Expert Analysis

• What New Packaging Waste Laws Mean For Franchisors

  

  With states ramping up laws establishing extended producer responsibility programs for packaging materials, paper products and single-use food service ware, restaurant and hospitality franchisors face special compliance challenges as they navigate a delicate balance between conflicting priorities, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

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  Playing Piano Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing piano and practicing law share many parallels relating to managing complexity: Just as hearing an entire musical passage in my head allows me to reliably deliver the message, thinking about the audience's impression helps me create a legal narrative that keeps the reader engaged, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

• A Look Inside The EEOC Probe Of Nike's DEI Practices

  

  The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent sweeping subpoena against Nike for alleged discrimination against white employees and applicants signals a dramatic change in enforcement posture toward diversity, equity and inclusion programs that were previously permissible, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

• NY RAISE Act Raises The Bar For Frontier AI Developers

  

  For organizations developing or substantially modifying highly capable artificial intelligence models, the New York Responsible AI Safety and Education Act represents a meaningful escalation beyond California's S.B. 53, even though it applies to a narrower group of developers, so companies should expect additional obligations, particularly around accelerated incident reporting, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

• AI-Generated Doc Ruling Guides Attys On Privilege Risks

  

  A New York federal court's ruling, in U.S. v. Heppner, that documents created by a defendant using an artificial intelligence tool were not privileged, can serve as a guide to attorneys for retaining attorney-client or work-product privilege over client documents created with AI, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

• The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Leadership Strategy After Day 1

  

  For law firm leaders, ensuring a newly combined law firm lives up to its promise, both in its first days of operation and well after, includes tough decisions, clear and specific communication, and cheerleading, says Peter Michaud at Ballard Spahr.

• Calif.'s Civility Push Shows Why Professionalism Is Vital

  

  The California Bar’s campaign against discourteous behavior by attorneys, including a newly required annual civility oath, reflects a growing concern among states that professionalism in law needs shoring up — and recognizes that maintaining composure even when stressed is key to both succeeding professionally and maintaining faith in the legal system, says Lucy Wang at Hinshaw.

• How The Fashion 'Dupe' Economy Is Redefining IP Strategies

  

  Fashion brands' recent experiments with unconventional trademark strategies highlight the growing impact that "dupe" versions of luxury items are having on the fashion market, as well as growing pressure points in trademark and trade dress law, say attorneys at Marshall Gerstein.

• 4th Circ. D&O Ruling Shows Why Textual Policy Args Are Best

  

  The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in favor of the insurer in Navigators Insurance v. Under Armour highlights how plain-text policy interpretation protects party autonomy and improves predictability to the benefit of both insurers and insureds, say attorneys at Zelle.

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  Trivia Competition Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing trivia taught me to quickly absorb information and recognize when I've learned what I'm expected to know, training me in the crucial skills needed to be a good attorney, and reminding me to be gracious in defeat, says Jonah Knobler at Patterson Belknap.

• An Instructive Reminder On Appealing ITC Determinations

  

  A recent Federal Circuit decision, partially dismissing Crocs' appeal of a U.S. International Trade Commission verdict as untimely, offers a powerful reminder that the ITC is a creature of statute and that practitioners would do well to interpret those statutes conservatively, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

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  Law School's Missed Lessons: What Cross-Selling Truly Takes

  

  Early-career attorneys may struggle to introduce clients to practitioners in other specialties, but cross-selling becomes easier once they know why it’s vital to their first years of practice, which mistakes to avoid and how to anticipate clients' needs, say attorneys at Moses & Singer.

• CFIUS Initiative May Smooth Way For Some Foreign Investors

  

  A new program that will allow certain foreign investors to be prevetted and admitted to fast-track approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will likely have tangible benefits for investors participating in competitive M&A, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• How Cos. Can Prepare For Calif. Recycling Label Challenges

  California's S.B. 343 turns recycling labels from marketing shorthand into regulated claims that must stand up to scrutiny with proof, so companies must plan for the Oct. 4 compliance deadline by identifying every recyclability cue, deciding which ones they can support, and building the record that defends those decisions, says Thierry Montoya at FBT Gibbons.

• How AI Data Centers Are Elevating Development Risk In 2026

  

  As thousands of artificial intelligence data center constructions continue to pop up across the U.S., such projects must be treated not as simple real estate developments, but as infrastructure programs where power, supply chains and technology integration all drive both schedule and risk, say attorneys at Cozen O’Connor.