Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

Google Antitrust Case Puts Spotlight On De Facto Exclusivity

Mozilla's recent amicus filing in U.S. v. Google arguing that its agreement to make Google the default search engine did not amount to de facto exclusivity highlights the growing debate over traditional indicators of exclusivity, with implications for any business that uses rebates, preferred contracts or volume incentives, says Chris Gowen at WilmU Farnan School of Law.

Justices' Montgomery Ruling Doesn't Expand Shipper Liability

Whether negligent hiring liability claims against shippers will increase after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II is anyone's guess, but the ruling itself will have no impact on shippers' actual liability in personal injury claims relating to trucking accidents, says Ronald Leibman at McCarter & English.

GHG Rescission Undermines State Climate Suit Preemption

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the fate of state climate litigation in Suncor Energy Inc. v. Boulder County, it must confront the fact that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescission of its greenhouse gas endangerment finding has also removed the foundation for federal preemption of state climate suits, says attorney Gregg Goldfarb.

Constructing AI Compliance Plans As State Laws Diverge

With Colorado, Connecticut and the federal government recently announcing wildly different approaches to artificial intelligence regulation, creating a workable compliance program means addressing overlapping obligations using shared systems rather than separate silos, say attorneys at Ogletree.

How McDonnell Still Shapes Bribery Defense Strategy

The pending federal bribery allegations against Washington, D.C., Council member Trayon White Sr. highlight for defense counsel the importance of overcoming the “official act” requirement established by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McDonnell v. U.S., and juries' critical role in distinguishing between official and unofficial acts, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

Assessing Issues The CFTC's Sports Betting Rules May Face

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently proposed a rule to consolidate its control of sports bets made on prediction market trading platforms, but problems may arise from possible conflicts between the proposed changes and state laws — and maybe even the Commodity Exchange Act itself, says David Slovick at Kopecky Schumacher.

As Quantum Computing Evolves, So Do Antitrust Risks

Amid quantum computing's increased strategic importance there are five potential antitrust fault lines that may arise not only between quantum developers, but also within and across the layers of the stack as the industry matures, say attorneys at Proskauer.

Opinion

State Courts Must Be Gatekeepers Of Expert Testimony

Based on my experience in the state judiciary, emulating federal courts' role as gatekeepers of expert witness testimony would help state court judges maintain the appearance of impartiality and assist juries, thus enhancing the overall confidence people have in their justice system, says Lorie Gildea at Greenberg Traurig.

5 Key Factors Behind USPTO's Inter Partes Review Decisions

Though U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has drawn criticism for failing to explain his reasoning in inter partes review decisions, his recent precedential order in Magnolia v. Kurin provides five important insights into his decision-making process, says Christopher Loh at Venable.

Examining 3 Notable DOL Moves In The First Half Of 2026

With the U.S. Department of Labor addressing independent contractor classification, joint employment and white collar exemptions so far this year, employers must understand this shifting landscape to ensure proper treatment of employees based on their classification and to mitigate enforcement risk, say attorneys at Conn Maciel.

Weighing The Implications Of The Anthropic Export Directive

The Trump administration recently issued an export control directive against Anthropic to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, representing one of the first uses of the regime against a frontier large language model in widespread commercial distribution, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

Series

Moshing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Entering a mosh pit is much like entering the practice of law — it is difficult, you have to know both the written and unwritten rules, and conduct yourself according to the expectations of each community, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

Okla. Reforms Will Curb Oil, Gas Royalty Litigation Risk

Recent amendments to Oklahoma's Production Revenue Standards Act — the most comprehensive in decades — raise the stakes for true noncompliance with the state's oil and gas royalty payment framework, while offering operators clearer rules, defined interest boundaries and predictable exits from prolonged suspense situations, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

High Court Ruling Casts Doubt On Status-Based Gun Bans

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Hemani demonstrates that the justices are increasingly skeptical of broad theories of categorical disarmament and clarifies that dangerousness cannot simply be presumed from one's status or membership in a statutory category, such as illegal drug use, says Lee Francis at Widener Law.