Expert Analysis

• Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons

  

  In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four recent rulings involving wage and hour allegations, medical care for incarcerated individuals, oil and gas royalty payments, and nuisance claims.

• Flashpoints In Focus: Employer Risk After Trans Sports Ruling

  

  Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in West Virginia v. B.P.J. that allowed states to limit trans women's participation in sports, schools must carefully navigate investigations and religious accommodations, as even lawful athletics policies can lead to employment claims, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

• Series

  Being A Singer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Before law school, I spent seven years trying to make it as a professional singer in Los Angeles, and nearly everything I learned about preparation, humility, confidence and more has followed me into my legal practice, says Jessica Caterina at Moses & Singer.

• EEOC Enforcement Plan Signals DEI, Religious Bias Scrutiny

  

  In light of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently publishing its national enforcement plan covering through fiscal year 2029, employers should expect increased scrutiny of practices that conflict with the administration's positions on diversity, equity and inclusion, national origin discrimination, and religious accommodations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• Trade Secret Practice Tips From The 1st Half Of 2026

  

  Intellectual property attorneys should consider what several significant developments in 2026 thus far mean for how they protect, litigate and value trade secrets, focusing on new state noncompete bans, cases scrutinizing how plaintiffs identify trade secrets and federal rulings on damages doctrines, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

• Yellow Corp. WARN Act Appeal Refines Layoff Guidance

  

  A Delaware federal court's recent upholding of a bankruptcy court's disallowance of unions' federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act claims against Yellow underscores that fact-specific notices and thoughtful timing are essential for distressed companies implementing layoffs, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• High Court Rulings Could Alter Agency Strategy For Cos.

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook mark major turning points in the law of independent agencies and in how regulated companies should think about federal enforcement, rulemaking and agency-facing strategy, say attorneys at Holtzman Vogel.

• Remote Work Rulings Show ADA Fights Hinge On Process

  

  Two opposite outcomes in recent Fifth Circuit and D.C. federal court cases underscore that the legality of denying employees' disability accommodation requests for remote work depends less on broad policy and more on how it's applied, says Paul Sweeney at Ice Miller.

• Opinion

  Labor Contract Bill Would Introduce Sweeping Risks For Cos.

  

  The House-approved Faster Labor Contracts Act would force rapid first-contract bargaining, subject businesses to binding arbitration over key workplace terms, and create major uncertainty for nonunion companies, making it crucial for employers to assess their exposure and mitigate the risks now, say attorneys at FBT Gibbons.

• Series

  Being A Magician Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  The skills I've developed as a lifelong magician have translated directly into tangible benefits in the courtroom because performing magic and trying cases both live at the intersection of psychology, storytelling, timing and disciplined rehearsal, says Mark Dombroff at Fox Rothschild.

• How Litigants Are Testing Conversion Therapy Ruling's Scope

  

  Litigants are already using the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Chiles v. Salazar ruling, which applied strict scrutiny to Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, to challenge laws limiting algorithmic rental pricing, artificial intelligence-based discrimination and anti-union employer speech, and courts must soon decide Chiles’ First Amendment limits, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

• Reel Justice: 'Obsession' And The Importance Of Precision

  

  In “Obsession,” the main character’s failure to define the limits of his wish results in an unexpectedly horrifying outcome, highlighting for attorneys why careful word choice is essential not only in briefs, but also in charging decisions, statutory interpretation and all stages of criminal litigation, says Veronica Finkelstein at Widener-Delaware Law.

• How Justices' TPS Ruling Affects Workforce Planning

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent holding in Mullin v. Doe that courts lack jurisdiction to review temporary protected status determinations greenlights the end of TPS for thousands of Syrian and Haitian nationals, and means employers must reevaluate TPS-designees' employability while avoiding discriminatory document practices, says attorney Richard Herman.

• Del. Dispatch: The New 'Director Independence' Definition

  

  The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in Ayers v. Foley, its first interpretation and application of "director independence" as outlined in Section 144 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, suggests that the court will not limit the new section's reach, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

• What To Know Before Justices Rule In Title IX Employee Case

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide whether Title IX protections extend to employees alleging sex discrimination in Crowther v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, which could have significant implications for higher education institutions and their employees, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.