Federal

Expert Analysis

• 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.

• US-Ukraine Reconstruction Fund Tax Exemptions Uncertain

  

  Tax provisions in the bilateral agreement to establish the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, which recently announced it is accepting applications, are so broad and imprecise as to leave uncertainty regarding whether and when tax exemptions will apply to investors' income, say attorneys at Avellum and Debevoise.

• 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.

• Judges On AI: Practical Use Cases In Chambers

  

  U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard in the Southern District of California discusses how she uses generative artificial intelligence tools in chambers to make work more efficient and effective — from editing jury instructions for clarity to summarizing key documents.

• What's At Stake In Possible Circuit Split On Medicaid Rule

  

  A recent Eleventh Circuit decision, reviving Florida's lawsuit against a federal rule that reduces Medicaid funding based on agreements between hospitals, sets up a potential circuit split with the Fifth Circuit, with important ramifications for states looking to private administrators to run provider tax programs, say Liz Goodman, Karuna Seshasai and Rebecca Pitt at FTI Consulting.

• Malpractice Claim Assignability Continues To Divide Courts

  

  Recent decisions from courts across the country demonstrate how different jurisdictions balance competing policy interests in determining whether legal malpractice claims can be assigned, providing a framework to identify when and how to challenge any attempted assignment, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin & Lodgen.

• Where PCAOB Goes Next After A Year Of Uncertainty

  

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will likely bring fewer enforcement matters in 2026, reflecting a notable change in board priorities following the change in administrations, say Robert Cox and Nicole Byrd at Whiteford Taylor and Matthew Rogers at Bridgehaven Consulting.

• 5th Circ. Ruling Clarifies Tax Rules For Limited Partners

  

  The Fifth Circuit’s Jan. 16 decision in Sirius Solutions v. Commissioner provides greater tax planning certainty by adopting a bright-line test for determining when partners in limited liability companies are exempt from self-employment tax, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

  

  Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

• 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

  

  Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

• Rescheduling Cannabis Marks New Tax Era For Operators

  

  As the attorney general takes steps to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, operators and advisers should prepare by considering the significant changes this will bring from tax, state, industry and market perspectives, says Michael Harlow at CohnReznick.

• Judges On AI: How Judicial Use Informs Guardrails

  

  U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado discusses why having a sense of how generative AI tools behave, where they add value, where they introduce risk and how they are reshaping the practice of law is key for today's judges.