Expert Analysis

• Bid Protest Spotlight: Evaluation Criteria, Omissions, Conflicts

  

  In this month's bid protest roundup, James Tucker at MoFo offers takeaways from recent decisions examining a soliciting agency’s latitude to deviate from its own evaluation criteria, a missing small-business certification's materiality and an agency's mid-litigation waiver resolving meritorious conflict of interest allegations.

• What To Know As Legal Duty To Consider AI Takes Shape

  

  While the U.K. Jurisdiction Taskforce’s recent statement on liability for artificial intelligence harms is nonbinding for both U.K. and U.S. lawyers, it highlights the importance of being able to distinguish between the availability of a tool and a professional obligation to use it, say Jonny Frank and Michael Costa at StoneTurn.

• Series

  Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

• How Drug Trial Prediction Markets Pose Insider Trading Risks

  

  Multiple prediction market platforms have recently announced plans to offer event contracts related to clinical trial outcomes and regulatory decisions, creating new insider trading risks by expanding the group of people possessing related material nonpublic information far beyond traditional corporate insiders, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Surviving A Long Trial

  

  Most of law school trial advocacy is geared toward the sprint of trying a short case, but beyond managing a cross-examination or closing argument, effectively handling the marathon of a lengthy trial requires the ability to maintain composure, organization and credibility with the jury, says Mihir Elchuri at Hirschler.

• Series

  Going To Hardcore Shows Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  While government contracts law and the hardcore scene may seem entirely unrelated, in my experience, both are about community, focus, being prepared for the unexpected and managing chaos, says Isaac Natter at Fluet.

• How New Counter-Drone Rule Will Reshape Event Security

  

  A new interim final rule on counter-unmanned aircraft systems creates one of the most structured regulatory frameworks yet adopted for mitigating unauthorized drone activity, with implications for law enforcement, airport and stadium operators, drone companies, and public event organizers, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• Opinion

  Birthright Citizenship Dissents Belie Originalist Interpretation

  

  The three dissents in the U.S. Supreme Court's recent birthright citizenship decision clashed with originalist readings of the Constitution, applying the 14th Amendment more narrowly than its drafters, and by applying contemporary and living document approaches to constitutional interpretation, says Ediberto Roman at Florida International University.

• Series

  Being A Sommelier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Being a sommelier has quietly shaped how I practice law by changing the way I think, communicate and connect with people, and offers a constant reminder that expertise is about making your knowledge useful and accessible to others, says Kara Du at Sheppard.

• 3 Private Suits Test Influencer Ads As FTC Stays On Sidelines

  

  Three lawsuits filed so far this year illustrate how influencer campaigns are facing growing scrutiny from private plaintiffs, despite the Federal Trade Commission not bringing an influencer marketing enforcement action since revising its endorsement guides to address the topic in 2023, but brands can take concrete steps to reduce the risks, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

• AI, Prediction Markets Lead Securities Developments In 2026

  

  Securities class actions tied to artificial intelligence and the battle over prediction market regulation both raise novel questions that courts are only beginning to address and that will continue to resonate throughout the second half of the year, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Series

  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.

• Opinion

  Qualified Immunity Bill's Reach Goes Beyond Federal Officers

  

  The federal Qualified Immunity Abolition Act, introduced earlier this year and described by the bill sponsors as a federal-officer measure, would in actuality reach the entire universe of Section 1983 defendants, a distinction that matters as much to defense counsel as to plaintiffs, says attorney V. James DeSimone.

• AG Watch: Minn. Defends Prediction Markets Ban

  

  Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has aggressively defended the state's landmark statute banning prediction markets, but the court's July 27 temporary injunction in U.S. v. Minnesota blocking the law from taking effect could set the template for state authority across the country, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• Series

  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.