Federal

Tax Policy To Watch After The Midterm Elections

Asha Glover

When lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., after the midterm elections, proposals to overhaul the Internal Revenue Service's administration could be ripe for inclusion in a year-end package if the goal is to clear the decks before the next legislative session, according to tax policy observers. Here, Law360 takes a look.

3 Ways Burgeoning AI Use Can Trip Up Benefits Providers

Kellie Mejdrich

As the use of artificial intelligence in the employee benefits space grows, experts warn that companies need to be vigilant to guard against mishaps caused by the emerging technology. Here, Law360 looks at three areas where benefits attorneys say AI can cause legal headaches.

How The Midterms Are Likely To Shape Tax Policy

Natalie Olivo
Senior Tax Correspondent

While the outcome of the midterm elections won't change tax policy overnight, the winning party should at the very least have the chance to signal its priorities and work on bipartisan legislation that could become law even in a divided government. Here, Law360 breaks down different tax policy scenarios that could come from the elections.

Planning Personal Phone Collections Before Discovery Begins

For counsel planning a personal phone collection as part of the litigation discovery process, it's important to take early steps to ensure that necessary information will be obtained without exposing unrelated information or running into access issues, says Jeremy Horowitz at MARA Forensics.

What To Know About New Proposed Opportunity Zone Regs

The Treasury and IRS recently released proposed regulations for the permanent extension of the opportunity zones program, with key points including revocations of inadvertent qualified opportunity fund self-certifications, voluntary decertifications and expanded reporting requirements, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

Character.AI Ch. 11 Tests New Model For Preserving AI Value

Character.AI's bankruptcy is charting a path for preserving value in an artificial intelligence business that depends on retaining unfinished technology and the employees who know how to develop it, while accounting for the firm's failure and its consequences for creditors, says Diane Dick at University of Iowa College of Law.

Judges Must Turn To Merits Earlier To Fix Civil Justice System

The U.S. justice system is long overdue for a cultural shift that encourages judges to engage with the merits of a case from the outset, which would help to cut through procedural complexities and deliver high-quality justice efficiently and at lower cost, says Steven Kayman at Rottenberg Lipman.

The Invisible AI Danger That May Undermine Legal Profession

A public database tracking cases involving hallucinations generated by artificial intelligence recently surpassed 2,200 entries, but the bigger risk underlying attorneys’ use of such tools is that they will slowly surrender their judgment to AI and lose analytical skills, says Massachusetts District Court Associate Justice Brian Palmucci.

How AI Could Help Judges Spot Their Own Biases

In close cases where there’s room for discretion, artificial intelligence could challenge judges’ implicit biases by running counterfactual tests at scale — but any judicial use of such tools would need guardrails, say Arnold Peter at Peter Law and Nancy Rapoport at University of Nevada.

3 Strategies To Reduce AI Sycophancy In Legal Work

The tendency of generative artificial intelligence models to tell users what they want to hear can reinforce attorneys’ confirmation bias when testing the strength of arguments, and it can’t simply be prompted away — but a few practices can help mitigate it, says Michael Ott at Ice Miller.

DOJ Directive Gives Contractors A Fraud Risk Road Map

For government contractors, the 10 factors described in the U.S. Department of Justice's recent corporate fraud enforcement directive function as a de facto scoring rubric for internal audits that mirrors what prosecutors will prioritize, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

The Future Of PCAOB Enforcement After Post-Jarkesy Win

While the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board recently defeated procedural and structural challenges to its enforcement program in D.C. federal court, it's unclear what claims and sanctions the PCAOB can bring against respondents — and whether it's interested in instituting disciplinary proceedings generally, says Mike Plotnick at King & Spalding.

IRS Rule May Put Private Schools' Exempt Status At Risk

In light of recently proposed Treasury regulations that would narrow the options for diversifying student communities, private schools should reexamine how race enters their admissions, financial aid and student programs or risk losing tax-exempt status, say attorneys at Atkinson Andelson.

Tariffs Could Be Behind Surge In FTZ Production Filings

As tariffs reshape production sourcing decisions, manufacturers are seeking foreign trade zone production authority at more than twice last year's pace, making it important to consider the potential duty and export benefits, along with review delays and restrictions that can curb savings, say attorneys at Sidley.

Where DOJ's Fraud Directive May Actually Affect Enforcement

The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent directive outlining corporate fraud enforcement priorities is mostly a management document instead of a policy, but one part may actually undermine the directive's goals by leading to worse outcomes for organizational defendants and less corporate self-disclosure, says Zachary Warren at Williams & Connolly.

Transfer Pricing Analyses May Apply To Tariff Refunds Claims

Both plaintiffs and defendants in consumer class actions over tariff refunds should examine transfer pricing analyses, which can offer contemporaneous evidence as to how much of a tariff was borne in the U.S. by the importer or consumers rather than absorbed earlier in the supply chain, say economists at The Brattle Group.