Keep your finger on the legal world's pulse

Interviews with more than 80,000 users of Anthropic’s Claude chatbot across 159 countries provide one of the most detailed snapshots yet of how people use AI. The report found that AI in the workplace to automate tasks was one of the biggest use cases of the technology, although some people said they feared they would lose cognitive abilities in the process. Nearly half of lawyers interviewed said they had encountered AI unreliability firsthand, but they also reported the highest rates of realised decision-making benefits of any profession. Over a quarter (27%) of respondents said they were concerned about AI making poor or incorrect decisions, and 22% said they were fearful about the technology's impact on jobs and the economy. Users in North America, Western Europe and Oceania were worried more about governance gaps, regulatory failure, and surveillance; those in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia were much more positive about AI.

 

EdTech Innovation Hub

Euronews

Financial Times

Salz Management, a franchisee operating Taco Bell and Dunkin restaurants, has agreed to pay more than $1.5m to settle allegations from New York City that it violated fair scheduling laws across around two dozen locations, including failing to provide advance notice of shifts, compensate workers for “clopening” shifts, and prioritize existing staff for additional hours. Clopening is a practice in which an employee works a closing shift directly followed by an opening shift. The case forms part of a broader crackdown on labor practices in the fast food sector under the city’s strengthened enforcement agenda, with authorities also filing a lawsuit against another Dunkin franchisee accused of similar violations affecting roughly 1,000 workers, following previous high-profile settlements such as Starbucks’ $38.9m payout.

 

Reuters

Rosalyn Kimberly (“Kim”) Grigsby, former first deputy at Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the city and the department's leader, alleging she was subject to a “concerted campaign of professional isolation and the systematic stripping of her duties.” Grigsby says her termination last month was retaliation for formal complaints she filed with the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General and the City's Department of Human Resources reporting what she saw as a “pattern of misconduct, isolation, and retaliation to which she had been subjected.” 

 

Chicago Sun Times

The Supreme Court has refused to consider Eli Lilly and Takeda's contention that a racketeering lawsuit against the pharma companies shouldn't proceed as a class action. The lawsuit accuses the companies of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by marketing the Actos diabetes drug without disclosing its link to bladder cancer. The case covers tens of thousands of insurers and other third-party payers that reimbursed the cost of five or more separate Actos prescriptions.

 

Bloomberg

Uncle Nearest, a whiskey brand backed by figures including Jay-Z, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid a bitter dispute with its main lender, Farm Credit Mid-America, but the case was dismissed by a judge who ruled the founders no longer had authority after the company had already been placed into receivership. The filing followed a lawsuit by founders Fawn and Keith Weaver accusing the lender of a “smear campaign” and disputing claims about insolvency, missing inventory, and misuse of funds. With the lender owed over $100m and tensions centred on asset sales and company control, the court signalled the receiver holds the upper hand, even as Uncle Nearest continues operating and fighting the allegations amid a wider downturn in the spirits industry.

 

Bloomberg

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is forming a new ‌enforcement unit for accounting matters while cutting staff at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), moves which Reuters says suggest the SEC is seeking to absorb some functions normally assigned ​to the PCAOB, a nonprofit which has fallen into disfavor in Republican-controlled Washington. The ⁠SEC has posted jobs online for a new "SOX" group, which will "investigate and litigate matters involving potential violations of auditing and related professional standards and provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other relevant federal securities laws." An SEC spokesperson said that auditors were "critical gatekeepers" for maintaining the integrity of financial markets and ​helping prevent ⁠fraud. "Additional hires in the enforcement division will continue the commission's longstanding efforts to crack down on bad actors in the profession," the spokesperson said.

 

Reuters

Global research from LEAP Legal Software finds Canadian law firms lead in adopting emerging technologies, showcasing strong confidence in the impact of legal-specific AI solutions and tools. AI is emerging as one of the legal profession's most significant efficiency tools, with 23% of Canadians saying it saves their firm a significant amount of time (the highest globally), and 43% reporting that legal-specific AI is delivering the greatest impact. LEAP Legal Software's Profitability in Law: Global Report 2026 was based on a survey of 700 legal professionals across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland

 

The Globe and Mail

Stuart Nelson has joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner, enhancing the firm's intellectual property practice in Minneapolis. Nelson specializes in advising both emerging companies and global enterprises on various aspects of patent law, including prosecution and strategic counseling. His expertise will enable the firm to provide comprehensive intellectual property services, from early-stage portfolio development to enforcement and disputes. Nelson previously worked at Fish & Richardson.

 

Bloomberg Law

French hotel operator Accor - whose brands include Sofitel, Novotel, and Ibis - has launched an investigation following a report by short-seller Grizzly Research that questioned the group’s human rights practices. The short-seller said it is betting against Accor, alleging some of its hotels ignored red flags strongly suggestive of child trafficking when making bookings in “an obvious sexual context.” Accor said it denies “involvement in the alleged systemic exploitation of human or child trafficking,” adding that it will take “all appropriate measures” and could prosecute parties involved if the allegations are confirmed. Employees and partners working under its various brands are trained to detect and combat sexual trafficking and the exploitation of children, Accor said.

 

Bloomberg

The ongoing war in Iran is revealing significant deficiencies within the State Department, particularly in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. The bureau, which typically coordinates U.S. foreign policy across 18 countries, is understaffed and under-resourced after the Trump administration's budget proposed a 40% cut, though Congress eventually enacted less dramatic cuts. “[Trump's] making choices without the larger expertise of the United States government that would flag issues of consequence,” said Max Stier, CEO of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group that studies federal workforce issues.

 

U.S. News