Keep your finger on the legal world's pulse

Lawmakers in Delaware have proposed changes to the state's corporate law to help shield companies controlled by founders from investor lawsuits amid a string of high-profile defections. Two-thirds of S&P 500 companies are incorporated in the state, and its corporate law system has become the model for many other U.S. jurisdictions. But Tesla, SpaceX, TripAdvisor and Dropbox are among companies to have moved to states including Nevada and Texas, and Facebook owner Meta is also said to be weighing a departure. Monday's bill details steps that corporate boards could take to insulate directors and controlling shareholders from litigation over alleged conflicts, and it would also limit the internal records that shareholders can access in order to build their cases. Corporate law expert Ann Lipton said the bill would make shareholder litigation in Delaware "dramatically less successful."

 

Yahoo Finance

Financial Times

Reuters

The top legal risks shaping compliance in 2025

Regulatory shifts, whistleblower protections, and supply chain due diligence are redefining corporate compliance. Legal teams must stay ahead to mitigate risk and drive strategic decision-making.

Download our 2025 Top 10 Risk & Compliance Trends eBook to learn how to:

• Key regulatory shifts and enforcement priorities under new leadership
  
• Updates on global whistleblower protections and enforcement trends
  
• The evolving role of AI governance and supply chain compliance in legal risk

Download your eBook now

 

Law reports that while U.S. law firms await Arizona's decision on whether to license KPMG Law U.S. as an alternative business structure (ABS), some top U.S. headquartered firms including Reed Smith, Perkins Coie, Wilson Sonsini, Sheppard Mullin and Alston & Bird are already seizing the opportunity in England, where regulators have been granting ABS licenses since 2012. Separately, the FT's John Gapper reports on the expansion of Paul Weiss into English law, with the "quintessential New York law firm" raiding star partners from other London firms.

 

Law

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has announced the closure of its Beijing office, effective July 2025, as part of a strategic move to consolidate its operations in Hong Kong. The firm, which has seen a 25% decline in Am Law 100 lawyers in mainland China over the past two years, aims to enhance efficiency in serving clients in the region. The decision follows a trend of US firms reducing their presence in China amid geopolitical tensions and a cooling economy. The firm will maintain its Hong Kong and Seoul offices as its primary bases in Asia.

 

The Global Legal Post

Dentons has appointed Joanna Dimmock, a partner from Paul Hastings, to bolster its disputes, regulatory, and investigations team. With over 20 years of experience, Dimmock will lead the corporate crime practice and focus on white-collar issues and litigation. She is set to join the London office on 24 February, bringing her expertise in handling cross-border and sensitive cases. 

 

CDR

As companies including Amazon and JPMorgan enforce strict return-to-office (RTO) policies, legal experts are warning of the prospect of discrimination claims. “Many employees treated it as a suggestion,” Chris Moran, an employment lawyer at Troutman Pepper Locke, says of early corporate RTO policies. “That was something I don't know that employers saw coming — that a significant percentage of employees felt so strongly that they preferred to work remotely and were willing to sort of ignore [mandates].” The federal government's strict RTO mandates may embolden private sector companies to adopt similar punitive measures. Moran adds: “Now, with what's going on in the federal government, there's perhaps a little more cover for an employer to take the approach that they really mean it this time.”

 

Fast Company

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has moved to dismiss its lawsuit against Harmony Hospitality LLC, which allegedly fired a nonbinary male employee due to his sexual orientation and gender identity. The decision comes just eight months after the agency filed the case. David Lopez, former EEOC General Counsel, described the move as “unprecedented” and “discriminatory,” saying: “For an anti-discrimination agency to discriminate against a group . . . is discrimination.” The EEOC's action raises significant concerns about the future of protections for LGBTQ+ and gender nonconforming individuals in the workplace.

 

Forbes

A Delaware court's opinion rejecting an artificial intelligence (AI) search engine developer's invocation of the fair use defence has given AI companies and copyright owners suing them a glimpse into how judges will weigh fair use arguments. GenAI providers like OpenAI, Meta Platforms, and Anthropic PBC have pointed to the fair use doctrine to fend off accusations they infringed copyrights by using material to train their large language models without permission. Judge Stephanos Bibas partly granted Thomson Reuters' bid for summary judgement, finding Ross Intelligence Inc. can't claim fair use. The case involves non-generative AI but will reverberate in the dozens of pending cases against generative AI companies. The opinion is the first clear signal that plaintiffs such as the New York Times Co. and authors including comedian Sarah Silverman can overcome tech companies' fair use arguments.

 

Bloomberg Law

ABA Journal

Johnson City in Tennessee has agreed to a $28m settlement to resolve a lawsuit alleging police mishandled investigations into Sean Williams, accused of drugging and sexually assaulting numerous women from 2018 to 2021. The settlement, pending federal approval, addresses claims from women using pseudonyms "Jane Doe" against the city and individual officers. The lawsuit encompasses up to 400 women who reported sexual abuse or trafficking to the police during the specified period. Vanessa Baehr-Jones, representing the plaintiffs, noted that the settlement allows the women to begin healing after a painful journey. The city has initiated reforms in its police department following an external investigation that revealed inadequate handling of sexual assault cases.

 

ABC News

Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania has initiated a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, contesting the constitutionality of the federal aid freeze that has withheld $3.1bn in funds approved by Congress for fiscal years 2022 to 2026. The lawsuit seeks to prevent the Trump administration from interfering with these congressionally approved funds. Shapiro's action is part of a broader legal response. The American Bar Association and 22 state attorneys general from Democratic states have also filed lawsuits against the administration, labelling the freeze as “unlawful.”

 

Jurist

Five workers injured in a Texas Gulf Coast refinery explosion have filed a lawsuit against Valero Energy Corp., seeking over $1m in damages. The lawsuit, lodged in Bexar County, alleges that Valero's negligence led to safety failures, including the improper maintenance of equipment and ignoring warnings about hazardous conditions prior to the January 26, 2025 incident. The plaintiffs are pursuing compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering, requesting a jury trial. The incident marks the second fire at the Three Rivers Refinery in January, raising concerns about safety practices at the facility.

 

Texas Lawyer

A poll for the FT finds that most (60%) of American voters believe most U.S. foreign aid never reaches people in need, and funds were “wasted on corruption or administration fees.”

 

Financial Times