Expert Analysis

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Intentional Career-Building

  

  A successful legal career is built through intention: understanding expectations, assessing strengths honestly and proactively seeking opportunities to grow and cultivating relationships that support your development, say Erika Drous and Hillary Mann at Morrison Foerster.

• Reviewing 2025's Artificial Intelligence Disputes Over IP

  

  2025 brought the first major fair use rulings involving generative artificial intelligence, and in 2026 courts will weigh in on more discovery disputes, renewed motions to dismiss, class certification challenges and fair use defenses that could shape the course of future AI litigation, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• 4 Developments That Defined The 2025 Ethics Landscape

  

  The legal profession spent 2025 at the edge of its ethical comfort zone as courts, firms and regulators confronted how fast-moving technologies and new business models collide with long-standing professional duties, signaling that the profession is entering a period of sustained disruption that will continue into 2026, says Hilary Gerzhoy at HWG Law.

• Navigating AI In The Legal Industry

  

  As artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly integral part of legal practice, Law360 guest commentary this year examined evolving ethical obligations, how the plaintiffs bar is using AI to level the playing field against corporate defense teams, and the attendant risks of adoption.

• Nuclear Power Pitfalls And Opportunities To Watch For In 2026

  

  Shepherding nuclear power projects to completion requires navigating more risks and obligations than almost any other infrastructure undertaking, but with the right strategies, states, developers, vendors and contractors can overcome these hurdles in 2026 and beyond, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

• 2025 Calif. Banking Oversight Centered On Consumer Issues

  

  The combination of statutory reform, registration mandates and enforcement activity in 2025 signals that California's financial regulatory landscape is focused on consumer protection, particularly in the areas of crypto kiosk fee practices, earned wage access providers and elder fraud, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• How Fractional GCs Can Manage Risks Of Engagement

  

  As more organizations eliminate their in-house legal departments in favor of outsourcing legal work, fractional general counsel roles offer practitioners an engaging and flexible way to practice at a high level, but they can also present legal, ethical and operational risks that must be proactively managed, say attorneys at Boies Schiller.

• Series

  Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

  

  Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

• How Workforce, Tech Will Affect 2026 Construction Landscape

  

  As the construction industry's center of gravity shifts from traditional commercial work to infrastructure, energy, industrial and data-hosting facilities, the effects of evolving technology and persistent labor shortages are reshaping real estate dealmaking, immigration policy debates and government contracting risk, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

• Contract Disputes Recap: Delay, Plain Text, Sovereign Acts

  

  Three recent decisions addressing familiar pressure points show that even well-worn doctrines evolve, and both contractors and the government should reexamine their assumptions, says Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth.

• Opinion

  A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

  

  To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

• Series

  The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

  

  Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

• Opinion

  Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

  

  While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

• 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.