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
New York EPR Bill Undergoes ‘Sweeping Amendments’
New York Senate and Assembly leaders introduced roughly 150 amendments to the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, creating a statewide extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for packaging. The revisions align definitions, timelines and PCR standards with other EPR states, shift enforcement to the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Attorney General, and tighten toxic‑substance rules. Under the bill, producers with over $5 million in revenue and more than 2 tons of packaging waste must reduce packaging 10% within three years and 30% within 12 years. The changes have drawn both industry backing and criticism over potential cost impacts for consumers.
Contradiction: Claiming No Legal Request After Receiving One
Oh, so you DID receive a request for legal assistance. Why did you say you didn't?
Accommodating Workers in War Zones
Employers are not legally obligated to repatriate staff stationed in war zones, but common‑law duties of care still apply. Companies risk negligence or personal‑injury claims if an international traveler or expatriate is harmed abroad. Legal experts advise proactive risk‑management—evacuation protocols,...
Compass Datacenters Abandons $10B Virginia Data Center After Community Pushback
Compass Datacenters and its backer Brookfield Asset Management have scrapped the 2,100‑acre Digital Gateway data‑center project in Prince William County, Virginia, citing legal and regulatory hurdles driven by resident opposition. The cancellation halts a plan that would have added roughly...
UK Government Moves to Overhaul Risk‑Transformation Regime and Boost ILS Flexibility
HM Treasury announced that the UK will pass primary and secondary legislation to make its insurance‑linked securities (ILS) regime more flexible, easing funding rules for insurance special purpose vehicles and expanding permissible risk structures. The changes aim to revive the...
Idaho Murder Defense Accuses Former Expert of Breaching Confidentiality
Bryan Kohberger’s defense lawyers publicly accused former forensic expert Brent Turvey of violating a confidentiality agreement after the defendant entered a guilty plea. The dispute, aired through press releases and media interviews, raises questions about expert‑witness obligations in nationally watched...
Farewell, Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that effectively gutted the remaining protections of the Voting Rights Act, allowing states to draw electoral districts with partisan intent under a "race‑neutral" standard. The decision empowers Republican‑controlled legislatures, especially in Southern states...
FCC EEO Rules Clash with Carr's DEI Claims
Good questions from @MontyTayloe digging in on @FCC EEO rules, which seem to contradict @BrendanCarrFCC allegations on DEI. Carr disagrees, but says EEO rules may need rewrite.
1996 Telecom Act Undermines 1970s FCC Public‑Interest Precedent
.@BrendanCarrFCC refers to @FCC's case law re:public interest. But Congress radically changed renewal process in 1996 Telecom Act by adding Sec. 309(k). Highly questionable that cases like *RKO* from the 70s remain good law.
Court Unanimously Sides with Faith-Based Pregnancy Centers in Litigation Dispute with New Jersey
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that faith‑based pregnancy center First Choice Women’s Resource Centers has standing to sue New Jersey over a subpoena demanding donor information. The Court held that the threat of disclosure constitutes an actual injury to...
SCOTUS Narrows Secondary Copyright Liability
On March 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Cox Communications cannot be held contributorily liable for copyright infringement by its subscribers because liability requires proof of intent to facilitate infringement. The Court emphasized that knowledge of infringement and...
EU Draft Shows Diverging Economic Directions in Two New Provisions
So we have new draft EU guidelines. There is lots to dig into. 90 pages. Most of it is housekeeping. But I think there are two provisions that are genuinely new economics, and they point in opposite directions. https://t.co/cpLrLFuCI0
FCC's Unsung Staff Enable New Technology Progress
Sure, Disney (rightly) gets attention. But this is the @FCC doing its job and doing it well. Folks who are hating the agency need to remember that the dedicated staff there do a vital set of jobs that y'all never...
Judge: Wis. DOJ Must Release the Names of Every Certified LEO in the State
A Dane County circuit judge ruled that the Wisconsin Department of Justice must release the names, ages, badge numbers and employment histories of every certified law‑enforcement officer in the state. The decision follows a lawsuit by the Badger Project and...
Proton CEO Andy Yen Warns Age‑verification Laws Could End Online Anonymity
Proton chief Andy Yen cautioned that new age‑verification legislation in the UK, US and EU is "far too broad in scope" and could force ID checks for every internet user, ending anonymity. He warned that the resulting data hoarding would...
Gemini's Olympus Secures CFTC DCO License, Paving Way for In‑House Crypto Derivatives Clearing
Gemini’s affiliate Olympus obtained a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) license from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, allowing the exchange to clear crypto derivatives internally. The approval follows a prior Designated Contract Market designation and comes as the firm battles...
CVs Are Not Struck Out of 401(k) Plans
The U.S. Department of Labor’s March rule proposal flagged contingent‑value securities (CVs) as a fiduciary concern for 401(k) plans, citing valuation and liquidity challenges. However, the guidance does not mandate that CVs be excluded from retirement portfolios. Plan sponsors can...
Elon Musk Testifies, Seeks $134 B in Damages Over OpenAI Non‑profit Breach
Elon Musk took the stand in a federal trial, alleging that OpenAI broke its founding nonprofit promise and demanding $134 billion in damages, the removal of CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman, and a reversal of the for‑profit conversion. Musk...
Minnesota Passes the Nation’s First Ban on ‘Nudification’ Apps
Minnesota’s Senate approved the nation’s first ban on “nudification” apps, a 65‑0 vote that targets AI tools that turn clothed photos into non‑consensual nude images. The measure, already cleared by the House, would let survivors sue app owners and authorize...
Trump's Latest Tariffs in Court: Are They About to Be Blocked?
President Trump imposed temporary balance‑of‑payments (BOP) tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down his earlier IEEPA tariffs. The Court of International Trade heard oral arguments on two injunction requests and signaled that relief is unlikely. The tariffs, set at up...
How Niches Make Your Firm Stronger
Independent accounting firms that adopt a clear niche positioning can secure a stronger long‑term market stance. The article argues that specialization outweighs generic service breadth, despite common objections about lost volume or market size. By naming the client segment they...
FCA Announces that Cryptoasset Firms Can Request Pre-Application Meetings From 11 May 2026 and Publishes New Webpage on Preparing for...
The FCA announced that from 11 May 2026 crypto‑asset firms can request free pre‑application meetings through its Pre‑Application Support Service (PASS), with meetings scheduled from July 2026. The authorisation gateway opens on 30 Sept 2026 and the new crypto‑asset regulatory regime launches on 25 Oct 2027. A...
FTC Commissioner Signals Opposition to United Airlines’ Grand Plans For a Mega Merger After Economy Class Experience
FTC Commissioner Mark Meador publicly criticized United Airlines’ cramped economy seats after a personal flight, signaling he may oppose United’s proposed mega‑merger with American or a potential JetBlue acquisition. His tweet highlights passenger‑space concerns that could trigger a formal FTC...
Judge Says FTC BOTS Act Case Against Reseller Can Proceed
A federal judge ruled that the FTC’s BOTS Act lawsuit against Maryland ticket reseller Key Investment Group can move forward, interpreting the law to cover human‑assisted purchases, not just automated bots. The FTC alleges Key bought 379,776 tickets for about...
Open‑source AI Models Pose New Regulatory Challenges
For better or worse, regulation for closed-source models served by a few (quite large) companies is easy. It is not as easy to imagine how you regulate open-source models that can be served by a range of decentralized players. Suspect...
Do Employees in the Netherlands Have the Right to Determine Their Own Working Hours?
The Dutch Flexible Working Act (Wet flexibel werken) permits employees to request reduced weekly hours or a different distribution of those hours, provided employers respond at least one month before the change. In a recent Zwolle Subdistrict Court case, an...
Definely Launches MCP and Says “Don’t Ask AI to Check Itself”
Definely, a contract‑technology provider serving firms such as A&O Shearman and KPMG, introduced its Model Context Protocol (MCP) on April 30, 2026. The MCP lets lawyers invoke Definely’s structured review tools from enterprise AI platforms, delivering deterministic, auditable analyses of AI‑generated contracts. By...
Colorado Court Hears Case of Man Who Sued Vail Resorts After Signing Two Liability Waivers
A Texas skier sued Vail Resorts after being struck by a snowmobile employee at Breckenridge in 2020, despite having signed two Epic Pass liability waivers—one in 2020 and another in 2022. The Colorado Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether...
Dealing with Active Conflict Within Families With Dan Spector
In this episode, FoxCast host Peter Mustukirsky talks with Dan Spector, a veteran trust and estate litigator turned mediator, about "active conflict" in families—situations where disputes have escalated to formal litigation or the threat of it. Spector explains how active...
Guidance Breakdown: FDA Proposes Pulling Back on Premarket Requirements for NIOSH-Approved Respirators
On April 20, the FDA released draft guidance proposing to deprioritize most pre‑market requirements—registration, listing, 510(k), labeling, MDR, and UDI—for NIOSH‑approved respirators used for medical purposes. The policy would cover surgical N95s, other NIOSH‑approved respirators, and public‑use filtering facepiece respirators, while...
AI Drafts 500‑page Freight Lawsuit, Exposing Shark Attorneys
This AI generated 500 page freight lawsuit is so wild because it names a bunch of companies who have some of the most vicious shark attorneys in the world Good luck to the filer. They have no idea how this all...
FCC Moves Forward With ‘Audible Crawl Rule’ Update
The Federal Communications Commission’s three voting members unanimously approved a Third Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend the longstanding Audible Crawl Rule. The amendment removes a provision that broadcasters, the National Association of Broadcasters and TV station owners have called...
U.S. Supreme Court
Michael de Adder published a stark political cartoon on April 30, 2026, portraying the U.S. Supreme Court as a yellow steamroller poised to crush a Black voter at a polling booth. The image underscores mounting concerns that the Court’s recent...
FCC to Revise Audible Crawl Rule, Protecting Visually Impaired
Reminder for some of my colleagues covering the @FCC meeting today -- the commission votes on lots of items like changes to the "Audible Crawl Rule" which eliminates " a technically unworkable provision while ensuring that people who are...
40 Minutes of Recess Is Now the Law in This State
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill that doubles required elementary recess from 20 to 40 minutes per day for grades K‑5, effective next school year. The legislation also prohibits using recess as a disciplinary tool. The move counters a...
Microsoft Launches Its Own Legal Agent For Word
Microsoft unveiled a dedicated Legal Agent for Word, targeting the legal‑tech market with a tool built by the team that came from Robin AI. The agent follows structured, audit‑ready workflows to generate clause‑by‑clause redlines, cite source language, and enforce internal playbooks...
Is 831(b) Ruling One of the US Captive Industry’s Biggest Wins?
The U.S. District Court in Texas partially struck down IRS regulations governing 831(b) captive insurance elections, marking a notable judicial pushback. While the decision may embolden more businesses to explore 831(b) structures, the IRS retains broad audit authority and has...
YC-Backed Fintech Grey Registers as Payment Service Provider in Canada
Grey, a Y Combinator‑backed fintech, has become a registered payment service provider in Canada under the Retail Payment Activities Act. The registration builds on its Interac integration, allowing users to send Canadian dollars instantly to any Canadian bank account. Grey...
Legal | Three Weeks on From the April Employment Law Changes: The Gap Most UK SMEs Still Haven't Closed
Three weeks after the sweeping April 2026 UK employment law reforms, most small‑and‑medium enterprises (SMEs) are still struggling with the new statutory duty to retain six years of holiday‑record data. While many changes required simple policy tweaks, fragmented holiday records—spread...
HCCH Monthly Update: April 2026
The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) released its April 2026 update, highlighting several key gatherings. The Experts’ Group on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) held its fifth meeting, probing cross‑border legal issues and the feasibility of a future...
FDA Proposes Excluding Novo, Lilly Weight Loss Drugs From Bulk Compounding List in Win for the Companies
The FDA has proposed removing the active ingredients of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide and liraglutide and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide from the bulk‑compounding list used by 503B outsourcing facilities. If the rule is finalized, these high‑demand obesity and diabetes drugs could only be...
US Publishers Back Amazon in AI Agent Access Dispute with Perplexity
Major U.S. digital news publishers have filed an amicus brief supporting Amazon in its lawsuit against AI start‑up Perplexity, which allegedly accessed Amazon’s shopping site and user accounts via its Comet AI agent without permission. A California judge issued a...
New HUD Rule Would Remove Gender From Housing Protections
HUD has proposed a new rule that would replace the terms “gender” and “gender identity” with “sex” in about 50 federal housing regulations. The change follows President Trump’s 2025 executive order that defines sex based on biological characteristics and would...
Phil Favro, HaystackID: Getting Beyond Spreadsheets: Handling Structured Data Productions
The eDiscovery landscape is moving from a document‑centric view to treating electronic‑stored information (ESI) as structured data. Courts are increasingly ordering parties to produce relevant database content, such as relational tables, dashboards, and data‑warehouse extracts, rather than allowing avoidance through...
Hanzo: Why Contextual Search Matters in Modern eDiscovery Workflows
Contextual search is reshaping eDiscovery by connecting emails, chats, documents, and collaboration data rather than relying on isolated keywords. Traditional keyword‑based methods flood review teams with irrelevant hits, extending review cycles and increasing the risk of missed critical information. Hanzo’s...
David Pemberton, Everlaw: Digital Spoliation of Evidence: Risks, Rules, and Prevention
Digital spoliation—loss, alteration, or destruction of electronically stored information after a preservation duty—poses a major risk in modern litigation. Everlaw’s David Pemberton stresses that robust eDiscovery strategies must embed technical safeguards and clear legal‑hold procedures to avoid severe court sanctions....
AMEC Social Action Commission Statement on the Louisiana V. Callais Supreme Court Decision
The AME Church’s Commission on Social Action denounced the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which narrows a key protection of the Voting Rights Act and makes it tougher to contest racially biased district maps. The decision, according to...
Reveal: Legal Tech in the Public Sector: A Story of Transformation and Innovation
The Reveal report highlights how U.S. government legal departments are grappling with exploding electronic data volumes, heightened regulatory oversight, and aging IT infrastructure. A 2023 GAO study notes agencies struggle with records management and litigation readiness as staff mobility rises....
IRS May Tighten Form 990 Reporting for Nonprofits
The IRS is eyeing changes to Form 990—and nonprofits could see more reporting requirements ahead. Focus areas: fiscal sponsorship + government funding. Details are still developing → https://t.co/IyKZzykAJY
Carly Savar: Reliable by Design: What In-House Counsel Really Need From Legal Tech Partners
Carly Savar’s article argues that modern in‑house counsel must treat legal‑tech partners as extensions of their service team, not just vendors. The shift from a back‑office risk filter to a front‑line business ally demands rapid, reliable contract reviews and other...