Technology infrastructure now defines how law firms deliver service, manage compliance, and compete for clients. The most forward-looking firms are not just upgrading systems; they are transforming how they plan, finance, and govern their technology investments.
The patent world is at a moment of change. A tremendous amount of thought, financial investment, and political capital is being devoted to transforming patents into assets that are central to the economy, international trade, and national defense. The incentives for obtaining and aggressively monetizing patents are increasing. In contrast, defending a patent litigation is becoming more difficult and the stakes are higher. Companies that take steps now to navigate these changes may be rewarded with significant competitive advantages.
When a state court dismissed a landowner’s article 78 proceeding challenging a zoning determination, can the landowner then bring an action in federal court raising federal constitutional challenges to the same determination?
Since enactment of the Bankruptcy Code, certain types of claims continue to be vigorously litigated, perhaps because adjudication requires a fact-intensive analysis by the court. In the commercial real estate sector, such examples include landlord-tenant commercial real estate lease claims and the disposition of environmental cleanup claims under state and federal law.
When skill and experience are equal, the attorney who demonstrates polished manners and respectful interactions is far more likely to earn the trust of clients, the confidence of colleagues, and the loyalty of staff. The key is to ensure the training is engaging, positive in tone, and delivered in a way that feels relevant to the modern legal environment.
Washington state expanded the breadth of its sales tax laws, which could catch professional service firms off guard. While traditional legal and accounting services are exempt from sales tax, the ripple effects of this change could still substantially impact professional services firms, albeit in subtle but significant ways.
Many single asset real estate (SARE) bankruptcies will check some or all of the boxes for a bad faith filing. The timing of a SARE filing commonly suggests an intent to delay, as SARE filings are generally a last resort to stay foreclosure. Nevertheless, courts may be reluctant to dispose of these cases as bad faith filings, absent particularly egregious circumstances evidencing patent abuse of the bankruptcy process.
This year has seen a wave of proposed bills in state legislatures across the United States aimed at regulating foreign-influenced political activity at the state level. While stylized to mirror portions of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), in reality, many of these laws are broader than FARA and lack the core exemptions that companies may have grown accustomed to relying upon.
As I reflect on our Women, Influence & Power in Law (WIPL) conference, one of the most powerful takeaways was the importance of leading with confidence in times of uncertainty.
AI-assisted artwork poses a simple question: When can an artist using AI tools copyright their work? Early this year, the Copyright Office addressed this issue and rejected the proposition that only prompting an AI model can create a copyrightable work. But their analysis missed that “randomness” for a computer means something entirely different than we generally think, ultimately underselling the amount of control someone can have over the model’s output.
