Keep your finger on the legal world's pulse

The Supreme Court has ruled that ExxonMobil can sue Cuban state-owned enterprises in U.S. courts for property seized after Fidel Castro's rise to power.  At issue was whether the 1996 law known as the Helms-Burton Act removes the shield from lawsuits in American courts that typically cover foreign countries and state-owned businesses. The justices reversed a lower-court ruling that found that the Cuban state-owned companies are immune from lawsuits in U.S. courts. “Today’s decision is a critical moment in a 60 year effort to be compensated for what the Cuban government illegally seized,” Exxon said in a statement. “It reflects two things: the merits of our argument and the fact that our company will fight a good fight for as long as it takes.”

 

Bloomberg Law

The Baltimore Sun

Law

U.S. News

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The Supreme Court has ruled 6-3 that Falun Gong practitioners cannot sue Cisco for allegedly aiding the Chinese government's surveillance and torture of the spiritual movement. The decision limits the ability of foreigners to hold U.S. corporations liable in U.S. courts for aiding and abetting alleged human rights violations overseas. “In truth this class is a null set. And because courts cannot create new rights of action to remedy violations of internal law, there is necessarily no liability for aiding and abetting such violations,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority. The lawsuit, initiated in 2011 by Chinese nationals and a U.S. citizen, accused Cisco of knowingly providing technology that facilitated the persecution of Falun Gong members. Although a federal judge dismissed the case in 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit revived some claims in 2023, leading to Cisco's appeal to the Supreme Court.

 

The Hill

Law

U.S. News

The Supreme Court has ruled against Damon Landor, a Rastafarian man who tried to sue Louisiana prison officials for damages after they forcibly shaved off his dreadlocks. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the 6-3 majority that a federal law protecting prisoners’ religious rights doesn’t allow them to seek financial compensation if their rights are violated. "And because they never agreed to answer suits like this one, Mr. Landor’s case cannot proceed against them any more than a breach of contract action might proceed against a defendant who never formed a contract," Gorsuch wrote. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote for the liberals: “Prisoners like Landor who suffer violations of their religious freedom in state prisons - no matter how blatant - will often be left remediless . . . And encroachments on prisoners’ statutory rights are likely to happen with fair frequency, as state-empowered prison officials will have little incentive to abide by federal law, even if it is handed to them on a piece of paper.”

 

ABA Journal

The Baltimore Sun

NPR / National Public Radio

U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders say they have reached a bipartisan agreement on legislation requiring social media platforms to provide safeguards and tools for children and parents. Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said in a statement: “We worked across the aisle for many months and have now found common ground on policies to significantly improve the digital environment for kids . . . Through empowering parents, establishing safety as a default, strengthening privacy for children and teens, increasing transparency around data brokers, and holding Big Tech accountable, the KIDS Act delivers the 21st century protections parents have demanded and our kids deserve.” The agreement does not include a "duty of care" provision; such language would require companies to design social media platforms with children's safety in mind.

 

Energy & Commerce Committee Democrats

Punchbowl News

The Hill

Reuters

The Economist reports on how pet custody laws are changing in the United States. In most of America, divorce laws treat animals as property. But a bill in Massachusetts would require judges to consider the “best interests” of companion animals in divorce disputes, and Pennsylvania's House passed a bill last year that would classify pets as “living beings that are generally regarded as cherished family members.” Massachusetts and Pennsylvania would join the roughly half dozen states that require courts to consider pets' interests when dividing a household, in what The Economist says is a cultural shift: according to a poll by the Pew Research Centre, nearly all pet owners consider pets to be part of the family, and 51% said they value their pets as much as they do human family members.

 

The Economist

Uber's board has been sued in San Francisco federal court by shareholders led by ​a Detroit pension fund, who accuse the ride-sharing company's management and directors of allowing corners to be cut on compliance, precipitating thousands of lawsuits from victims of sexual ​assault and harassment. "Uber is a serial compliance offender," whose reputation has been "irredeemably damaged" by negative media ​coverage, the complaint says. A spokesperson for Uber said the lawsuit "ignores important facts and is ​based on misleading, false narratives from other meritless lawsuits that we have already addressed publicly and in the ‌courtroom.”

 

Reuters

Meta is pausing an internal program that tracks ​employee mouse movements and digital activity for AI training amid reports that sensitive employee data, intended to monitor digital interactions within Meta's internal systems, was accessible to all Meta ​workers. "We have carefully designed this program ​with privacy safeguards and while we have no indication at this time that ​any data was improperly accessed by Meta employees, we're pausing it while we investigate," said Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton. The tool - Model Capability Initiative (MCI) - was launched in April.

 

Business Insider

Reuters

Global M&A activity is on pace to reach $4tn in deal value in 2026, marking the strongest year since 2021, according to PwC. The surge has been driven largely by a growing number of megadeals tied to AI, with transactions valued above $5bn accounting for nearly half of total global deal value so far this year. PwC said AI is reshaping the M&A landscape by redirecting capital and accelerating consolidation among companies seeking to strengthen their competitive positions. Notable transactions include SpaceX’s proposed $60bn acquisition of AI startup Cursor and Salesforce’s $3.6bn purchase of customer service platform Fin. While large deals continue to gain momentum, PwC noted that mid-market transactions remain constrained by geopolitical uncertainty, valuation disagreements, inflation, higher interest rates, and a backlog of private equity exits.

 

CNBC

Oliver Miloschewsky, Head of Shipping for Asia at Aon, says that despite signs of de-escalation in the Iran-U.S. conflict, shipowners still want clear evidence that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz are stable in practice, and not just in principle. While Iran’s plans to impose tolls would undoubtedly raise costs, the bigger issue will be legal compliance due to sanctions on Iranian entities, Miloschewsky says.

 

CNBC

Carter Olson has joined Clifford Chance as a partner in its finance and derivatives practice in Houston. His expertise encompasses secured and unsecured finance, serving a diverse clientele including borrowers, lenders, and private equity sponsors. Olson's experience spans project finance and various asset-based loans in sectors such as maritime and oil and gas. He previously worked at Vinson & Elkins.

 

Bloomberg Law

James Sprayregen, the highly regarded lawyer who built Kirkland & Ellis into a bankruptcy powerhouse, is set to join Paul Weiss, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.

 

Financial Times

A UN report reveals that, for the first time in 30 years, government forces rather than armed groups are responsible for the majority of grave violations against children in conflict zones. Israel topped the list countries responsible for violations, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar, Somalia, and Sudan. Vanessa Frazier, the UN's special representative for children and armed conflict, said the report's findings were indicative of “a worrying shift” and “a deeper erosion of respect for international law.” The report found 38,558 verified grave violations against 24,174 children during 2025, the highest number since the UN's mandate on children and armed conflict was created in December 1996.

 

Arab News

A new European Central Bank study has found that, despite rapid investment in AI, the technology has had only a limited impact on overall U.S. employment and wage growth so far. While AI is reshaping parts of the labor market, fears of widespread job losses and falling wages have yet to materialize at an economy-wide level. The research shows that employment has shifted away from occupations with a high risk of AI substitution, such as economists and graphic designers, toward lower-risk roles, including electricians and high school teachers. Between 2019 and 2025, high-risk occupations saw employment decline by more than 4%, while low-risk occupations recorded growth of 13%.

 

Reuters