Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  SEC Must Clarify Crypto Guidance For Investment Advisers

  

  Until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission clarifies a conundrum created by recently issued guidance that classifies crypto tokens as digital commodities rather than securities, every registered investment adviser managing a digital commodity portfolio will be simultaneously compliant and exposed, says Nicole Trudeau at Wave Digital Assets.

• Opinion

  Attys Should Aid Clients' AI Use While Safeguarding Privilege

  

  Until legislatures enact laws expressly extending privilege to artificial intelligence queries, lawyers should try to shield their clients' case-related use of AI tools by offering them dedicated access on firms' enterprise accounts and utilizing a long-standing privilege precedent, says Joseph Rillotta at Meadows Collier.

• Employer Tips To Prepare For Va. Family And Medical Leave

  

  With Virginia's paid family and medical leave insurance program taking effect in two years, employers should develop processes for monitoring head count, coordinating with existing federal and state leave programs, and tracking intermittent leave, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

• What End Of SEC Settlement Gag Rule Means For Defendants

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent rescinding of its gag rule prohibiting defendants from publicly denying allegations in settled SEC enforcement actions actually heightens the need to think strategically when negotiating resolutions and pursuing public denials of wrongdoing, say attorneys at Cleary.

• NY's Tax On 2nd Homes Compounds Residency Tax Risks

  

  New York’s recently enacted surcharge on high-value second homes reflects a nationwide legislative trend of using the residency tax framework more aggressively, which brings new considerations for business owners who maintain a residence while asserting domicile elsewhere, says Mark Parthemer at Glenmede.

• Opinion

  Regulators Should Use Existing Tools To Jump-Start Crypto

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Commodity Futures Trade Commission should use existing authority to quickly enable crypto trading, custody, clearing and settlement to reduce uncertainty and lay the groundwork for permanent crypto rules, says Lee Schneider at Ava Labs.

• SEC's Co-Investment Relief Broadens Private Market Access

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent no-action letter to J.P. Morgan Investment Management permits open-end funds to co-invest with affiliates, removing a long-standing barrier open-end fund sponsors have faced in sourcing private market investments at scale, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• Recent Actions Signal Increased NYDFS Health Cyber Focus

  

  The New York Department of Financial Services' recent $2.25 million settlement with Delta Dental indicates that it views cybersecurity enforcement in the healthcare and insurance sectors as an ongoing priority, and serves as a road map for the compliance gaps regulators are most likely to target, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• Employer Tips For Navigating Tenn. Noncompete Law

  

  Although a new Tennessee law will limit the enforceability of noncompetes, including by categorically prohibiting them for lower-wage earners and establishing rebuttable presumptions on their duration, it also gives employers clearer guideposts for drafting enforceable agreements, say attorneys at Burr & Forman.

• Your Next Litigation Hold Should Cover AI Chat Logs

  

  The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision in Fortis Advisors v. Krafton to treat a CEO’s artificial intelligence chats as substantive evidence is being read as a discovery warning to litigators, but there is a second duty-to-preserve lesson that is especially pertinent to in-house counsel, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

• 'Operation Hard Money' Marks New Phase In Synthetic ID Fraud

  

  A recent California mortgage fraud case dubbed "Operation Hard Money" shows synthetic identities are increasingly key to mortgage and money laundering schemes, so lenders would be wise to integrate verification and behavioral monitoring as fraud powered by artificial intelligence creates larger losses and recovery challenges, says Neal Levin at Rimon.

• FERC Order May Alter PJM's Framework, Spur $1B In Refunds

  

  A recent order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stands to reform how grid operator PJM Interconnection assigns transmission upgrade costs, with potentially sweeping implications for transmission owners, merchant transmission facilities and load-serving entities, including an estimated $1 billion in refunds and surcharges, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

• New Connecticut Law On Employers' AI Use Is Inventive

  

  A recently passed Connecticut law regulating the use of artificial intelligence in employment decisions innovates by using third-party risk assessments to vet and certify AI models, and by recognizing a division of responsibility between developers and deployers, potentially influencing pending legislation in other states, say attorneys at Littler.

• Visa's Agentic Payment Rules Expose Compliance Tensions

  

  Visa's recently released framework clarifying how payments driven by artificial intelligence can occur without consumer-merchant interaction exposes compliance risks under disclosure and fee transparency laws that may require merchants and payment providers to rethink consumer protection as agentic commerce expands, say attorneys at Stinson.

• Opinion

  International Patent Licensing System Must Be Maintained

  

  As foreign approaches to patent enforcement threaten to distort the licensing markets that underpin modern technology, courts and policymakers must take action to ensure that the standard essential patent framework is preserved, says Brian O'Shaughnessy at Dinsmore.