Massive strategic transactions and technology deals pushed global M&A values in the first half of 2026 above the half-year peaks seen in the 2021 dealmaking boom, but experts say the market remains uneven and second-half expectations hinge on the absence of further geopolitical shocks.  
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THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

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Analysis

Megadeals Driving Record M&A Values In Uneven 2026 Market

By Al Barbarino

Massive strategic transactions and technology deals pushed global M&A values in the first half of 2026 above the half-year peaks seen in the 2021 dealmaking boom, but experts say the market remains uneven and second-half expectations hinge on the absence of further geopolitical shocks.  

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Analysis

USMCA Nonrenewal Brings New Caution For Business

By Dylan Moroses

The joint review process for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement formally kicked off Wednesday as the U.S. announced its intent not to renew the agreement without changes, leaving practitioners with questions about the outcomes of negotiations and expectations of continued business uncertainty.

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US Not Renewing USMCA, But Deal Still In Force For Now

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. will not to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the Office of the U.S. Trade Ambassador announced Wednesday, though the deal will remain in force as the three sides continue to negotiate.

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3rd Circ. Tests FERC's Attention To Public Input In Hydro Case

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Third Circuit panel Wednesday dug into whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission really listened to the concerns of residents of York County, Pennsylvania, about its initial approval of a hydroelectric project they claimed could lead to ecological and property damage.

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OIL AND GAS

Tatneft Fights 'Indefinite' Stay In $173M Ukraine Award Case

By Caroline Simson

One of Russia's largest oil companies pressed the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday to unpause litigation aimed at enforcing a confirmed $173 million arbitral award against Ukraine, saying that the proceedings have now been on hold for more than four years without any indication of when they might resume.

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DATA CENTERS

Wash. AI Task Force Forgoes Data Center, Labor Safeguards

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state task force made a series of recommendations to lawmakers Wednesday for promoting responsible use of artificial intelligence while declining to endorse proposed guardrails on data center development and the use of generative AI by state agencies, according to a final report.

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3 NJ Bills On Data Center Regulation Sent To Governor

By Isaac Monterose

The New Jersey Senate and the state's General Assembly recently passed three data center regulation bills that will be considered by Gov. Mikie Sherrill.

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UTILITIES AND POWER

Colo. Regulator Says Gas Co.'s Ask For Review Is Too Late

By MJ Koo

Colorado utility regulators and a state consumer advocacy office have jointly moved to dismiss a natural gas company's bid for court review of an agency decision, arguing the company missed the required 30-day filing deadline by nearly three weeks.

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Bankrupt EV Co.'s Execs Reach $20M Investor Deal

By Sydney Price

Executives of bankrupt electric vehicle startup Canoo Inc. have reached a $20 million deal with the company's shareholders to end claims that they misled investors about its go-to-market strategy ahead of its merger with a special purpose acquisition company in 2021.

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EV Battery Workers Say Ford Is Joint Employer

By MJ Koo

Battery plant workers have told a Michigan federal court that Ford Motor Co. is their joint employer and bears responsibility for unpaid wage claims at an electric vehicle battery plant, pushing back against the automaker's bid to escape the lawsuit.

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MINING

Chinese Investors Say Wash. EB-5 Developer Misused Funds

By Elaine Briseño

Chinese investors have filed a RICO Act lawsuit in Washington federal court, alleging that developers of a partially completed mixed-use project on a former copper smelter Superfund site along Puget Sound misused funds from their $39 million investment in the venture and let it fall into default.

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PEOPLE

MoFo Project Finance Atty Joins Taft In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP has hired a Morrison Foerster LLP attorney who focuses his practice on advising lenders, sponsors and governments on the development and financing of large scale projects, the firm announced Monday.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Leveraging AI In MDL Discovery And Case Management

Generative and agentic artificial intelligence tools can help teams organize and digest the vast volume of documents inherent to multidistrict litigation, but workflows must be designed to maximize the tools' strengths and maintain human control of key operational and ethical factors, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Legal Sector Jobs Spike With Work 'Churning Right Along'

By Aebra Coe

The legal sector added 5,100 jobs in June, the largest increase the industry has seen in more than two years, according to preliminary, seasonally adjusted data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the Asian Law Caucus and the Democracy Defenders Fund lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump's bid to limit birthright citizenship.

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Feds Seek Up To 21 Months For Ex-Judge On ICE Obstruction

By Elizabeth Daley

A former Wisconsin judge who was convicted of obstructing ICE officers' courthouse arrest of a man facing misdemeanor charges by pointing him to a side door should spend up to 21 months in prison, the government said in a sentencing memo, recommending she be made an example.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week 

By Sue Reisinger

Amid the changes coming for general counsel, the policies and enforcement priorities of federal regulators may fluctuate more rapidly after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week that could dramatically remake independent government agencies. And the EEOC rescinded affirmative action documents that have guided employers for decades.

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Georgia Atty Can't Revive Defamation Suit Over Ethics Case

By Emily Johnson

The Georgia Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a Georgia attorney's defamation suit against two people involved in an unsuccessful disciplinary action against her, saying her rambling appeal failed to prove that the trial court erred in dismissing her claims.

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When Does A Firm's 'Breakup' Fee-Split Contract Go Too Far?

By Rachel Rippetoe

It looked like a win for plaintiffs' firms when the Kentucky Supreme Court recently upheld a firm's 75% claim on fees from cases an attorney took with him when he launched his own practice, but the narrow ruling may leave room for lawyers to challenge similar agreements as penalties for leaving their firms.

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Judges To Tour Rust Belt To Build Trust In Courts

By James Boyle

Days after the Fourth of July celebration of America's 250th birthday, a group of current and retired judges will lead a four-day bus tour through three states to promote one of the bedrock principles of the country's independence: the rule of law.

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Analysis

Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Supreme Court's stark ideological divisions were on full display this term, particularly as it issued long-awaited rulings in the last few days of June. Here, Law360 dives into the numbers behind this court term.

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Mass Tort Titan Paul J. Napoli Dies

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Paul J. Napoli, an influential plaintiffs attorney who worked on some of the nation's highest-profile mass tort matters in recent decades, died on Tuesday at the age of 58.

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Skadden Adds Mass Torts Litigator As Partner In Chicago

By Christine DeRosa

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has grown its mass torts litigation offerings in Chicago with the addition of a Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP attorney, the firm said.

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'Embarrassed' Conn. Atty Details ChatGPT Briefing Errors

By Aaron Keller

With a sanctions hearing on the horizon, a Connecticut attorney has told the state's highest court he is "extremely embarrassed" by artificial intelligence errors in briefs filed in two recently decided cases, explaining he used ChatGPT to edit his research without knowing it could make "unprompted changes to the content."

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Del. Magistrate Orders JPMorgan To Advance Javice Fees

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court ruled Thursday that JPMorgan Chase & Co. must advance millions more in disputed legal fees to cover the appeal of the convicted founder of college financial aid startup Frank, concluding the bank failed to meet Delaware's demanding standard for withholding advancement by showing the billing requests reflected "clear abuse."

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Ex-DOJ Fraud Section Chief Joins Fried Frank

By Nadia Dreid

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP has added a veteran litigator from the U.S. Department of Justice who also brings more than a decade of experience representing financial institutions in white collar, enforcement and complex litigation spaces.

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Reed Smith Adds Ex-Norton Rose Partner, RE Atty In Munich

By Nate Beck

Reed Smith LLP has bolstered its private equity practice with the hire of a former Norton Rose Fulbright group leader in Munich.

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McCarter Atty Knew 'Magic Words' For $20M Deals, Court Told

By Brian Steele

If a onetime McCarter & English LLP partner had raised a single red flag about a Long Island town's legally flimsy agreement to repay $20 million worth of a businessman's loans, the ill-fated deals never would have gone forward, a Connecticut court heard Thursday.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

3M Co.

AT&T Inc.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

American Civil Liberties Union

American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts

American Civil Liberties Union of Washington

American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations

American Immigration Lawyers Association

Ant Financial Services Group

Apple Inc.

Asian American Center for Advancing Justice

AvalonBay Communities Inc.

Bayer AG

Canoo Inc.

Capital One Financial Corp.

Chevron Corp.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Connecticut Fair Housing Center

CoreWeave

Corteva Inc.

Cox Communications Inc.

Dealogic LLC

Dominion Energy Inc.

Entergy Corp.

Epic Games Inc.

Equity Residential

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Ford Motor Co.

GE Aerospace

Gerson Lehrman Group Inc.

Giant Eagle Inc.

Google LLC

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC

Hillenbrand, Inc.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Intel Corp.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Johnson & Johnson

Justice in Motion

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LinkedIn Corp.

Major Lindsey & Africa LLC

Merck & Co. Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Michaels Stores Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Monsanto Co.

NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund Inc.

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

New England Asset Management Inc.

New York University

NextEra Energy Inc.

Palantir Technologies Inc.

PepsiCo Inc.

Pfizer Inc.

Pro Bono Institute

QUALCOMM Inc.

RELX PLC

Robert Bosch GmbH

Salesforce.com Inc.

Sierra Club

Snap Inc.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

State Bar of Georgia

Suncor Energy Inc.

Tatneft

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The Kroger Co.

TikTok Inc.

Virginia State Bar

YouTube Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Alston & Bird

Arnall Golden

Barrett Johnston

Bartlit Beck

Boies Schiller

Brockstedt Mandalas

Cascadia Law Group

Clark Hill

Cleary Gottlieb

Clement & Murphy

Cooley LLP

Cozen O'Connor

Crowell & Moring

DLA Piper

Davis Polk

Dewey & LeBoeuf

Eversheds Sutherland

FBT Gibbons

Faegre Drinker

Fagan McManus

Fairfield & Woods

Fried Frank

Gibbel Kraybill

Gimbel Reilly

Goldman Ismail

Greenberg Traurig

Harris Beach Murtha

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Holzer & Holzer

Hughes Hubbard

Isaacs & Isaacs

Jackson Lewis PC

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Kilpatrick Townsend

Kirkland & Ellis

Kobre & Kim

Lankler Siffert

Latham & Watkins

Logan Vance

Lowell & Associates

Marc J. Bern & Partners

McCarter & English

McGavick Graves

Mignott Law Group

Mintz Levin

MoloLamken

Morgan & Morgan PA

Morrison & Foerster

Napoli Shkolnik

Norton Rose

Pillsbury Winthrop

Pomerantz LLP

Potter Anderson

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Reichman Jorgensen

Schlam Stone

Sidley Austin

Silver Golub

Skadden Arps

Smith Gambrell

Squire Patton

Steptoe LLP

Strang Bradley

Taft Stettinius

Troutman

Wiggin & Dana

WilmerHale

Winston Taylor

Withersworldwide

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bureau of Industry and Security

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Colorado Attorney General's Office

Colorado Public Utilities Commission

Delaware Court of Chancery

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Georgia Court of Appeals

Georgia Supreme Court

Government of Mexico

Los Angeles Superior Court

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers

Michigan Supreme Court

NAFTA

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities

New Jersey Legislature

Ohio Supreme Court

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

Washington Attorney General's Office

York County, Pennsylvania