Legal News
Curated updates in Employment, Entertainment, Civil Litigation, Corporate, and AI Law — the areas where our attorneys focus their practice. Each item links to the original source.
2026
New York's minimum wage rose to $17/hour in NYC, Nassau, Suffolk & Westchester as of January 1, 2026, with new exempt-salary thresholds also in effect.
Source: Troutman Pepper Locke →
2026
New York has codified the disparate-impact theory of discrimination under the State Human Rights Law, with added scrutiny on AI-driven employment decisions.
Source: Loeb & Loeb LLP →
2026
New York will bar employers from using an applicant's or employee's consumer credit history in hiring and pay decisions starting April 18, 2026.
Source: K&L Gates →
2026
NYC employees gained new unpaid leave benefits in February 2026, on top of existing paid sick and safe time entitlements.
Source: Lipsky Lowe LLP →
2026
AI-generated synthetic performers and digital replicas are increasingly appearing in productions without traditional casting, reshaping legal risk earlier in the creative process.
Source: FoundersLegal →
January 2026
The Los Angeles City Council is exploring a $5 million support program for short-form vertical "microdrama" productions.
Source: Sheppard Mullin →
2026
Studios and agencies are increasingly investing in AI startups as a hedge against unauthorized digital replicas and voice synthesis of talent.
Source: Chambers and Partners →
April 2026
Entertainment attorneys are navigating a wave of new deal structures as independent film and television financing shifts amid industry turmoil.
Source: Variety →
Effective June 2026
New York's Consumer Litigation Funding Act takes effect, capping litigation funders' recovery at 25% of gross recovery and requiring plain-language contracts.
Source: ICLG →
2026
Recent Commercial Division rulings continue to shape strategy in partnership disputes, LLC operating agreement conflicts, and discovery obligations.
Source: Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP →
February 2026
New York courts continue dismissing civil RICO claims in commercial disputes that fail to meet the statute's strict pleading requirements.
Source: Farrell Fritz Law Firm →
January 2026
2026 M&A activity is trending toward hybrid deal structures blending acquihires, infrastructure financing, and strategic partnerships.
Source: Morrison Foerster →
2026
Delaware courts continue refining director and controlling-stockholder liability standards following 2025 statutory reforms.
Source: Chambers and Partners →
2026
Law firms accounted for nearly 22% of premium New York office leases above $100/sq ft in Q1 2026.
Source: Law360 Pulse →
2026
New York's RAISE Act imposes new transparency and safety-framework requirements on frontier AI developers operating in the state.
Source: Wilson Sonsini →
Effective June 30, 2026
Colorado's AI Act takes effect, mandating risk management programs and impact assessments for covered AI deployers.
Source: Kiteworks →
2026
Courts are approaching decisive rulings in major cases testing whether training AI models on copyrighted data qualifies as fair use.
Source: CPO Magazine →
2026
California's AB 2013 now requires generative AI developers to publicly disclose detailed summaries of their training datasets.
Source: Wilson Sonsini →
