Senior Counsel Roger Witten Discusses WilmerHale

On August 21, 2026, the Tenth Circuit granted the NCAA’s stay request in Wisne v. NCAA, temporarily restoring the NCAA’s age-based eligibility rules pending resolution of the appeal. Three weeks earlier, Judge Sweeney of the District of Colorado had issued a nationwide injunction that permitted athletes in the Class of 2022 to pursue a fifth year of eligibility.

The top ten largest class action settlements in securities cases in the U.S. have recouped tens of billions of dollars in damages.

On the morning of July 4, 2025, catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River took 135 lives across the Texas Hill Country. Twenty-eight of them—25 school-aged campers, two young counselors and the camp's co-executive director—were at Camp Mystic, a century-old girls' camp near Hunt.

A Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling harshly criticizes a federal district judge for relying on AI-generated content in legal orders, revealing fabricated facts and poor legal analysis. The decision raises critical questions about the use of generative AI in legal practice and whether lawyers who adopt such technology are compromising their ethical obligations of competence, confidentiality, and integrity.

A federal court in California denied preliminary approval of a $2.3 million data breach settlement affecting over 220,000 individuals, finding seven critical deficiencies in the proposed agreement. The decision highlights the rigorous scrutiny courts apply to class action settlements, particularly regarding claims-made distribution processes, inadequate documentation of settlement value, and unexplained disparate treatment among class members.

A federal court rejected TikTok's attempt to use two prior nationwide class action settlements—totaling over $93 million—to dismiss new privacy claims brought by minors alleging violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The ruling hinged on whether the current plaintiffs were demonstrably members of the earlier settlement classes based solely on the pleadings, raising critical questions about the scope and enforceability of broad settlement releases in successive privacy litiga

Two federal courts have reached opposing conclusions on whether expert witnesses must disclose their AI prompts during discovery. While one court treats prompts as discoverable methodology, another protects them as mental impressions while requiring disclosure of AI-generated outputs the expert consulted.

Concora Credit has agreed to pay $9.375 million to settle a TCPA class action lawsuit over wrong number robocalls, with prominent TCPA attorney Mike Greenwald securing another major victory. The settlement includes over $5 million for approximately 147,000 class members, $3 million in attorney fees, and a commitment to spend at least $1 million on TCPA compliance over three years.

A US federal court confirmed a $350 million arbitral award against the Republic of Georgia and enforced a contractual post-judgment interest rate of SOFR plus four percent, compounding monthly, rather than the lower statutory rate. The decision demonstrates how carefully drafted contractual language extending interest "after as well as before judgment" can result in substantially higher recoveries for creditors in international arbitration enforcement proceedings.

The Federal Trade Commission has introduced stringent new requirements for parties using technology-assisted review or artificial intelligence in document production during investigations, mandating extensive upfront disclosures, prescriptive performance metrics, and validation processes. These requirements represent a significant departure from previous FTC practice and may discourage parties from using AI or TAR due to increased complexity and agency oversight. Parties now face critical decisions about wh

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The USPTO has released new templates and guidance for AIA trial proceedings, announced key appointments including a Chief AI Officer, and published updated procedures for patent applications and subject matter eligibility declarations. Director Squires delivered multiple addresses emphasizing the constitutional importance of intellectual property rights while the agency expanded its community engagement efforts and international collaboration through WIPO's Global IP Assignment Platform pilot program.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved FINRA Rule 3290, which will replace existing rules governing outside business activities and private securities transactions for registered persons. This new rule narrows the scope to focus on investment-related activities while maintaining similar supervisory obligations for member firms. Understanding the key changes and implementation requirements will be critical for broker-dealers as they update their compliance policies and procedures.

The SEC Division of Examinations has released its fiscal year 2027 examination priorities, signaling continued focus on investment adviser fiduciary obligations, broker-dealer financial responsibility, and Regulation Best Interest while adapting to evolving market practices. Private credit, artificial intelligence governance, and retail investor protection emerge as prominent areas of scrutiny, with examiners expected to probe valuation practices, conflicts of interest, and technology controls across regula

US national securities exchanges are preparing to launch 23x5 trading by December 6, 2026, marking the most significant expansion of trading hours in decades. This comprehensive analysis examines the regulatory approvals, operational infrastructure changes, investor protection mechanisms, and issuer considerations necessary to support overnight equity trading from Sunday through Thursday evenings.

The USPTO has released its latest economic impact report on IP-intensive industries, announced a new community engagement office in North Carolina, and issued several administrative updates including relief for Japanese applicants affected by a severe earthquake. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has also designated new precedential and informative decisions addressing obviousness-type double patenting and Markush groupings.

The SEC has proposed a comprehensive overhaul of transfer agent regulations that would formally recognize distributed ledger technology and blockchain-based recordkeeping systems within the existing regulatory framework. This modernization effort imposes enhanced operational, safeguarding, and compliance obligations while establishing technology-neutral standards that could significantly impact tokenization initiatives and digital asset market infrastructure.

California's September 2026 legislative session produced sweeping changes to AI and privacy regulation, with Governor Newsom signing dozens of bills while vetoing others on feasibility grounds. As federal leadership signals preference for industry self-regulation, the state continues to expand protections for minors online, strengthen data broker requirements...

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown released the state's first Data Privacy Report, examining how the modern data economy incentivizes personal information collection and retention. The report catalogs resulting harms and recommends that lawmakers strengthen privacy protections, enforcement, and public education while highlighting Washington's continued lack of a comprehensive consumer privacy statute despite inspiring other states' privacy laws.

As discussed in previous client alerts, the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and digital services has dramatically increased demand for data centers.