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Expert Analysis

• Prepping For 2026 Shifts In Calif. Workplace Safety Rules

  

  California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health is preparing for significant shifts and increased enforcement in 2026, so key safety programs — including injury and illness prevention plans, workplace violence plans, and heat illness prevention procedures — must remain a focus for employers, says Rachel Conn at Conn Maciel.

• What Law Firm Liability Risks In 2025 Signal For Year To Come

  

  Trends and statistics reveal that law firms of all sizes and practice areas remained attractive litigation targets this year, so firms must take concrete steps to avoid professional liability risks in the year to come, say Douglas Richmond and Andrew Ricke at Lockton Companies.

• AI Evidence Rule Tweaks Encourage Judicial Guardrails

  

  Recent additions to a committee note on proposed Rule of Evidence 707 — governing evidence generated by artificial intelligence — seek to mitigate potential dangers that may arise once machine outputs are introduced at trial, encouraging judges to perform critical gatekeeping functions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

• The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Getting The Message Across

  

  Communications and brand strategy during a law firm merger represent a crucial thread that runs through every stage of a combination and should include clear messaging, leverage modern marketing tools and embrace the chance to evolve, says Ashley Horne at Womble Bond.

• Horizontal Stare Decisis Should Not Be Casually Discarded

  

  Eliminating the so-called law of the circuit doctrine — as recently proposed by a Fifth Circuit judge, echoing Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurrence in Loper Bright — would undermine public confidence in the judiciary’s independence and create costly uncertainty for litigants, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.

• 10 Commandments For Agentic AI Tools In The Legal Industry

  

  Though agentic artificial intelligence has demonstrated significant promise for optimizing legal work, it presents numerous risks, so specific ethical obligations should be built into the knowledge base of every agentic AI tool used in the legal industry, says Steven Cordero at Akerman LLP.

• Preaching Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Becoming a Gospel preacher has enhanced my success as a trial lawyer by teaching me the importance of credibility, relatability, persuasiveness and thorough preparation for my congregants, the same skills needed with judges and juries in the courtroom, says Reginald Harris at Stinson.

• How Unchecked AI Exposes Expert Opinions To Exclusion

  

  A growing number of cases illustrate the potential for misuse of artificial intelligence tools by experts in litigation, resulting in reports with hallucinated information or unexplainable analysis, so to embrace the efficiencies AI tools introduce without falling victim to the risks, attorneys and experts should implement a few best practices, say attorneys at Willkie Farr.

• Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Client-Led Litigation

  

  New litigators can better help their corporate clients achieve their overall objectives when they move beyond simply fighting for legal victory to a client-led approach that resolves the legal dispute while balancing the company's competing out-of-court priorities, says Chelsea Ireland at Cohen Ziffer.

• Florida Throws A Wrench Into Interstate Trucking Torts

  

  Florida's recent request to file a bill of complaint in the U.S. Supreme Court against California and Washington, asserting that the states' policies conflict with the federal English language proficiency standard for truck drivers, transforms a conventional wrongful death case into a high-stakes constitutional challenge, say attorneys at Farah & Farah.

• The Law Firm Merger Diaries: How To Build On Cultural Fit

  

  Law firm mergers should start with people, then move to strategy: A two-level screening that puts finding a cultural fit at the pinnacle of the process can unearth shared values that are instrumental to deciding to move forward with a combination, says Matthew Madsen at Harrison.

• Why Justices Must Act To End Freight Broker Liability Split

  

  The Sixth Circuit's recent ruling in Cox v. Total Quality Logistics Inc., affirming states' authority over negligence claims against transportation brokers, deepens an existing circuit split, creating an untenable situation where laws between neighboring states conflict in seven distinct instances — and making U.S. Supreme Court intervention essential, says Steven Saal at Lucosky Brookman.

• Considerations When Invoking The Common-Interest Privilege

  

  To successfully leverage the common-interest doctrine in a multiparty transaction or complex litigation, practitioners should be able to demonstrate that the parties intended for it to apply, that an underlying privilege like attorney-client has attached, and guard against disclosures that could waive privilege and defeat its purpose, say attorneys at DLA Piper.