Blocks Illinois Swipe‑Fee Cap, Extending Federal Preemption to All States
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued an interim final order that preempts Illinois' Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, shielding national banks and federal savings associations from a state‑level cap on swipe fees. The move, effective immediately, preserves a...
DOJ Launches $1 B+ Iran Sanctions Probe Into Binance Amid Ongoing Oversight
The U.S. Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into Binance, alleging that more than $1 billion in transactions were used to evade Iran sanctions. The probe pits federal prosecutors against a crypto exchange still under a $4.3 billion AML settlement and...
Don't Poke the Beaver: Inside Buc-Ee's Fight to Protect Its Iconic Logo
Buc‑ee’s has filed federal trademark infringement lawsuits against two regional convenience‑store chains—Mickey’s in Ohio and Teddy’s in Georgia—claiming their animal mascots are confusingly similar to its iconic beaver logo. The complaints allege that the moose and koala designs, color schemes,...
Texas AG Claims Discord Serves as ‘Hunting Ground’ for Child Predators
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Discord, alleging the platform’s private servers and volunteer‑run moderation create a “hunting ground” for child predators. The complaint cites a Hearst Television analysis that links hundreds of criminal cases, nearly half involving child exploitation,...
Supreme Court Expands Multi‑Employer Pension Withdrawal Liability, Raising Employer Bills to $6.2 M
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 21, 2026 that multi‑employer pension plans may apply actuarial assumptions adopted after the measurement date to calculate withdrawal liability. The decision turned a $1.8 million bill for M&K Employee Solutions into $6.2 million and resolves...
Paramount Assembles Legal Team to Defend Warner Bros. Deal
Paramount Pictures has added antitrust litigator Jeffrey Kessler to its legal roster to defend the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio expects no enforcement action from the Justice Department or foreign regulators, but Kessler will lead the defense...
20 Women Sue SF Sheriff’s Office Over Alleged Mass Strip Search
Twenty women incarcerated at San Francisco's County Jail filed a class‑action lawsuit alleging a coordinated mass strip search in May 2025 that violated their First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The complaint says sheriff’s deputies, including male officers, conducted the...
Floyd Mayweather Hits Jona Rechnitz with Fraud Lawsuit, Alleges Diversion of $175M
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has filed a New York state lawsuit against former friend and investment manager Jona Rechnitz, alleging a multi‑year scheme that diverted roughly $175 million of cash, jewelry and real‑estate proceeds. The complaint claims Rechnix misrepresented Mayweather’s stake in a...
DOJ Targets Sue Trump over Anti-Weaponization ‘Slush Fund’
The Justice Department has created a $1.8 billion “Anti‑Weaponization Fund” to compensate individuals who claim they were targeted by federal “weaponization” and law‑fare, a program that stems from a settlement with former President Donald Trump over leaked tax records. A coalition...
Professor's #TheyLied Defamation Case Against National Academy of Sciences (Related to Sexual Harassment Allegations) Can Go Forward
The D.C. Circuit Court ruled that archaeology professor Luis Jaime Castillo Butters can move forward with defamation and false‑light claims against the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and its president, Marcia McNutt, over the academy’s 2021 rescission of his membership. The...
Amazon Defeats Whistleblower Appeal Claiming It Aided Foreign Fur Manufacturers in Evading U.S. Tariffs
The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging Amazon facilitated foreign fur manufacturers in evading import tariffs between 2007 and 2024. The court found no proof that Amazon knowingly ignored undervalued shipments or deliberately helped manufacturers...
Mahmoud Khalil to Appeal to Supreme Court in Effort to Halt Deportation
Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate and legal permanent resident, is expected to petition the U.S. Supreme Court after the Third Circuit Court of Appeals refused to revisit a jurisdictional ruling that could clear the way for his deportation. The lower...
Settlement Turns Price Dispute Into Misconduct Probe
My (free) piece about today's settlement Key thing to know: This suit may technically have been about whether Activision was sold for the best price, but it became more and more about litigating the 2021 misconduct allegations against Activision Blizzard https://www.gamefile.news/p/microsoft-250-million-settlement-ap7-bobby-kotick
RI Judge Schedules May 26 Hearing on Kalshi Injunction
Rhode Island federal judge Mary S. McElroy will hold a hearing in chambers on Tuesday May 26th at 2:00 pm in connection with Kalshi’s motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction vs. @AGNeronha.
Judge Tosses Kilmar Abrego Garcia Charges, Calls Trump Administration Prosecution 'Vindictive'
Federal Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Tennessee dismissed the human‑smuggling charges against Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, calling the Trump administration’s Justice Department prosecution vindictive. The court found the case was reopened after Garcia sued over a mistaken deportation to El Salvador,...
IManage Launches AI‑Ready Knowledge Platform at ConnectLive 2026
iManage announced its next‑generation AI‑ready knowledge‑work platform at ConnectLive 2026, highlighting AI‑specific controls, a new context fabric, and a surge to 78% cloud adoption across its global base. The rollout follows a year that added 90 new customer logos and...
Legal Fight Could Delay a Proposed $7B Settlement for Lawsuits in Roundup Cancer Claims
Bayer's proposed $7.25 billion settlement to resolve thousands of Roundup cancer lawsuits is under threat after a plaintiff attorney filed a motion to move the case to federal court. The shift could disrupt the June 4 opt‑out deadline and delay the July 9...
Payday For General Counsel Is Impressive
BarkerGilmore’s 2026 In‑House Counsel Compensation Report shows that the median total compensation for General Counsel at large public companies is roughly $2.5 million, including salary, bonus, equity and benefits. The report highlights a steep compensation curve, with the top quartile earning...
New York’s Scaffold Law Is Breaking the System It Was Meant to Protect
The New York Scaffold Law, enacted in 1885, imposes absolute liability on owners and contractors for any gravity‑related injury, regardless of fault. This unique liability regime has driven insurance premiums sky‑high, forced carriers out of the market, and caused contractors to...
Water Fluoridation Opponents Suffer Court Setback
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated and remanded a district judge’s ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) improperly denied a petition by anti‑fluoridation groups seeking to ban water fluoridation. The appellate court agreed the lower judge...
Supreme Court Shuts the Door on Optimize Wealth Management Appeal Bid
On May 14, 2026 the Supreme Court of Canada denied International Capital Management’s application for leave to appeal a 2025 Ontario Court of Appeal decision involving Optimize Wealth Management, ordering the applicants to pay costs. The dismissal means the Ontario...
Texas Supreme Court Rejects the “Gist” Doctrine and Clarifies When Parties May File Texas Lawsuits Regarding Out-of-State Property Interests
The Texas Supreme Court in Braxton Minerals III, LLC v. Bauer rejected the long‑standing “gist” doctrine, allowing Texas courts to exercise jurisdiction over in‑personam suits that involve out‑of‑state real‑estate or mineral‑rights disputes. The Court reaffirmed the distinction between in‑personam actions,...
Dutch Court Backs DigiD Contract Renewal Amid U.S. CLOUD Act Fears
A Dutch preliminary relief court ruled that the government can extend its contract with Solvinity, the infrastructure provider for the national DigiD identity platform, even though the firm is slated for acquisition by U.S.-based Kyndryl. The decision, issued on May 6,...
Aer Lingus Executive Takes ‘Exception’ to Sacked Pilot’s Claim of ‘Falsifying’ Safety Report
Aer Lingus chief operating officer Adrian Dunne testified before a Workplace Relations Commission tribunal, rejecting a former A320 captain's claim that senior managers falsified an air‑safety report after he reported toxic fumes on a June 2023 ferry flight. The pilot, Tom O’Riordan,...
What’s Trending in Trademarks: May 2026
May’s trademark roundup highlights a shift toward proactive brand defense. The TTAB’s Everwise Credit Union ruling rejects token use and demands genuine marketplace presence before a statement of use is accepted. Taylor Swift’s new sound‑ and image‑mark filings illustrate how trademark...
Wrong Is Not Weak: The Federal Circuit Reins In Fee Shifting After IPR
The Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s award of attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285 and sanctions under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 in mCom IP, LLC v. City National Bank of Florida. The court held that merely pursuing claims that survived an inter‑partes review does...
Brand Protection Online: Enforcement Options for Domain Name Takedowns
Trademark owners facing unauthorized use of their marks in domain names have a tiered toolbox: they can request suspension from registrars or hosts, negotiate directly with the registrant, pursue fast arbitration under UDRP or CDRP, or, if needed, file court...
First Circuit Revives Political Discrimination Case After Lower Court Overreach
On May 21, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed a district‑court summary‑judgment that had dismissed Jensen Arocho‑Rodríguez’s § 1983 lawsuit alleging constructive discharge based on political affiliation. The appellate court held that the lower court improperly...
Fired City Manager Loses Bid to Void Binding Email Settlement
The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that former East Point city manager Deron King is bound by a settlement accepted via email, despite no signed document. The parties had negotiated six core terms, and King's lawyer’s brief acceptance email was...