Expert Analysis

• Autonomous Vehicle Liability Trends To Watch In 2026

  

  With autonomous vehicles increasingly making their own decisions, the liability landscape for AVs has changed over the past year — highlighting a number of important issues that companies and practitioners should keep a close eye on in 2026, says Farid Yaghoubtil at Downtown LA Law Group.

• Series

  Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

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  The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

  

  After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Identifying And Resolving Conflicts Among Class Members

  

  As the Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Nova Scotia Health Employees' Pension Plan v. McDermott International illustrates, intraclass conflicts can determine the fate of a class action — and such conflicts can be surprisingly difficult to identify, says Andrew Faisman, a clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

• 6 Ways To Nuke-Proof Litigation As Explosive Verdicts Rise

  

  As the increasing number of nuclear verdicts continues to reshape the litigation landscape, counsel must understand how to create a multipronged defense strategy to anticipate juror expectations and mitigate the risk of outsize jury awards, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

• How MAHA Is Taking Shape At The State Level

  

  The national spotlight on the federal government's Make America Healthy Again movement is bolstering state-level actions regarding potential health impacts of certain food ingredients, increasing the difficulty and importance of maintaining effective compliance programs, say attorneys at Cooley.

• Rule Update May Mean Simpler PFAS Reports, Faster Timeline

  

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently proposed revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act's per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances reporting rule would substantially narrow reporting obligations, but if the rule is finalized, companies will need to prepare for a significantly accelerated timeline for data submissions, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

• 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.

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  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.

• Opinion

  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.

• New Drug Ad Regs Could Lead To A Less Informed Public

  

  A federal push to mandate full safety warnings in pharmaceutical advertising could make drug ads less appealing for companies to air, which in turn could negatively affect consumers' health decisions by removing an accessible information source, say Punam Keller at Dartmouth College and Ceren Canal Aruoba at Berkeley Research Group.

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  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.

• And Now A Word From The Panel: A New Rule For MDLs

  

  With a new federal rule of civil procedure dedicated to multidistrict litigation practice taking effect this month, MDL watchers will be keeping on eye on whether the rule effectively serves its purpose of ensuring that only supportable claims proceed in MDLs, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

• 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.