Expert Analysis

• FTC Focus: Enforcing Vertically Integrated Operating Systems

  

  As digital platforms increasingly pair operating systems with commerce, advertising, content and data, antitrust scrutiny will turn on whether those integrations create private bottlenecks that foreclose rivals through access, ranking, interoperability or defaults, pushing courts and enforcement agencies to adapt traditional utility and merger frameworks more aggressively, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• How State Actions Are Reshaping Surveillance Pricing Risk

  

  Amid heightened state enforcement activity and expanding legislative action to curb surveillance pricing concerns related to transparency, fairness and discrimination, businesses should closely examine how consumer data is used in pricing decisions, say attorneys at Steptoe.

• What NYC Bridge Crash Signals About Micromobility Liability

  

  A recent fatal crash between a cyclist and a man riding a high-powered electric scooter on New York City's Queensboro Bridge highlights how litigation over accidents involving micromobility devices may increasingly shift away from ordinary negligence and toward product liability, says Jeff Korek at Gersowitz Libo.

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  Teaching SEC Investigations Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Instructing a law school course on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations has made me a more thoughtful, deliberate practitioner because it requires me to continually reassess and challenge what I know about securities law enforcement, how I know it and how best to explain it, says David Chase at Miami Law.

• Monsanto Ruling Bolsters Generic Drug Labeling Preemption

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell concerns herbicide labeling regulated by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, but also carries weighty implications for preemption of state law labeling claims against drug manufacturers, say Terry Henry and Ann Querns at Blank Rome and Melanie Leney at Aurobindo Pharma.

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  Judges On AI: Examining Administrative, Organizational Uses

  

  U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas examines how artificial intelligence could transform a court's ability to deal with administrative work and organize materials when preparing for hearings or drafting opinions, thereby affording judges more time to resolve contested issues.

• Rhode Island Self-Checkout Law Signals National Trend

  

  Rhode Island's law limiting self-checkout in retail stores is the first of its kind, but state and local lawmakers across the country are considering similar bills — and if enacted, they could create a patchwork of compliance requirements around issues including staffing, signage and restricted merchandise, says Hannah Flint at Hunton.

• USPTO-Fed. Circ. Split Complicates Machine Learning Patents

  

  The wide chasm between the USPTO's and the Federal Circuit's approach to eligibility for machine learning patents means that patent drafters must avoid functional claiming and specifications if they hope to avoid invalidation of a machine learning patent at the appellate court, says attorney Michael Kiklis.

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  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.

• $400M Serta Ruling Offers Warning On Uptier Deal Risks

  

  A Texas bankruptcy court's recent remand ruling, which disallowed Serta Simmons Bedding’s uptier debt exchange and awarded $400 million to the minority lenders, demonstrates why deal counsel negotiating similar agreements should clearly define exceptions and lien subordination, while litigators should lean on express terms, says Jamie Aycock at Yetter Coleman.

• Navigating OFAC's 50% Rule For Cross-Border Exec Mobility

  

  A recent Office of Foreign Assets Control guide signals that its 50% ownership rule can determine not only sanctions compliance but also whether a company can sponsor multinational executives for immigration, highlighting an often overlooked interaction between sanctions and immigration law, says Xuan Zhang at Reid & Wise.

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  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.

• Opinion

  Shareholder Derivative Litigation Needs A Better Framework

  

  Uncoordinated, multiforum shareholder derivative litigation is a growing issue for corporate defendants that have little to no recourse for organizing and consolidating actions, but several commonsense steps should be utilized to preempt such disputes, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

• Shopify Settlement Clouds Open-Source Copyright Limits

  

  Shopify's confidential copyright settlement with Shopline, which agreed to stop distributing a disputed storefront theme, raises questions about how far copyright law can protect open-source software without undermining the collaboration that drives development, says Lindsey Sasson at Hach Rose.