Insights

Do you want your startup to expand and become a major player in your industry? If so, you will most likely need to seek capital from outside investors to help you build infrastructure and fulfill orders.

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash), the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, recently outlined a comprehensive artificial intelligence (AI) governance framework designed to drive legislative and executive actions. The framework is built on six principles and is being introduced at a time when federal AI legislation is actively being debated. While the framework is a proposal, it reflects priorities that have bipartisan resonance and signals where lawmakers are likely to focus. For health insurance payors, several elements of the framework are directly relevant to existing and planned AI deployments, particularly in utilization management, claims processing, and member-facing services.

The Sedona Conference has published its Defend Trade Secrets Act Model Jury Instructions: DTSA 10th Anniversary Commemorative Edition, the product of Working Group 12’s consensus process. Earlier this year, we alerted clients to the draft instructions. The final publication cautions that the instructions are a starting point only, not binding law, and must be tailored to the facts, claims, and governing law of each case. 

Following the Board’s November 8, 2024, decision reversing the Examiner’s OTDP rejections of claims 1-18 of U.S. Application No. 17/135,529 (the ’529 Application), the patent application at issue in Ex parte Baurin, the Examiner filed a request for rehearing. On March 5, 2026, USPTO Director Squires convened the ARP and granted sua sponte rehearing. Eleven amicus briefs were entered into the record on April 1, 2026. 

The FCA has recently published Policy Statement PS26/19, finalising its rules on sustainability disclosures for listed companies. As discussed in our earlier article here, the FCA had consulted on proposals to replace the existing TCFD-aligned disclosure regime with new requirements based on the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS). The final rules depart from the consultation proposals in a number of significant respects. 

At a glance: A New Mexico jury found Meta liable for nearly 44 million deceptive trade practice violations based on misleading privacy and platform-safety statements—showing that public-facing privacy claims can create significant consumer-protection exposure.

On October 1, 2026, Judge Brian M. Cogan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied NYP’s motion to dismiss a consolidated antitrust complaint brought by three self-funded union health plans. The ruling is significant for two reasons. First, it demonstrates that plaintiffs can successfully allege market power against hospital systems even in the absence of traditionally high market shares. Second, the court’s reasoning closely tracks the arguments advanced by the DOJ in its Statement of Interest filed in the case: that market power need not be established through market share alone and can be shown through direct evidence such as supracompetitive pricing, and that exclusionary conduct and rival foreclosure are not required elements of a Section 1 claim. The recent decision validates the government’s legal theories and could enhance the viability of the DOJ’s parallel action against NYP, which is currently proceeding in the Southern District of New York.

At a glance: Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 690, amending CIPA to restrict private plaintiffs from bringing “pen register” and “trap and trace” claims arising from web-based conduct. The amendment is meant to reduce the wave of private CIPA litigation targeting website tracking technology. However, businesses remain exposed to several major types of claims and enforcement mechanisms under CIPA and related statutes and should audit their tracking technologies, consent mechanisms, and litigation posture accordingly.

The Rule of Two is a vital mechanism for ensuring that contracting officers satisfy the federal government’s statutory requirement that 23% of U.S. prime contracts be issued to small businesses. FAR 19.502-2(b) (19.104-1(a) of the RFO) requires that agencies set aside procurements for small businesses when there is a reasonable expectation that at least two responsible small businesses will submit offers at fair market prices.  

For multi-channel marketers, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) has been a persistent and evolving compliance preoccupation. Businesses that rely on automated texts and robocalls to engage customers, particularly in retail, financial services, health care, and political campaigning, have had to navigate its consent requirements with care. For example, in 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) determined it would permit consumers to revoke consent by “any reasonable method,” a move that sent companies scrambling to bring decentralized communications channels into compliance.

Guidehouse served as the prime contractor responsible for technology services used in administering New York’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (“ERAP”). Under Guidehouse’s contract with the State of New York, the online ERAP portal was to undergo cybersecurity testing in its pre-production environment before it was launched to the public, and Guidehouse was required to certify that the system met the contract’s requirements. Within hours of going live, the ERAP portal exposed certain applicants’ personally identifiable information and was shut down.

On September 9, 2026, the European Commission proposed a new Public Procurement Act that would fundamentally change the way that public procurement is regulated across the EU. In this alert we look at what changes have been proposed, and discuss how those changes would affect companies – whether EU-based or not — that wish to participate in European public procurement.  

Last week during the National Advertising Division 2026 Annual Conference, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provided insights on its enforcement priorities, and the National Advertising Division (NAD) provided updates on recent cases and procedural updates. 

In June, the president, seemingly in reaction to the cybersecurity risks of frontier artificial intelligence models, ordered the establishment of a voluntary regulatory regime for the government to scrutinize frontier models prior to public release.

On September 30, 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 947, the “No Robo Bosses Act,” into law, effective July 1, 2027. The law prohibits California employers from relying solely on AI or other automated decision systems (ADS) to discipline or terminate employees, and requires meaningful human review and written notice to affected workers when such tools play a primary role in those decisions. Employers using AI-driven workforce management tools should begin compliance planning now.

On October 1, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) National Fraud Enforcement Division issued Directive 26-12: Corporate Enforcement in the Fight Against Fraud. Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald’s October directive follows his August 2026 memorandum setting the Division’s enforcement priorities. The directive signals — in the DOJ’s words — “an aggressive, all-tools” enforcement posture across the Division’s health care, government contracting, tax, and trade fraud priorities, while simultaneously supporting the incentives designed to promote transparency, reward cooperation, and encourage voluntary disclosure of misconduct. 

In recent years, there has been a wave of new legislation impacting contracts and contractual terms. The Belgian legislator is gradually adopting the different Books of the Belgian Civil Code, and the Belgian Code of Economic Law has been updated several times. These changes affect the way contract terms need to be drafted, not only between companies but also with consumers. 

 On September 28, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida upheld the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) final rule governing organ procurement organizations (OPO). The rule, promulgated in 2020, will have its fullest effect when CMS releases final OPO performance rankings determining the fate of the 55 OPOs (Regulatory Uncertainty Ahead For Organ Transplant System). The Middle District of Florida is among five courts hearing challenges to the rule and the first to issue a decision. Legacy of Life Hawaii v. HHS, which was filed August 6, 2026, is the most recent.  

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a change to the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notification system for the first time in almost 30 years. The new proposed rule, unlike the current rule proposed in 1997 and finalized in 2016, makes GRAS notifications mandatory. The comment period for the proposed rule ends in only two months (December 9, 2026), and stakeholders should act promptly to submit comments before the deadline closes. Given the significance of the proposed changes for food manufacturers and suppliers, understanding the scope and implications of the rule is critical now — before it is finalized.