Law and legal tech, in three minutesGet the 7 a.m. briefDaily Brief PodcastMenu

Older stories, page 12. Newest first.

U.S. FEDProduct launches

ArentFox Schiff retires AFSChat chatbot after adopting Harvey and Copilot

ArentFox Schiff has decommissioned AFSChat, its internally developed generative AI chatbot, after concluding it had become redundant, according to Legaltech News and LegalTech Digest. The firm concluded third-party tools Harvey and Microsoft Copilot better met its standards. AI work continues under FoxAI, a framework the firm announced in August that combines proprietary tools and licensed third-party platforms.

Announcement (Legaltech News) → · LegalTech Digest, ArentFox Schiff
CT. INT'L TRADECourt order

Court of International Trade certifies class of importers seeking refunds of invalidated IEEPA tariffs

Senior Judge Richard K. Eaton of the Court of International Trade on October 8, 2026 certified a Rule 23(b)(2) class in Freestyle World v. CBP. It covers all importers of record that paid IEEPA duties between February 1, 2025 and February 19, 2026, excluding entities that filed separate refund actions. The class seeks an injunction directing liquidation or reliquidation without the duties. Barnes Richardson and Lieff Cabraser were appointed class counsel.

Opinion (U.S. Court of International Trade) → · InsideTrade.com, Law360, GEODIS
VT.Breaches and incidents

Holland & Knight reports data breach to Vermont attorney general after social-engineering attack

Holland & Knight reported a data breach to the Vermont Attorney General on October 8, 2026, listing Social Security numbers and one Vermont resident, Cybernews and Law360 reported. The firm said in September that an attacker used social engineering to gain unauthorized remote access to a firm computer and obtained a small number of files affecting 14 clients, who were notified.

Report (Cybernews) → · Law360, Nonbillable
U.S. FEDProduct launches

Ropes & Gray lets 1,000-plus associates credit 100 hours of AI experiments to billables

Ropes & Gray is expanding AI training credits so more than 1,000 associates and counsel can count up to 100 hours of AI experimentation and training toward annual billable-hour requirements, Reuters reported in its Billable Hours column; ABA Journal and Above the Law also covered it. The firm said it has invested more than 35,000 associate hours in AI time this year; Akerman has separately credited AI projects since April.

Announcement (Reuters) → · ABA Journal, Above the Law
U.S. FEDPeople moves

Litera promotes Priyanka Singh to president and Adam Ryan to chief product and marketing officer

Litera has promoted Priyanka Singh, formerly EVP of operations and CFO, to president overseeing company-wide operations and execution, and expanded Chief Product Officer Adam Ryan's role to chief product and marketing officer. CEO Avaneesh Marwaha said the expanded roles strengthen Litera's ability to deliver its legal AI products reliably and drive customer adoption.

Announcement (Law360 Pulse) → · LawSites

Rulings this week

All court orders

D. CONN.Litigation

States seek approval of $1.05M generic drug price-fixing settlements with Ascend, Mayne and Citron

Forty-eight states and territories asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut on Oct. 8 to preliminarily approve generic drug price-fixing settlements with Ascend Laboratories, Mayne Pharma and Citron Pharma, according to the states' motion. Ascend will pay $400,000 and Mayne $650,000; Citron, which ceased operations, agreed to non-monetary injunctive and cooperation terms. Connecticut's attorney general said the first trial is set for February 2027 in Hartford.

Motion (Connecticut Office of the Attorney General) → · Law360, WABI TV
UKRegulation

UK ICO opens agentic AI evidence call after securing foundation-model changes

The UK Information Commissioner's Office has opened a six-week call for evidence on data-protection risks of agentic AI, closing November 20, 2026, and confirmed enquiries with OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and the UK AI Security Institute over recent agent testing. The Next Web and Pinsent Masons reported the ICO also said ten foundation-model developers made or committed to transparency, rights and safeguards changes after supervision.

Text (ICO) → · The Next Web, Pinsent Masons
UKRegulation

SRA consults on solicitor competence updates covering ethics, AI, supervision and wellbeing

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has opened an eight-week consultation on updating the Statement of Solicitor Competence and SQE functioning legal knowledge, proposing stronger ethics duties, explicit AI and technology competence, a new supervision section and health and wellbeing expectations. The consultation runs until December 3, 2026, with a final statement planned for April 2027 and effect from September 2027.

Text (Law Gazette) → · Legal Futures, Solicitors Journal
M.D. FLA.Litigation

FTC sues Greenway Automotive over hidden dealer fees and fake prize mailers, files stipulated order requiring total-price disclosure

The Federal Trade Commission sued Greenway Automotive, its management company and five Florida Kia and Hyundai dealerships in the Middle District of Florida on October 8, alleging deceptive pricing and fake prize mailers, and filed a stipulated order settling the case. The FTC alleged more than 92% of consumers at the Kia dealerships paid on average over $3,350 above advertised prices. The proposed order requires total-price disclosure and includes no monetary payment.

Filing (Federal Trade Commission) → · Hudson Cook, The Dealership Guy
UK · EWCACourt order

Court of Appeal says judges sentencing by live link should be rare and cuts fraud sentence for guideline errors

In R v Priestley [2026] EWCA Crim 1284, the Court of Appeal said a judge sentencing by live link, especially where custody is likely, should be rare and administrative convenience is not enough; the resident judge should be consulted, counsel given reasons and a chance to object, and a short ruling uploaded to the digital case system. It cut Frederic Priestley's fraud sentence from 35 to 24 months for harm-category and mitigation errors but refused to suspend it.

Order (The National Archives (Find Case Law)) → · Solicitors Journal, Law Gazette
D.C.People moves

Foley & Lardner hires former DOJ Antitrust assistant chief Jonathan Lasken in Washington

Foley & Lardner has added Jonathan Lasken as an antitrust partner in Washington after his service as assistant chief and senior litigation counsel in the Justice Department's Antitrust Division and earlier as senior trial counsel at the FTC. He worked on matters including the DOJ's Apple case and Google ad-tech litigation and FTC challenges to deals such as NVIDIA-Arm.

Announcement (Foley & Lardner) → · Law360 Pulse
U.S. FEDProduct launches

Ironclad launches Ironclad Agent and Contract Knowledge Graph for context-aware contracting

Ironclad has launched Ironclad Agent, a natural-language front door for searching contracts and orchestrating specialized contracting agents, powered by a Contract Knowledge Graph built from each customer's contracts, approved positions, and past negotiation decisions. The release also adds Policy-Based Access Control and a Workflow Designer Agent; Law.com Legaltech News included the launch in its October 9 rundown.

Announcement (PR Newswire) → · Law.com Legaltech News
UKFunding

Edinburgh's VMH Solicitors acquires Falkirk commercial property firm Orme Law

Edinburgh-based VMH Solicitors has acquired Falkirk firm Orme Law on undisclosed terms, adding a dedicated commercial property team to its residential property, private client and estate agency business. The deal extends VMH's reach through Orme Law's Meeks Road offices in Falkirk, giving it a presence across Edinburgh, the Lothians and the wider Central Belt.

Announcement (The Scotsman) → · Falkirk Herald
UKFunding

Harding Evans acquires Penarth firm Merrils Ede, founded in 1865

Newport-headquartered Harding Evans has acquired Merrils Ede, a Penarth solicitors' practice founded in 1865 with a longstanding private client practice, giving the Welsh firm its first office in the Vale of Glamorgan. Merrils Ede's six-person team transfers to Harding Evans, which now has three offices: Newport, Whitchurch in Cardiff and Herbert Terrace in Penarth.

Announcement (Insider Media) → · Wales247
FLA. 1ST DCACourt order

Florida appeals court expunges Hope Florida grand jury report, finding Centene settlement lawful and its release improper

Florida's First District Court of Appeal on October 7 ordered expunged a Leon County grand jury report that found $10 million from a Medicaid settlement with Centene was misappropriated. The 19-page ruling held the settlement lawful because no civil action had been filed, found the money paid to the Hope Florida Foundation was not diverted, and faulted State Attorney Jack Campbell for distributing the report before those named could seek to suppress it.

Order (WGCU (News Service of Florida)) → · NBC 6 South Florida
SOUTH KOREAPeople moves

Korea's YK names former military prosecutor Woochan Shim to head defense industry group

Seoul-based YK Law Firm has hired Woochan Shim, a former army officer and military prosecutor, as a partner and head of its defense and defense industry group. YK said the hire, effective October 1, extends the group beyond military criminal and disciplinary cases into defense procurement investigations, administrative sanctions, contracts, regulation and corporate compliance.

Announcement (ChosunBiz) → · Aju Press, Law.asia