Legal Blogs and Articles
Legal Blogs and Articles
Recent SEC enforcement actions have spotlighted ineffective internal controls over financial reporting, emphasizing approval workflow and reconciliation gaps. Experts argue that robust control environments, paired with knowledgeable teams, shift compliance from a reactive task to a predictable process. As organizations adopt complex, global financial systems, controls must evolve from static checklists into integrated, technology‑enabled frameworks. Ultimately, strong internal controls are becoming a strategic asset that underpins enterprise trust, regulatory readiness, and operational resilience.
The SEC is sharpening its enforcement focus on core misconduct such as insider trading, accounting and disclosure fraud, market manipulation, and adviser fiduciary breaches. Chairman Gary Gensler, echoing Acting Director Sam Waldon, has directed staff away from low‑harm record‑keeping investigations....
The episode examines Epic Systems' recent courtroom setback in the CureIS litigation, focusing on the court's denial of a motion to stay discovery and the nuanced protective order regarding "Highly Confidential – Attorneys' Eyes Only" information. It highlights how Epic's...
The Texas district court granted BMW an anti‑suit injunction against Onesta’s German infringement suit, but the Federal Circuit stayed the order. The dispute centers on whether a US patent can be enforced in a foreign court, echoing the EU’s BSH...
Law strategy coach Tea Hoffman outlines five actionable steps for lawyers to become sought‑after speakers. She stresses the importance of carving out a distinctive niche, honing delivery through deliberate practice, and curating a professional online presence with video clips and...
The European Commission has released a draft Digital Networks Act, aiming to replace fragmented national telecom rules with a unified market framework. The legislation targets spectrum harmonisation and introduces perpetual licences to reduce regulatory uncertainty. By standardising rules, the EU...
International arbitration in the United States remained relatively quiet in 2025, but the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) does not require a separate minimum‑contacts analysis for personal jurisdiction. The D.C. Circuit clarified...
Webber Wentzel has spun off its Fusion unit into a standalone limited‑liability subsidiary to meet rising regulatory, cost and AI challenges across Africa. The new entity will deliver a broader suite of services, including custom AI workflows, digital playbooks, contract...
Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index shows a global decline in clean governance, prompting compliance leaders to look inward. The article proposes building a corporate‑level corruption perception index to gauge how employees view ethical standards and misconduct. It outlines the...
A new comparative study finds crypto‑derivatives regulation is highly fragmented across major financial hubs, despite the products mirroring traditional derivatives in structure and risk. Regulators have forced crypto‑derivatives into existing regimes, leading to divergent rules based on settlement method, underlying...
The FDA has opened submissions for its PreCheck Pilot Program, targeting new U.S. drug‑manufacturing facilities that will begin construction by the March 1 2026 deadline. Eligible sites must be stand‑alone plants, located in the United States or its territories, and commit to...
The SEC announced an AI Task Force led by a newly appointed Chief AI Officer to centralize responsible AI integration across the agency, backed by a 2025 AI Compliance Plan aligned with OMB guidance. This internal effort signals a durable,...
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and election official Peter Kosinski petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to stay a New York state court ruling that barred the 2026 congressional map for District 11. The state trial court found the current boundaries diluted...
The European Data Protection Board and the European Data Protection Supervisor issued a joint opinion on the EU’s Digital Omnibus, endorsing its goal to ease administrative burdens while flagging key concerns. They warn that a narrower, controller‑specific definition of personal...
The English High Court continues hearing Parsons v Convatec, an employee claim for patent‑related compensation under section 40 of the Patents Act 1977. The claimant seeks roughly £366 million, equivalent to 10‑15% of the product’s estimated sales. A recent ruling set a...
The episode examines President Trump’s EPA rule revoking the Obama-era "endangerment finding," which could dismantle federal climate regulation and spark years of litigation. It then shifts focus to California, where Governor Gavin Newsom is scrambling to mitigate the fallout from...
The October 2025 issue of the Journal of International Arbitration presents five scholarly contributions that examine pivotal developments in arbitration law. Darren Leow argues that state‑immunity questions arise only at the execution stage of ICSID awards, not during recognition. Kanishka...
The House has introduced the FREEDOM Act to tackle "permit certainty" by streamlining judicial review of unreasonable permitting delays or revocations and offering compensation to affected developers. The bill emerges amid Democratic resistance to any reform that doesn’t materially boost...
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act turned 30, marking three decades of legal immunity for online hosts. The provision let early legal message boards and listservs operate without fear of publisher liability, fostering user‑generated discourse. Over time, that shield...
The Department of Justice announced an indictment of eleven individuals accused of operating a marriage‑fraud and bribery ring that targeted U.S. service members, primarily at Jacksonville Naval Air Station. The scheme paired Chinese nationals with servicemen to secure permanent residency,...
The Interior Department’s August secretarial order introduced a “capacity density” test that compares the land footprint of energy projects to their output, effectively targeting renewable projects on federal lands. The order invokes the “unnecessary and undue degradation” (UUD) standard from...
A Colorado district court dismissed antitrust claims in Morgan v. Kroger, holding that the employers' informal coordination during parallel collective‑bargaining fell within the nonstatutory labor exemption. The ruling distinguished the case from the Ninth Circuit’s Safeway decision by noting simultaneous...
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy directed the FAA to issue an Operations Specification that bars U.S. airlines from using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) criteria when hiring pilots. The order, framed as a merit‑based safety measure, applies to all Part 121...
The article introduces metaprompting, a technique where lawyers use AI to help craft the very prompts they feed back into the model. It outlines a step‑by‑step process for building prompts from scratch, refining existing ones, and extracting a personal writing...
Iterative regulation reframes compliance as a living, cyclical process rather than a static checklist. It introduces phased maturity levels, pilot programs, and outcome‑based standards that evolve with technology and risk. Robust metrics and continuous reporting feed data‑driven adjustments, while transparent...
A recent LEX Reception survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers shows that despite AI’s growing role in legal back‑office tasks, clients overwhelmingly prefer human interaction for front‑line service. Eighty‑four percent want to speak to a real person, and 87% actively bypass...
Gail Slater, the DOJ’s assistant attorney general for antitrust, abruptly resigned days before the department’s high‑profile trial against Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Her departure follows reports of internal clashes over settlement negotiations that could spare the companies from a breakup....
Medical‑device maker Stryker has faced multiple FCPA enforcement actions, paying $13.2 million in 2013 and $7.8 million in 2018 for alleged bribery in various countries. A new investigation disclosed in 2023 triggered SEC and DOJ inquiries, but the DOJ closed its probe...
United Airlines has removed the Airbus A350‑900 from its fleet plans after a legal dispute with Rolls‑Royce, the aircraft's sole engine supplier. The airline originally ordered 45 A350‑900s in 2009, deferred deliveries to 2027, and now faces uncertainty over the...
During a 2021 Texas civil forfeiture Zoom hearing, an attorney appeared on screen as a cat due to a video filter mishap, prompting Judge Roy Ferguson to intervene and help resolve the technical issue. The incident, now known as "Lawyer...
Simple Justice, a legal blog launched on February 13, 2007, celebrates 19 years of continuous publishing. The post reflects on the decline of the once‑vibrant legal blogosphere and the shift toward isolated commentary. It notes that current discourse is dominated...
“Towards Universal Parenthood in Europe”, edited by Laura Carpaneto, Francesca Maoli and Ilaria Queirolo, presents the findings of the EU‑co‑funded UniPAR project. The volume offers comparative analyses across six member states—Spain, Belgium, Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia and Poland—covering jurisdiction, applicable law,...
The U.S. FDA declined to review Moderna's mRNA influenza vaccine, even though two phase‑3 trials involving 43,800 participants demonstrated a 27% efficacy advantage over the standard Fluarix vaccine and a 49% reduction in hospitalizations. FDA officials cited the comparator arm...
The Ninth Circuit in Funko v. Const. Laborers Pension Trust held that a forward‑looking risk disclosure can lose PSLRA safe‑harbor protection when an alleged omission suggests the risk has already materialized. The panel reasoned the disclosure implicitly comments on the...
Hong Kong courts have now ruled that the Mainland China trial supervision system does not automatically invalidate the recognition and enforcement of Mainland judgments. Recent decisions, notably Sunsco International Holdings Ltd v Lin Chunrong and Huzhou Shenghua Financial Services Co...
New York Governor‑backed legislation seeks to overhaul the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) by creating targeted exemptions for infill housing projects, mirroring recent California reforms. The bill exempts small residential developments in cities over one million residents and in...
Avalara released its 2026 Tax Changes Report, highlighting “off the charts” growth in U.S. transaction taxes. In a sponsored MSDW podcast, Avalara VP Scott Peterson explained how federal income‑tax reforms will affect state tax structures. He noted that many states...
The EPA announced a final rule to repeal its 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare. The agency argues the original finding exceeded its authority and should be a congressional decision, invoking the Major Questions Doctrine. Critics...
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) announced that false‑log violations stemming from electronic logging device (ELD) tampering will be classified as an out‑of‑service violation effective April 1. Its annual International Roadcheck, scheduled for May 12‑14, will place special emphasis on detecting ELD...
Regulators are shifting fee‑transparency from a best‑practice suggestion to enforceable law, with the FTC warning rental‑software providers and states mandating upfront disclosure of all mandatory charges. Property managers must now display administrative, amenity and move‑in fees consistently across listings, emails...
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed the state’s lawsuit accusing Starbucks of discriminatory DEI practices. The court found the complaint speculative and lacking concrete demographic data to show harm to white, male, or heterosexual applicants. Missouri’s...
A California Court of Appeal ruled that applicants can sue for violations of the Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA) without proving actual harm, awarding statutory damages of $10,000 or more. The decision arose from Parsonage v. Wal‑Mart, where the...
SEC Enforcement Division Director Margaret “Meg” Ryan addressed concerns about a perceived lull in enforcement during a February 11, 2026 speech. She reaffirmed the division’s commitment to vigorously enforce securities laws, emphasizing transparent processes, a focus on case quality over...
In this episode, the host reveals how AI analysis exposed his habit of dominating client consultations with four‑minute monologues, prompting a shift to a 30‑second speaking rule. He explains the power of brief pauses and targeted questions to foster client...
The Supreme Court is increasingly emphasizing the party presentation principle, which holds that litigants control the issues, arguments, and evidence presented to the court. Recent decisions in United States v. Sineneng‑Smith and Clark v. Sweeney rebuked appellate courts for introducing...
Social platforms are experiencing a revenue surge, with YouTube reporting $60 billion and Reddit posting a 70 % YoY increase in Q4. At the same time, regulators worldwide are moving to restrict under‑16 access, as Australia bans it and the EU, US,...
The episode recaps the ASTP Annual Meeting, highlighting its role as the premier gathering for health‑tech and interoperability stakeholders and noting the scarcity of concrete announcements. The most significant insight came from a surprise panel on Information Blocking featuring the...
President Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and installed Elon Musk as its temporary head. Musk announced that his team dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) over a weekend, prompting a lawsuit alleging violations of the...
8am has upgraded its LawPay platform into a full‑service financial management solution for law firms, adding invoicing, time‑tracking, expense management, and real‑time reporting to its existing payments engine. The new offering features Smart Spend, an automated expense tool powered by...
