Litigation Law, Mediation Law and Arbitration Law

States across the country are expanding anti-SLAPP protections, with nine states enacting or strengthening laws since 2025. Most have adopted the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA), giving defendants new tools to seek early dismissal of lawsuits.

A federal court has awarded Blake Lively over $400,000 in attorneys' fees and costs under California's new anti-SLAPP statute after dismissing a defamation claim brought against her for speaking out about workplace harassment. This landmark ruling marks the first fee award under California Civil Code section 47.1, which protects communications about sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation—raising critical questions about the financial risks employers face when responding to workplace allega

Over the last few weeks, a lawsuit brought by a former JPMorgan Chase banker alleging sexual harassment and assault against the bank and a senior executive within its leveraged finance division has made headlines. The salacious complaint alleges that the executive subjected the plaintiff to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and retaliation during his employment. It also alleges that the bank defamed the plaintiff when it made derogatory claims about him to others in the financial services industry post-employment.

When multiple family members seek estate planning services together, can one attorney represent everyone? This article examines the complex ethical boundaries that govern attorney-client relationships in family estate planning, exploring when joint representation is permissible and when conflicts of interest require separate counsel.

A U.S. District Court examined whether a commercial general liability insurer must defend and indemnify a trucking contractor after a municipality sought to recover costs for remediating unlawfully deposited demolition debris. The court analyzed whether the property damage constituted an "occurrence" under the policy's definition of an accident, considering the insured's intentional placement of the debris and applicable policy exclusions.

A Texas Business Court examines the boundaries of derived judicial immunity for court-appointed receivers and the entities they create, addressing whether immunity survives appellate reversal and extends beyond the receiver personally. The decision clarifies when post-closing litigation against receivers may be barred and what parties must plead to overcome immunity defenses.

The Fifth Circuit's landmark decision in East Fork Enterprises v. EPA vacates the agency's methylene chloride risk management rule, establishing new precedents for how TSCA requires condition-specific risk determinations, treatment of workplace protective equipment, and evidentiary standards. This ruling could fundamentally reshape EPA's approach to chemical regulation and influence pending litigation involving asbestos, trichloroethylene, and other substances.

A North Carolina Superior Court denied class certification in an antitrust case involving indirect purchasers who alleged a hospital network's anticompetitive conduct inflated their health insurance premiums. The court found plaintiffs failed to demonstrate class-wide impact through common proof, particularly rejecting their expert's pass-through theory as insufficiently rigorous and excluding key portions of the expert report.

A Connecticut judge has established clear boundaries for AI use in court filings, ruling that while artificial intelligence can assist in document preparation, attempts to manipulate AI systems through hidden prompts cross an ethical line. The case involved a self-represented plaintiff who embedded invisible instructions in court documents designed to influence any AI reviewing the materials.

The Fifth Circuit's landmark decision in East Fork Enterprises v. EPA vacates the agency's methylene chloride risk management rule, establishing new precedents for how TSCA requires condition-specific risk determinations, treatment of workplace protective equipment, and evidentiary standards. This ruling could fundamentally reshape EPA's approach to chemical regulation and influence pending litigation involving asbestos, trichloroethylene, and other substances.

How are U.S. attorneys successfully building relationships with Japanese companies, and what cultural and legal differences must they navigate? A Japanese attorney practicing in America shares insights on cross-border representation, examining the stark contrasts between U.S. and Japanese legal systems—from litigation strategy and discovery obligations to client expectations and business decision-making.

In our last post, we covered why building a trade secret management program matters more than blanket confidentiality designations. This post is about what a trade secret program makes possible when someone walks out the door, and why companies without one may be left with employment agreements that cannot do that job alone.