Expert Analysis

• Forced Labor Bans Hold Steady Amid Shifts In Global Trade

  

  As businesses try to navigate shifting regulatory trends affecting human rights and sustainability, forced labor import bans present a zone of relative stability, notwithstanding outstanding questions about the future of enforcement, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• Grappling With Workforce-Related Immigration Enforcement

  

  To withstand the tightening of workforce-related immigration rules and the enforcement uptick we are seeing in the U.S. and elsewhere, companies must strike a balance between responding quickly to regulatory changes, and developing proactive strategies that minimize risk, say attorneys at Fragomen.

• Strategies For Cos. Navigating US-Indian Pharma Partnerships

  

  Recent policy adjustments implemented by the U.S. government present both new opportunities and heightened regulatory scrutiny for the Indian life sciences industry, amplifying the importance of collaboration between the Indian and U.S. pharmaceutical sectors, say Bryant Godfrey at Foley Hoag and Jashaswi Ghosh at Holon Law Partners.

• DOJ-HHS Collab Crystallizes Focus On Health Enforcement

  

  The recently announced partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat False Claims Act violations, following a multiyear trend of high-dollar DOJ recoveries, signals a long-term enforcement horizon with major implications for healthcare entities and whistleblowers, say attorneys at RJO.

• Opinion

  The SEC Should Embrace Tokenized Equity, Not Strangle It

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should grant no-action relief to firms ready to pilot tokenized equity trading, not delay innovation by heeding protectionist industry arguments, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.

• Compliance Changes On Deck For Banks Under Texas AI Law

  

  Financial services companies, including banks and fintechs, should evaluate their artificial intelligence usage to prepare for Texas' newly passed law regulating AI governance, noting that the enforcement provisions provide for an affirmative defense to liability, say attorneys at Mitchell Sandler.

• What To Do When Congress And DOJ Both Come Knocking

  

  As recently seen in the news, clients may find themselves facing parallel U.S. Department of Justice and congressional investigations, requiring a comprehensive response that considers the different challenges posed by each, say attorneys at Friedman Kaplan.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Learning From Failure

  

  While law school often focuses on the importance of precision, correctness and perfection, mistakes are inevitable in real-world practice — but failure is not the opposite of progress, and real talent comes from the ability to recover, rethink and reshape, says Brooke Pauley at Tucker Ellis.

• Tips For Crypto AI Agent Developers Under SEC Watch

  

  With agents powered by artificial intelligence increasingly making decisions in the cryptocurrency world, there's a chance the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could use the Investment Advisers Act to regulate this technology in financial services, but there are ways developers can mitigate regulatory risks, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

• Trans Bias Suits Will Persist Despite EEOC's Shifting Priorities

  

  In U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sis-Bro, an Illinois federal court let a transgender worker intervene in a bias suit that the EEOC moved to dismiss, signaling that the agency's pending gender identity-related actions will carry on even as its priorities shift to align with the new administration, say attorneys at Venable.

• Lessons On Parallel Settlements From Vanguard Class Action

  

  A Pennsylvania federal judge’s unexpected denial of a proposed $40 million settlement of an investor class action against Vanguard highlights key factors parties should consider when settlement involves both regulators and civil plaintiffs, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• How Justices' Ruling On NEPA Reviews Is Playing Out

  

  Since the U.S. Supreme Court's May decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, narrowing the scope of agencies' required reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, the effects of the ruling are starting to become visible in the actions of lower courts and the agencies themselves, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

• How The Healthline Privacy Settlement Redefines Ad Tech Use

  

  The Healthline settlement is the first time California has drawn a clear line in the sand around how website tracking must function in practice, so if your site uses tracking technologies, especially around sensitive content like health or finance, regulators are inspecting your website's back end, not just its banner, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

• How Sweeping Budget Bill Shakes Up Health Industry

  

  With the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act marking one of the most significant overhauls of federal health policy since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, providers, managed care organizations and life sciences companies must now shift focus from policy review to implementation planning, say advisers at Holland & Knight.

• Legal Ops, Compliance Increasingly Vital To Antitrust Strategy

  

  With deal timelines tightening and disclosure requirements intensifying, legal operations and compliance teams are becoming critical drivers of premerger strategy, cross-functional alignment and regulatory credibility, says Alexander Lima at Wesco International.