Keep your finger on the legal world's pulse

A&O Shearman is set to invest $1.1bn over the next five years to enhance its AI capabilities, requiring each practice to dedicate at least 3% of its time to developing specialized AI tools. Hervé Ekué, A&O Shearman’s global managing partner, said: “This significant investment signals where we intend to take the firm over the next decade. AI lets us bring an enhanced skillset to our clients’ work, however complex, on a global scale and in a way that wasn’t possible before.” He added: “The firm that leads will combine exceptional legal judgement with the speed and scale to apply it consistently, anywhere in the world. We intend to be that firm and that is what this investment accelerates.”

 

Bloomberg Law

The Global Legal Post

Law

Financial Times

Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice (DOJ), resigned on Thursday. Dhillon's tenure was marked by controversy: under her watch, the division suspended several consent decrees from the Biden administration and initiated investigations into universities for alleged discrimination against white and Asian students. Stacey Young, head of Justice Connection, a DOJ alumni group, labeled her as “the most destructive, lawless, and hateful head of the Civil Rights Division in DOJ history,” adding: “Americans' civil rights don't enforce themselves. For almost 70 years, the Civil Rights Division brought to fruition the civil rights laws that Americans demanded. Dhillon decimated it.” Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote on social platform X: “Dhillon . . . led the Civil Rights Division with conviction [over] the past 18 months. She has defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor.” 

 

The Hill

NPR / National Public Radio

Pentagon chief technology ​officer Emil Michael, who is also vice chair of ⁠the government's Super Intelligence Task ​Force, the intergovernmental agency ​established by President Donald Trump ​to establish AI policy, has said the U.S. federal government will detail the laws and ‌regulations that apply to domestic AI labs later this month. "What we're trying to do is ​create a ​framework ⁠that makes the American people have confidence that these ​companies are going to do ​the ⁠right thing," Michael said. "Or else I think what you get is ⁠535 ​legislators writing a piece ​of regulation that could kill the industry."

 

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Google has been sued by the parents of a 13-year-old student who allegedly developed suicidal thoughts and plans after prolonged interactions with AI features on her school-issued Chromebook. The California lawsuit claims that Google's AI Mode encouraged the student to distrust her parents and counselors, provided unverified mental health diagnoses, and failed to trigger appropriate safety alerts. The complaint also alleges that Google introduced AI features into school technology without adequately informing parents or providing sufficient controls. Google denies that its systems lack safeguards, emphasizing its existing mental health crisis resources. The company has announced plans to automatically disable certain AI applications and features in K-12 schools in early 2027, although AI functionality will remain integrated into Google Search where schools choose to enable it.

 

The Hill

New York Times

Albertsons has been ordered to pay $900m to Washington state after a judge ruled that the U.S. grocery retailer contributed to the opioid epidemic by failing to prevent suspicious prescriptions being filled at its pharmacies. The ruling includes $800m to address the crisis and $100m in penalties, following evidence that its pharmacies dispensed more than 5.5m opioid pills prescribed by five doctors whose licences were subsequently suspended. Albertsons, which previously agreed a $774m nationwide settlement covering most other opioid lawsuits, has denied wrongdoing and is considering an appeal.

 

Courthouse News Service

Reuters

Williams-Sonoma has moved to dismiss its lawsuit against online retailer Quince over allegations that the company sold inferior copies of its homeware products while misleading consumers through advertising that promoted comparable quality at significantly lower prices. The decision follows a September ruling by a California federal judge, who rejected Williams-Sonoma’s false advertising claims but allowed the retailer to amend its case. Williams-Sonoma has requested dismissal without prejudice, leaving open the possibility of refiling the lawsuit

 

Bloomberg Law

Reuters

A coalition of environmental and human rights groups has filed 14 legal complaints against JBS, the world's largest meat company, alleging money laundering linked to illegal Amazon deforestation. The complaints target JBS's financial partners in Europe, including Barclays and BlackRock, and audit advisors including EY and KPMG.

 

AP News

A New York appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the implementation of New York City's pied-à-terre tax, ruling that the homeowner plaintiffs lacked legal standing because they had not demonstrated that they would be subject to the levy or suffered a concrete injury. The decision reverses a September ruling that questioned the city's publication of supplemental property information and its requirement for homeowners to apply for exemptions. Approved by state lawmakers in May and supported by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul, the tax applies to single-family homes valued at $5m or more, as well as condominiums and co-ops worth at least $1m. The city issued approximately 17,000 notices to potentially affected property owners and had granted 5,200 exemptions from roughly 9,300 applications reviewed by late September. The surcharge is scheduled to appear on property tax bills due January 1st 2027.

 

CNN

Accounting Today

Wall Street Journal

Supervisors from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of ​the Currency contacted banks to ask them about unusual activity or service disruption following last week's $6.3bn hack of cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Reuters reports that lenders have been studying the Binance heist and are undertaking diagnostics on their systems to ensure they are prepared to defend against such an attack. Binance has said it was not aware of conversations between bankers and regulators, and whether the hack had an impact on U.S. ​banks.

 

Reuters

Sheppard is increasing its base pay for associates to remain competitive, aligning with Milbank's recent salary adjustments. Salaries at Sheppard will now range from $235,000 to $455,000. The firm's chair Lucantonio Salvi said: “This adjustment reflects the importance of remaining competitive in attracting and retaining exceptional associate talent.” Milbank raised its salary scale in June and is offering seniority-based bonuses starting at $6,000. Other firms, including McDermott Will & Schulte, have followed suit.

 

Bloomberg Law

Venezuelan lawmakers have given their preliminary approval to the overhaul of the so-called Anti-Hate Law, which the government has used to imprison thousands of people on charges of hate speech. Pedro Infante, the National Assembly’s first vice president, said while presenting the bill that the reform - renamed the Law for Democratic Coexistence, Peace and Tolerance - would eliminate jail sentences in favor of fines and community service, and establish clearer definitions and administrative procedures.

 

Bloomberg

Research published in Annals of Internal Medicine has found that people whose long Covid affects multiple body systems are far less likely to improve than overall recovery estimates suggest. About 60% of people whose long Covid was dominated by changes in smell or taste had improved by three years, compared with less than 19% of those with symptoms affecting multiple body systems, according to the study of 1,019 adults who still had probable long Covid a year after their initial infection. 

 

Bloomberg