Expert Analysis

• Why Pa. Push For Brownfield Renewables May Not Be Enough

  

  A recent executive order from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro directed state regulators to expedite siting of clean energy development on former industrial sites — but additional reforms may be needed to effectively eliminate barriers to these types of projects, says Louis Dodge at Langsam Stevens.

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  Law School's Missed Lessons: Cultivating Good Judgment

  

  Law schools generally overlook the role that solid judgment skills play in real-world practice, but attorneys can bridge the gap by strengthening their abilities to assess a case’s strengths and weaknesses, develop and execute effective strategies, and provide clear recommendations to clients, says Manny Caixeiro at Venable.

• Loper Bright Unlikely To Upend DEA Rescheduling Challenges

  

  As cannabis industry stakeholders await a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ruling on broader cannabis rescheduling, the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision in Loper Bright to eliminate judicial deference to agency decisions should not dramatically affect cannabis rescheduling litigation risk, but it could marginally strengthen proponents' hand if the DEA denies rescheduling, say attorneys at Dentons.

• AI And AML: Governance Plays Critical Role In Innovation

  

  Financial institutions adopting artificial intelligence for anti-money laundering compliance should implement governance specific to individual use cases, testing, documentation and human oversight to manage regulatory and enforcement risks as agentic tools expand, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

• FTC Focus: A Shift In The Pricing Disclosure Terrain

  

  Recent state and Federal Trade Commission developments spotlight materially different ways in which personalized pricing might be addressed, which could result in an increasingly fragmented regulatory landscape in which businesses face differing disclosure obligations and substantive restrictions depending upon the jurisdiction, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• 9th Circ. Comet Ruling Spotlights Trade Secret Proof Burdens

  

  The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision to vacate a $40 million verdict awarded to Comet Technologies in its trade secret dispute with XP Power underscores how the burden of proof differs between federal and state law, giving litigants a fresh perspective on several issues, including how a jury should be instructed, say attorneys at Cooley.

• What Trial Teams Should Know About AI Jury Research Tools

  

  Using artificial intelligence for jury research is quickly becoming part of the litigation consulting landscape, and can be a useful part of a case assessment toolkit — but litigators must understand what these systems are built to measure, and what conclusions can reasonably be drawn from their output, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

• Lessons For Banks When A Fintech Partner Fails

  

  Recent fintech bankruptcies highlight best practices for how banks can strengthen third-party oversight, data-access rights, wind-down planning and customer communications to limit regulatory exposure and consumer harm when a fintech partner collapses, say attorneys at Barack Ferrazzano.

• Del. Ruling Emphasizes High Bar To Pleading A Control Group

  

  The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in Le Clair v. KnowBe4 illustrates the high burden to which courts hold plaintiffs trying to establish a control group, as well as the continued power of an informed stockholder vote, say attorneys at Sidley.

• Attorneys Using AI May Have Ethical Duty To Redact Docs

  

  The trajectory of legal ethics guidance in recent years strongly suggests that as redaction technology becomes more accessible, the failure to use it when uploading highly confidential materials into artificial intelligence tools will become increasingly difficult to defend as reasonable, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

• OpenAI Deal Highlights AI Hiring Risks In PERM Process

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice's recent settlement of allegations that OpenAI discriminated against U.S. applicants for positions connected to the permanent labor certification process underscores that employers providing or using artificial intelligence must align their recruitment practices with their overlapping compliance obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

• State AI Safety Laws Raise New Liabilities For Healthcare Cos.

  

  Healthcare and life science companies using third-party artificial intelligence tools should pay particular attention to the changing state-level legal landscape, where the rollout of multiple AI safety laws is introducing both new compliance obligations and potential consumer protection liabilities, say attorneys at McDermott.

• AI And AML: Rulemakings Lean Into Responsible Innovation

  

  Recent federal rulemaking increasingly supports deployment of artificial intelligence tools for anti-money laundering compliance purposes, and institutions that build clear use and governance frameworks will be best positioned to defend programs when AI systems err, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

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  Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

• How Quantum Risk Could Reshape Legal Obligations

  

  As federal policy, National Institute of Standards and Technology standards, and major market practice converge around postquantum cryptography, companies may need to safeguard their data now to prove they took reasonable measures to protect trade secrets from quantum computers that do not exist yet, say attorneys at MoFo.