Expert Analysis

• Aerospace And Defense Law: Trends To Follow In 2026

  

  Some of the key 2026 developments to watch in aerospace and defense contracting law stem from provisions of this year's National Defense Authorization Act, a push to reform procurement, executive orders that announced Trump administration priorities, the upcoming Artemis space mission and continuing efforts to deploy artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

• Aviation Watch: Busy Skies, Tough Market For Airlines In 2026

  

  After a turbulent year in the U.S. commercial aviation sector, demand for air travel and premium service shows no signs of slackening in 2026, with airlines facing the need to compete in a saturated market, while seeking opportunities for consolidation and pursuing other avenues to profitability, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

• Viewing The Merger Landscape Through An HPE-Juniper Lens

  

  If considerations beyond antitrust law were taken into account to determine whether Section 7 of the Clayton Act was violated in the Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks deal, then legal practitioners advocating deal clearance may now have to argue that deals should be justified by considerations not set forth in the merger guidelines, says Matthew Cantor of Shinder Cantor.

• 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

  

  Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

• 3 Key Ohio Financial Services Developments From 2025

  

  Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw particularly notable developments in 2025, including a significant Ohio Supreme Court decision on creditor disclosure duties to guarantors in Huntington National Bank v. Schneider, and some major proposed changes to the state's Homebuyer Plus program, says Alex Durst at Durst Kerridge.

• Patent Eligibility Faces Widening Gap Between USPTO, Courts

  

  The year 2026 opened with a profoundly altered Patent Act Section 101 ecosystem — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has pushed eligibility as far open as it can for artificial intelligence technologies, but the courts are not on the same page, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Keys To Effective Mental Health Mitigation In Sentencing

  

  Instead of framing a defendant's mental health diagnoses as generalized grounds for leniency during sentencing, defense counsel should present them as objective clinical data that directly informs the risk assessment and rehabilitative questions judges are statutorily required to consider, say Joseph De Gregorio at JN Advisor and Richard Levitt at Levitt & Kaizer.

• Key Policy Moves Are Powering Nuclear Growth

  

  The past year has seen a shift toward strong federal support for new nuclear power generation, and both recent and anticipated policy developments are likely to encourage progress toward that goal — but making sure that this momentum continues may be the hard part, say attorneys at Balch & Bingham.

• Rescheduling Cannabis Marks New Tax Era For Operators

  

  As the attorney general takes steps to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, operators and advisers should prepare by considering the significant changes this will bring from tax, state, industry and market perspectives, says Michael Harlow at CohnReznick.

• Navigating Trade Secret Exceptions In Noncompete Bans

  

  Recent and ongoing developments in the noncompete landscape, including a potential decision from the Tenth Circuit in Edwards Lifesciences v. Thompson, could offer tools for employers to bring noncompete agreements within trade secret exceptions amid an era of heightened employee mobility, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

• Series

  Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.

• OCC Rulemaking May Clear Haze Around Trust Banks' Scope

  

  A recent Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposal at last eliminates uncertainty around whether national trust banks can engage in nonfiduciary activities, but it does not address which activities are permissible or whether a minimum amount of fiduciary activity is required, say attorneys at Davis Polk.

• Expect Major Shifts In Patent And Trademark Policy This Year

  

  New leadership and initiatives promise to bring consequential changes to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's practices in 2026, likely favoring patent allowance and issuance, as well as streamlining trademark processes, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

• How FERC Is Shaping The Future Of Data Center Grid Use

  

  Two recent orders from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission affecting the PJM Interconnection and Southwest Power Pool regions offer the first glimpse into how FERC will address the challenges of balancing resource adequacy, grid reliability and fair cost allocation for expansions to accommodate artificial intelligence-driven data centers, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

• Digital Assets May Be In For A Growth Spurt In 2026

  

  All signs point to an acceleration in digital asset product and service innovation throughout 2026, and while questions of first impression still need to be addressed, some legal issues will be clarified, spurring developments namely on the tokenization and stablecoin fronts, say attorneys at Skadden.