State Of Insurance: Q3 Notes From Illinois

In the past quarter, two Seventh Circuit rulings and an Illinois appellate decision applied state insurance law to issues ranging from the illusory coverage doctrine and an insured's right to independent counsel, to the time to commence uninsured motorist arbitration, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

Opinion

Judges Must Turn To Merits Earlier To Fix Civil Justice System

The U.S. justice system is long overdue for a cultural shift that encourages judges to engage with the merits of a case from the outset, which would help to cut through procedural complexities and deliver high-quality justice efficiently and at lower cost, says Steven Kayman at Rottenberg Lipman.

DOE Energy Efficiency Rollbacks Portend Clashes With States

With the U.S. Department of Energy proposing rollbacks of energy efficiency regulations for numerous appliance types, backstop provisions in many states could come into play to preserve existing standards — but disputes over antibacksliding provisions in federal law and the limits of preemption mean court battles are likely, say attorneys at HWG.

How Cos. Should Prepare For Democratic Oversight

Companies should begin preparing now for a new, Democratic-majority Congress — understanding how the oversight landscape has changed in recent years and monitoring leadership elections, new rules and potential select committees, say attorneys at Wiley.

How Analytical Advances Reshape Biologic Patent Strategy

As regulators shift away from relying on comparative clinical efficacy studies in biosimilar development, and more toward analytical data, practitioners should pay closer attention to post-translational modifications when evaluating patentability, says Gina Nellesen at Global Patent Group.

Opinion

Justices Must Protect Enforcement In DOL Fine Power Case

In deciding whether the U.S. Department of Labor’s in-house court has the power to decide monetary penalties arising from H-2A violations, the U.S. Supreme Court must preserve a practical route to relief for workers and a constitutional forum for employers to contest liability, say Michelle Dromgold-Sermen, Jessica Vasquez-Luna and Julissa Barrera at George Mason University.

Series

Open-Water Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Swimming long distances in open waters is not necessarily an escape from my intellectual property practice, but a complementary discipline that similarly rewards sustained attention, intellectual curiosity, resilience and the ability to pursue a distant objective without losing command of the immediate task, says Christina MacDougall at Morgan Lewis.

3 Factors That Can Make Or Break A Subchapter V Case

The Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act may soon increase the debt limit for Subchapter V bankruptcy, making the process available to more business, but their success within it depends on the debtors' efficiency, credibility and accurate financial assessments, say Michael Martinez at Grier Wright and Mary Grasta at Stretto.

Conflicting Rulings Cloud NCAA Eligibility Rule

The NCAA's adoption of the five-to-five eligibility rule has resulted in a genuinely fractured landscape, with the qualification for members of the class of 2022 essentially dependent upon the location of the athlete and the institution rather than on the underlying facts of the case, says Andrew Hope at Buchanan Ingersoll.

What To Expect From Calif.'s Incoming Health AI Laws

California's new statewide ground rules for artificial intelligence in clinical care, set to take effect on Jan. 1, reveal the Legislature's choice to regulate healthcare AI primarily though institutions, rather than direct product regulation, and providers should shape their compliance plans accordingly, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

Opinion

The Invisible AI Danger That May Undermine Legal Profession

A public database tracking cases involving hallucinations generated by artificial intelligence recently surpassed 2,200 entries, but the bigger risk underlying attorneys’ use of such tools is that they will slowly surrender their judgment to AI and lose analytical skills, says Massachusetts District Court Associate Justice Brian Palmucci.

SEC's 'Innovation Exemption' Isn't A Substitute For Legislation

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently announced innovation exemption, allowing trading in certain tokenized securities on permissioned on-chain trading platforms, is a temporary and conditional solution for a specific market model, not a general exemption for on-chain securities trading, says Niels Lemmers at Flow Traders.

How Cos. Using AI Agents Can Avoid Protected Data Incidents

For businesses whose deployed artificial intelligence agents could enter other companies' systems and steal protected data, deployers can take several steps before an incident to test the configured agent, such as limiting it to approved systems and destinations and requiring human escalation when tasks stall, says Steven Carlson at von Briesen & Roper.

Consistency Is Key In Pipeline Incident Investigations

A pipeline release that causes worker injury does not trigger one investigation, but five or more, running on different timetables, under different statutes, and new federal procedures may soon add more complexity — but companies must maintain one centralized record to ensure consistency throughout, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

FDA Classification Setback Bodes Well For Wound Care Cos.

A Georgia federal court's recent decision in MiMedx v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration constrains the FDA's analytical framework for classifying certain wound care products as biological products, carrying important ramifications for manufacturers seeking to avoid heightened regulatory requirements, say attorneys at Hyman Phelps.