Expert Analysis

• Why Private Sector Should Watch Gov't DEI Firing Class Bid

  

  Former federal employees' class certification attempt in Fell v. Trump is worth following, as their challenge of the Office of Personnel Management's elimination of DEI positions raises questions about commonality in employee classes and protections for nonminority advocacy that reach beyond the public sector, says Shaun Southworth at Southworth PC.

• Mapping US-China Investment Compliance For EB-5 Deals

  

  Chinese capital deployment through the U.S.'s EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, alongside China's recently established outbound investment security framework, creates compliance gaps with the U.S. framework, and unique risks and considerations for practitioners, says Xuan Zhang at Reid & Wise.

• HHS Enforcement Restructuring Signals Compliance Risks

  

  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' recent restructuring of its Office for Civil Rights suggests that, while Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act enforcement remains central, its priorities have expanded to encompass civil rights, conscience and religious freedom, and data and cybersecurity issues, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Trump's AI Order Is Strategic, Not Merely Deregulatory

  

  Although the framework presented in President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on artificial intelligence is styled as voluntary and innovation-friendly, it creates a new soft-power mechanism for bringing the most capable AI systems into closer alignment with federal security priorities, says Jesse Lemon at The Beckage Firm.

• Agentic AI And Securities Law: The Vanishing Defendant

  

  The entire framework of traditional securities regulation rests on the ability to attribute conduct to human actors and assess their intent and control, but agentic artificial intelligence systems threaten to upend that basic first-step analysis, says Joseph A. Hall at Davis Polk.

• A New Wave Of Prediction Market Risk Is About To Break

  

  The convergence of three potential new risks — shareholder derivative suits, evolving disclosure requirements and congressional investigations — means that prediction market exposure has graduated from an interesting hypothetical to a company's audit committee agenda item, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Opinion

  Rule Of Law Requires Gov't Engagement With Bar, Not Retreat

  

  A federal agency's absence from national and local bar conferences, most recently illustrated by the U.S. Department of Justice's withdrawal from a New York City Bar Association white collar conference, disserves the bar, the government lawyers themselves and, ultimately, the administration of justice, says Muhammad Faridi at Linklaters.

• AG Watch: Oregon's Strategic Civil Enforcement Approach

  

  Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s recent antitrust litigation activity and proposed staffing increase are the latest in a series of structural and policy changes that signal that the state Department of Justice is taking a more aggressive approach to civil enforcement, says Keturah Taylor at Cozen O'Connor.

• How Nasdaq's 23/5 Rule Will Alter Public Offering Strategies

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent approval of Nasdaq's proposal to extend trading hours to 23 hours a day, five days a week, may reshape how certain public offerings are executed, particularly for confidentially marketed public offerings, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

• How Boards Can Shrink The AI Governance Gap

  

  While companies have overwhelmingly embraced artificial intelligence, most lack corresponding governance structures and director-level fluency to oversee these programs, highlighting the importance of board and executive supervision to keep pace with growing litigation risk, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

• Fannie, Freddie AI Rules Raise Stakes For Mortgage Lenders

  

  Artificial intelligence governance frameworks recently released by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac impose monitoring and vendor oversight standards on mortgage lenders, potentially reshaping secondary-market eligibility, fair lending reviews and risk management as compliance deadlines approach, says Brendan Palfreyman at Harris Beach.

• Aviation Watch: Product Safety Lessons From The UPS Crash

  

  The National Transportation Safety Board's recent hearing concerning the crash of a UPS jet late last year highlighted the importance of maintaining records documenting analysis of design defects, adequately warning users of defects and related safety issues, and requiring use of improved designs, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

• Regulatory Rollbacks Complicate Car Co. Compliance Plans

  

  As federal fuel economy and emissions regulations undergo seismic changes, and gas prices surge, automakers seeking to position their product lines for the future face a difficult strategic choice: whether to treat today's regulatory rollback as a lasting shift or as a temporary opening in an uncertain market, says Thomas Healy at Honigman.

• How PAGA Proposal Could Expand Calif. Labor Agency's Role

  

  The California Labor and Workforce Development Agency's recently proposed regulations governing the Private Attorneys General Act signal a more structured and agency-driven enforcement approach, so risk management will depend on employers' ability to evaluate opportunities for effectuating a cure and navigate a more active administrative process, say attorneys at Lathrop.

• The Paradoxical Duty To Adopt AI When You Can't Bill For It

  

  Both billing for hours saved using artificial intelligence and preserving billable time by not adopting AI may violate rules of professional conduct, but until bar associations' ethics rules catch up to this emerging economic dilemma, firms must decide how to adjust fee structures themselves, says Ines Lassalle at Peyrot & Associates.