Expert Analysis


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.


Mass. UHC Fraud Suit Signals States' Medicaid FCA Push

Massachusetts' recently filed False Claims Act suit alleging UnitedHealthcare misrepresented the health status of enrollees in a Medicaid senior care organization plan it managed pushes forward a new phase of state-level scrutiny of managed care data and Medicaid payment mechanisms, say Li Yu at Bernstein Litowitz, Ellen London at London & Naor and Gwendolyn Stamper at Vogel Slade.


The Growing Antitrust Risks Of AI Pricing For Health Insurers

Attorneys at Patterson Belknap provide an overview of the increased risk of antitrust enforcement for health insurance companies using algorithmic price models, including in the form of multidistrict private litigation, new state and federal bills, and potential federal enforcement.


Germany IP Rulings Clarify 'Willing' SEP Licensee Analysis

In light of a series of judgments from a German regional court and the Unified Patent Court, U.S. entities and their counsel should keep pace with the willing licensee standard developing abroad, as standard essential patent and fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory licensing disputes have become cross-border campaigns, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.


FDA Draft Guidance Maps Payor Strategy For Psychedelics

Recently revised guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will operationalize a framework permitting drug developers to share product information with insurance companies, giving psychedelic therapeutics developers a road map for building a successful payor infrastructure before approval, says Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell.


Parsing Who Gets The Track Record In A Venture Partner Split

A recent California federal court order in TEEC Angel Management v. Tsingyuan Ventures allowing Lanham Act claims to proceed confirms that the question of who gets to tell the story of a shared win is now being litigated as false advertising instead of industry professional etiquette, says Ben Dubin at VC Expert Services.


$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.


Justices' Review Of Atty Fees Could Reshape Pipeline Takings

With the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to review Hoffmann v. WBI Energy Transmission, property owners' right to recover attorney fees for appropriations under the Natural Gas Act is at stake, potentially leading to a choice between a depressed land valuation or court costs that could exceed any rewards, says attorney Sophia Holley.


Immigration Order Raises Customer ID Stakes For Banks

Following a recently issued immigration-related executive order, financial institutions should expect and prepare for increased scrutiny of customer due diligence and identification, suspicious activity monitoring, and consumer lending, as well as accompanying supervisory shifts and rising fair lending risks, says Douglas Weissinger at Butler Snow.


How 2nd Circ. Raised The Bar For Pleading Securities Fraud

In Huey v. Anavex, the Second Circuit recently appeared to increase the burden on securities fraud plaintiffs in pleading loss causation where no immediate share price decline follows the corrective disclosure, generating new questions that district courts must grapple with, say attorneys at Skadden.


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.


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.


USDA Rule Would Broaden Foreign Co. Reporting Burden

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's recently proposed overhaul of foreign landholder reporting obligations would expand covered agricultural uses, mandate more detailed online disclosures and toughen penalties, so organizations must proactively reassess U.S. land interests and prepare for a more stringent compliance regime, say attorneys at Skadden.


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.


How CME Suit May Reshape CFTC's Crypto Derivatives Rules

CME Group's recent lawsuit over the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's approval of a Kalshi application to offer a bitcoin perpetual contract as a futures product could have cascading consequences for crypto derivatives regulation, highlighting why policy ambitions do not override statutory text or substitute for reasoned decision-making, says attorney Tamara de Silva.


NEPA Reforms Can Fix Permitting Without Weakening Review

Recent National Environmental Policy Act reforms, in tandem with a Senate bill proposing faster permitting reviews and greater agency coordination, mark a long overdue move toward more efficient energy and infrastructure permitting that does not sacrifice environmental assessment, say attorneys at GableGotwals.


Quantifying Damages In Product Launch Delay Allegations

In delayed generic-drug entry cases that have generated substantial settlements in recent years, damages are often measured by profits lost during the delay window, but this model can fail to account for potentially significant economic harm that occurs after that window, say analysts at Kroll.


2 Microsoft Matters Could Help Shape AI Antitrust Outlook

A pending federal court case and investigation focusing on Microsoft's allegedly anticompetitive conduct in the deployment of artificial intelligence tools are testing whether antitrust law can distinguish ordinary competition to supply the AI ecosystem from conduct that distorts how that competition unfolds, says Kylie Kim at Massey & Gail.


JPMorgan Ruling Shows Courts' Limited Role In Fee Fights

The Delaware Chancery Court's recent decision that JPMorgan Chase must cover more than $21 million in disputed legal fees for two former executives of the startup Frank illustrates the reality that companies, not the courts, are responsible for ongoing supervision of legal spending, says Theodore Edelman at GCE Advisors.



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Opinion


Justices' Parole Ruling Degrades Green Card Holders' Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Blanche v. Lau, holding that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers can parole a returning lawful permanent resident without clear and convincing evidence of a crime, weakens the statutory and practical protections Congress intended, say attorneys at Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners.

Denying Emergency Abortion Care Is A Liability Oversight

Health systems in states with abortion bans should consider that refusing to provide emergency abortion care carries greater legal risk than the risk of prosecution under post-Dobbs laws for providing treatment, say Kimberly Chernoby at FemInEM and Rachel Rebouché at the University of Texas, Austin School of Law.



Access to Justice Perspectives


Justices Stand On Statutory Specifics In Cisco And Landor

With its June 23 decisions in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe and Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, the U.S. Supreme Court doubled down on the critical point that the statute invoked in a federal claim must authorize a private lawsuit and the remedy sought, says Patrick Judd at Phelps Dunbar.