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
Private equity is now pouring patient capital into law firms, shifting the focus from annual cash distribution to long‑term growth. Speakers at the Law Firm Growth Summit highlighted that fragmented, under‑invested legal markets in the UK, US and beyond are attracting banks, venture capital, family offices and sovereign wealth funds. The new investment horizon promises stronger balance sheets, technology upgrades and M&A capability, while firms that offer equity participation to lawyers gain a decisive talent edge. Leaders must reassess strategic purpose and understand their enterprise value in this evolving landscape.
Sarah Rapson, chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, outlined a four‑point agenda to reverse the regulator’s recent performance slump. The plan focuses on operational excellence, stronger collaboration, proactive risk identification, and tackling high‑volume consumer claims. Key initiatives include expanding...
The Administrative Justice Council (AJC) recommends integrating artificial intelligence into the HM Courts and Tribunal Service as the next phase of its £1.3 bn reform programme. AI tools—from rule‑based case triage to predictive scheduling and decision‑support chatbots—are proposed to streamline workloads,...
The Financial Conduct Authority is tightening anti‑money‑laundering oversight for law firms, demanding real‑time risk monitoring and integrated, up‑to‑date data. Recent FCA enforcement shows 68% of AML fines involved data shortcomings, totalling more than £430 m in penalties. Static, rule‑based controls are...
The Wall Street Journal editorial criticized FCC Chair Brendan Carr for abandoning his earlier TikTok security warnings after a Trump‑era deal allowed the app to stay operational. The piece highlights that TikTok’s new joint venture still relies on ByteDance’s algorithm,...
Nobody told me how much anxiety would leave me once we got our estate plan in order and our wills signed. This might be a temporary feeling, but I’ll take it! Knowing things are in order in the event of...
I posted on TikTok about the Heppner case and how Attorney-Client privilege doesn’t extend to what the client does, on their own, with ChatGPT or Claude (per ruling in case)…AND
The U.S. Department of State’s April 2026 Visa Bulletin shows notable forward movement across most employment‑based categories. For the Dates for Filing chart, USCIS will continue to accept adjustment‑of‑status applications, with EB‑1, EB‑2 and EB‑3 remaining current for all countries except...
Sorry that my overview of Bill C-22 (Lawful Access Act, 2026) was 40+ minutes long. The second half, starting here, is what I think Canadians should understand. The open internet should not be deputized to collect more information for cops...
Private lending faces heightened scrutiny as economic uncertainty fuels investor withdrawals and valuation disputes. Recent federal indictments under the Continuing Financial Crimes Enterprise statute target senior executives for multi‑billion‑dollar fraud schemes, while the SEC has settled civil actions over inadequate...
U.S. Education Department Under Secretary Nicholas Kent sent letters to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, ordering them to formally eliminate any remaining diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) standards. The...
The author announced the resolution of a July 5, 2025 incident involving projected laser equipment, agreeing to a $100 civil fine and $30 in court costs while having the property returned and no criminal record. Attorney Mark Goldstone represented the author, and...
The author walked through a real janitorial services solicitation for a public library in Petersburg, Alaska, noting its unusually minimal requirements—no formal format, forms, or structured documents. To address the uncertainty such solicitations create, they developed an RFP Response Framework...
Excited to be quoted in this Fast Company article on AI & digital resurrection. The legal problem isn’t just the tech—it’s that existing contracts & doctrines weren’t built for a world where identity can be replicated indefinitely https://www.fastcompany.com/91500169/ai-digital-resurrection-actors-deepfakes?fbclid=IwZnRzaAQn_6xmZGlkFlAytLRTttuVO_GJmkr_NRhIV3ISA_BleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeSLbMV2HLT9ucc9r7IyaXGVaZRNfHz0Wz9kOuJzYPyeSoxipZubKs8W10uik_aem_xM7kmfiU0B8c07sWBR03rg
A Rockefeller Institute policy brief finds that most civil money penalties (CMPs) imposed on nursing homes in 2023 were modest, averaging under 0.5% of net patient revenue despite a total $204 million in fines. The analysis of 3,745 facilities shows that...
A termination for convenience allows the government to end a contract without contractor fault, often due to funding or policy changes. Contractors must halt work, notify subcontractors, and begin compiling cost documentation for a settlement. The FAR outlines specific clauses...
Netflix’s 2026 documentary *The Plastic Detox* spotlights microplastic exposure and potential health risks, especially in cosmetics and personal‑care products. The film is expected to amplify consumer and legislative scrutiny, adding pressure to an already fragmented U.S. regulatory regime that includes...
The European Parliament voted 101‑9 to simplify the AI Act and ban AI "nudifier" systems after xAI's Grok chatbot generated sexualized images of real people, including children. Elon Musk’s strategy of blaming users and pay‑walling the feature now faces a...
They clearly didn’t read the same report I did The report said the government now has no preference, having prior had the preference of a copyright exception with opt-out That could just as well mean we see a copyright exception with no...
Not only will Dalilah's law permanently eliminate non-domiciled CDLs, it will also restrict foreign dispatchers and freight brokers https://t.co/zQYNP3Ja4g
The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) member Cathy Harris was removed by President Trump before her term ended, prompting her attorneys to petition the Supreme Court. The appeal argues that MSPB’s removal protections differ from those examined in *Trump v....
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) released a report summarising stakeholder input on pseudonymisation and anonymisation after a CJEU ruling clarified the limits of pseudonymised data. Participants—including corporations, NGOs, academics and law firms—highlighted the difficulty of distinguishing when data moves...
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced new insurance flexibilities for single‑family condominiums and rural mortgages, allowing actual‑cost‑value (ACV) coverage for roofs while keeping replacement‑cost standards for the rest of the property. The rule also streamlines the maximum per‑unit deductible,...
Bitcoin Depot, the world’s largest crypto‑ATM operator, had its Connecticut money‑transmission license suspended after regulators identified compliance breaches. The state found more than 1,000 instances where fees exceeded the legal 15% cap, resulting in roughly $150,000 in excess charges. Additionally,...
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Alfonso Wilson, a dual‑citizen executive, with orchestrating a $540 million bribery scheme to obtain a December 2021 equipment contract with Mexico’s state oil firm PEMEX. Wilson, CEO of Oil Technologies Consortium, allegedly funneled millions to...
The NYC Department of Buildings completed a 2025 sweep of 705 construction sites, finding violations at 14% and issuing 50 stop‑work orders. Fatalities rose to ten last year, while reported injuries dropped 33% to 320, the lowest in a decade....
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that directors and officers of European Economic Area foreign private issuers will be exempt from Section 16(a) reporting under the 1934 Exchange Act. The exemption eliminates the need for these insiders to file Form 4,...
A California family has filed a lawsuit against Heavenly Mountain Resort, alleging that a server handed their five‑year‑old daughter a lidless hot chocolate that scalded her chest and abdomen. The Burns family claims the beverage was "excessively and unnecessarily hot,"...
Former Transamerica Regional Vice President Chad Butler filed a federal lawsuit alleging the insurer retaliated after he disclosed depression and suicidal thoughts. He claims his new supervisor imposed unprecedented in‑person meeting quotas and sales targets not applied to peers, then...
The Senate Commerce Committee held a heated hearing on Section 230, the internet liability shield that turned 30, as Democrats and Republicans introduced a bill to sunset the law entirely. Lawmakers highlighted a surge of product‑liability lawsuits, such as the...
A Black Sam's Club cashier in Tuscaloosa alleges she faced religious‑based harassment and discrimination after coworkers mocked her Holiness Christian faith. She says supervisors laughed when she reported the behavior and the company failed to investigate. After a year of...
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a performance improvement plan (PIP) does not automatically constitute age discrimination under the Supreme Court’s relaxed bias test from Muldrow v. City of St. Louis. In Walsh v. HNTB, the plaintiff, a...
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s summary judgment for the City of Tulsa, ending a senior Chinese engineer’s age and race discrimination lawsuit. The engineer claimed the city bypassed him for a superintendent role in...
Microsoft is weighing a lawsuit against Amazon and OpenAI over a $50 billion deal that would run OpenAI's Frontier platform on AWS. Microsoft argues the agreement violates its exclusive Azure cloud contract signed with OpenAI last month, which it says limits...
The Federal Circuit’s recent en banc decisions in Willis Elec. Co. v. Polygroup Ltd. and Exafer Ltd. v. Microsoft Corp. refine the Daubert gatekeeping framework established in EcoFactor. Willis holds that a district court must evaluate an expert’s reliability using...
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced the termination of enforcement actions against four community banks—Heritage Bank, 1st National Bank, Slovenian S&LA, and Touchmark National Bank. Each institution had been subject to consent orders or formal agreements addressing...
The Federal Circuit vacated the PTAB’s earlier decision granting priority to the Broad Institute, Harvard and MIT in Interference No. 106,115 and remanded the case for further proceedings. The PTAB responded by swapping panel members, appointing Administrative Patent Judges Rachel H....
"We will also fully digitalise insolvency procedures and introduce a fast-track insolvency process for startups." You couldn't make it up....
OpenAI appeared before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to contest allegations that it removed or altered copyrighted information in its AI outputs. The court focused on whether media organizations have standing to sue under the Digital...
The UK Departments for Science, Innovation and Technology and Culture, Media and Sport have released the long‑awaited Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, mandated by section 136 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. The report signals a hands‑off approach: no...
Rwanda has filed a claim at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague seeking more than £100 million it says the United Kingdom still owes under the collapsed migrant‑transfer agreement. The dispute also includes a £6 million compensation demand and a...
The CPA Journal highlights three pivotal SALT updates: California’s Climate‑Related Financial Risk Act (SB 261) now obliges businesses with over $500 million in revenue to file biennial climate risk reports starting Jan 1 2026, with penalties of $50 k‑$500 k per year; Washington, D.C. passed a...
A new company you've probably never heard of is dominating the No Surprises Act's arbitration process. Behind HaloMD is a larger-than-life Texas couple who built their wealth on questionable arrangements with out-of-network providers. https://t.co/p1jCEZFBaA via @statnews
Littler’s 2026 legislative outlook highlights a surge of state‑level bills affecting employment law, from expanded E‑Verify mandates and new tip‑and‑overtime tax deductions to stricter job‑posting transparency. Lawmakers are also advancing portable benefit accounts for gig workers, curbing TRAP and stay‑or‑pay...
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has introduced an internal dispute resolution data dashboard to enhance its enforcement decision‑making. The tool aggregates complaint volumes, categorises issues and outcomes, tracks resolution speed, and details financial remedies provided by advisory firms....
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 2345, revising the allocation of Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) premiums without altering the total amount. Employers can now fully deduct the employee‑share of the medical‑leave premium, while deductions for the family‑leave premium...
Kansas lawmakers advanced two property‑tax reforms: Senate SCR 1616 would cap assessed‑value growth at 3 percent annually, while House HB 2745 would impose a 3‑percent levy limit with a voter‑protest mechanism and an exemption for school districts. The assessment limit risks creating gaps...
The NIL era has turned NCAA eligibility into an economic right, prompting new litigation. Quarterback Diego Pavia secured a preliminary injunction in federal court by framing the NCAA’s rule counting junior‑college seasons toward the four‑year limit as an antitrust restraint, while...
FINRA reported 431 disciplinary actions in 2025, a 22% drop from 2024, while total fines rose to $75 million, driven largely by a $26 million penalty against Robinhood Securities. The top five fine categories were anti‑money laundering, misleading communications, trade reporting, recordkeeping,...
The House Education and Workforce Committee advanced the ERISA Litigation Reform Act on a 19‑13 party‑line vote, aiming to raise pleading standards for certain employee‑benefit plan lawsuits. The bill targets excessive‑fee claims, employee stock ownership plan suits, and proposes a...
