Expert Analysis

• How Securities Litigation Risks Materialized In The 1st Quarter

  

  The securities litigation landscape in 2026's first quarter was defined by higher filing frequency and increased litigation exposure with rising average settlement values, meaning issuers should maximize data-driven legal defenses early to disqualify alleged fraud-revealing stock drops, say Nessim Mezrahi and Stephen Sigrist at SAR.

• Opinion

  State Bars Need To Get Specific About AI Confidentiality

  

  Lawyers need to put actual client information into artificial intelligence tools to get their full value, but they cannot confidently do so until state bars offer clear, formal authority on which plan tiers of the three most popular generative AI tools are safe to use when sharing specific client details, says attorney Nick Berk.

• Calculating Damages In IEEPA Tariff Refund Litigation

  

  To calculate damages in the spate of refund litigation triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision invalidating tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the central question will be how to determine where in the supply chain their economic burden ultimately came to rest, say analysts at Charles River Associates.

• Mortgage EO Casts Wide Net In Push To Ease Lending Rules

  

  A recent executive order targeting mortgage credit access states an intent to promote competition among all types of lenders and is notable for its breadth, resetting regulatory expectations in a number of areas including origination, digitization and licensing, says Kara Ward at Baker Donelson.

• Opinion

  Judicial Restraint Anchors Constitutional Order

  

  Contrasting opinions in two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Trump v. CASA and Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections — demonstrate how the judiciary’s constitutionally entrusted role can easily be preserved or disrupted, and invite renewed attention to the enduring importance of judicial restraint, says Ninth Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace.

• 'Made In America' Rules Raise Stakes For Gov't Contractors

  

  The convergence of widely varying "buy American" requirements, increased enforcement efforts and continuing regulatory attempts to limit foreign sourcing suggests that government contractors should carefully review their supply chain and country-of-origin compliance to remain competitive, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

• How 2nd Circ. Gave Loper Bright Real Force In SEC Cases

  

  The Second Circuit's recent decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Amah offers one of the first clear indications of how courts will operationalize Loper Bright, signaling that long-standing SEC enforcement theories resting on ambiguous definitional provisions are now subject to more rigorous judicial scrutiny, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• Series

  Alpine Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Skiing has shaped habits I rely on daily as an attorney — focus, resilience and the ability to remain steady when circumstances shift rapidly — and influences the way I approach legal strategy, client counseling and teamwork, says Isaku Begert at Marshall Gerstein.

• Weighing The Practical Implications Of SC Kids' Privacy Law

  

  South Carolina's recently enacted Age-Appropriate Code Design Act includes a unique provision: a private right of action for certain violations, but its practical effect remains uncertain, as courts and litigants grapple with complex questions of standing, causation and the definition of actionable harm, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• Series

  NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

  

  In the first quarter of 2026, New York's banking developments were headlined by initiatives to expand oversight of financial institutions and strengthen consumer protection laws, including a new framework for buy now, pay later lenders, a sweeping debt collection rule and a revised corporate self-disclosure program for financial crimes, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• Legal Theories In Social Media Verdicts Hold Clues On Impact

  

  Although the two verdicts in cases in New Mexico and California involving Meta and Google are being lumped together, they rest on fundamentally different legal theories, and that distinction determines how their effects may be felt in other jurisdictions, says Mark Morgan at Day Pitney.

• AI Recruiting Suit Shows Old Laws May Implicate New Tools

  

  The Fair Credit Reporting Act allegations recently filed in Kistler v. Eightfold AI, are the latest example of broad definitional language in legacy statutes proving far more dangerous to companies deploying artificial intelligence – particularly in hiring – than any purpose-built artificial intelligence regulation, say attorneys at Ogletree.

• 2 Rulings Poke Holes In Mandatory Restitution Framework

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ellingburg v. U.S., as well as the Third Circuit’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Abrams, provide criminal defense practitioners with new tools to challenge Mandatory Victims Restitution Act orders, and highlight several restitution-related issues that converged in the recent prosecution of former Frank CEO Charlie Javice, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

• What Voluntary Calif. Carbon Reports Show About Compliance

  

  While the enforcement of California's S.B. 261 is currently paused due to a Ninth Circuit injunction, more than 130 companies have nonetheless chosen to voluntarily publish climate-related financial risk disclosures, providing a useful snapshot of how the market is interpreting the law's requirements in practice, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

  

  My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.