Expert Analysis

• How Power Grid Delays Are Reshaping Data Center Deals

  

  Texas' pause on permits while it studies data centers' effect on its electrical grid highlights the nationwide problem of yearslong interconnection delays, where the ways developers, investors and customers bridge that gap — and decide who bears the risk when it widens — increasingly determine whether a deal works, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• State Of Insurance: Q3 Notes From Illinois

  

  In the past quarter, two Seventh Circuit rulings and an Illinois appellate decision applied state insurance law to issues ranging from the illusory coverage doctrine and an insured's right to independent counsel, to the time to commence uninsured motorist arbitration, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

• Opinion

  Judges Must Turn To Merits Earlier To Fix Civil Justice System

  

  The U.S. justice system is long overdue for a cultural shift that encourages judges to engage with the merits of a case from the outset, which would help to cut through procedural complexities and deliver high-quality justice efficiently and at lower cost, says Steven Kayman at Rottenberg Lipman.

• 6 Ways RE Projects Can Balance Campus, Commercial Needs

  

  Recent mixed-use campus developments show that housing, research, hospitality, retail and recreation can share infrastructure and institutional identity while operating under diverse requirements, as long as the underlying agreement structures are carefully thought out and drafted, says Bob Burton at Winstead.

• Series

  Open-Water Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Swimming long distances in open waters is not necessarily an escape from my intellectual property practice, but a complementary discipline that similarly rewards sustained attention, intellectual curiosity, resilience and the ability to pursue a distant objective without losing command of the immediate task, says Christina MacDougall at Morgan Lewis.

• Opinion

  The Invisible AI Danger That May Undermine Legal Profession

  

  A public database tracking cases involving hallucinations generated by artificial intelligence recently surpassed 2,200 entries, but the bigger risk underlying attorneys’ use of such tools is that they will slowly surrender their judgment to AI and lose analytical skills, says Massachusetts District Court Associate Justice Brian Palmucci.

• How AI Could Help Judges Spot Their Own Biases

  

  In close cases where there’s room for discretion, artificial intelligence could challenge judges’ implicit biases by running counterfactual tests at scale — but any judicial use of such tools would need guardrails, say Arnold Peter at Peter Law and Nancy Rapoport at University of Nevada.

• Mass. High Court Raises Bar For Trade Secret Injunctions

  

  The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's recent decision in Daikin v. Russo confirms that trade secret plaintiffs must prove irreparable harm under ordinary equitable principles when seeking a preliminary injunction, putting an end to potential theories of automatic presumption, says Gregory Bombard at Greenberg Traurig.

• Where Species And Wetlands Reg Rollbacks Leave Cos.

  

  The current administration's rollbacks of regulations covering waters of the U.S. and endangered species may ease permitting burdens and shorten approval timelines, but those potential benefits are tempered by state-level protections, likely legal challenges and possible reversals by a future administration, say attorneys at White & Case.

• 3 Strategies To Reduce AI Sycophancy In Legal Work

  

  The tendency of generative artificial intelligence models to tell users what they want to hear can reinforce attorneys’ confirmation bias when testing the strength of arguments, and it can’t simply be prompted away — but a few practices can help mitigate it, says Michael Ott at Ice Miller.

• 2nd Circ. EFAA Ruling Shifts Employer Litigation Strategy

  

  In Diaz-Roa v. Hermes Law, the Second Circuit recently held that, under the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, employers can't carve out nonharassment claims and send them to arbitration, which has implications for discovery, litigation costs and resolution strategy in EFAA-covered disputes, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

• Bribery Verdict Offers Guide To Post-Pause FCPA Priorities

  

  A former Goldman Sachs investment banker's recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act conviction offers insights into how the U.S. Department of Justice is applying its FCPA guidelines following the Trump administration's 2025 pause on enforcement, and illustrates the importance of a company’s escalation procedures and follow-through, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• 4 Steps For Cos. Amid Russia Sanctions Law Uncertainty

  

  Russian companies, their U.S. subsidiaries and businesses with Russian commercial relationships should take concrete steps to determine their exposure under ambiguous provisions of legislation that recently expanded the scope of U.S. sanctions, notwithstanding an Oct. 16 executive order waiving most of its restrictions, say attorneys at Wilk Auslander.

• Series

  Being In The Peace Corps Made Me A Better Lawyer

  

  When I served in the Peace Corps, the people of the West African village where I was stationed helped me acclimate to my new surroundings and enabled me to develop problem-solving, teamwork and empathy skills that have bolstered my legal practice far beyond the ability to offer technical advice, says Brian Bewley at McGuireWoods.

• Tariffs Could Be Behind Surge In FTZ Production Filings

  

  As tariffs reshape production sourcing decisions, manufacturers are seeking foreign trade zone production authority at more than twice last year's pace, making it important to consider the potential duty and export benefits, along with review delays and restrictions that can curb savings, say attorneys at Sidley.