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Goodwin launches subscription AI governance program aimed at private equity and venture portfolios
Goodwin has launched an AI governance program for companies, built by its lawyers and in-house AI product team. It has three tiers: a free Health Check, Readiness modules that can be bought singly or as a suite, and an AI Decision Desk sold as an annual subscription that answers client questions and tracks AI regulation, enforcement and market practice. The firm says it is tailored for private equity and venture capital portfolios and boards.
Announcement (Business Wire) → · Law360 Pulse
8am data: hourly billing still outnumbers flat fees nearly 5 to 1 at small firms
Firms billing only by the hour outnumber those billing only by flat fee by nearly 5 to 1, according to the 8am SMB Law Billing and Payments Report released October 22, 2026. The report draws on aggregate data from more than 60,000 mostly US firms using MyCase and LawPay, comparing the first half of 2026 with the first half of 2025.
Paper (LawSites) → · ABA Journal
SRA confirms compliance officer separation rules will not take effect in January
The Solicitors Regulation Authority said on October 22, 2026, that its rules separating law firm management and compliance officer roles will not come into force in January as planned. The regulator will run working groups and test alternatives first, and in the meantime will proactively supervise higher-risk firms on governance and compliance independence.
Text (Legal Futures) → · Law Gazette
Pennsylvania Act 103 tightens Sunshine Act agenda notice for agency business
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1150 was approved on October 22, 2026, as Act No. 103 of 2026, amending section 712.1 of Title 65 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, the Sunshine Act. From December 21, 2026, an agency may add a matter to its meeting agenda by majority vote only if the matter is an emergency, is de minimis, or was raised by a resident or taxpayer at the meeting; the general power to add items by majority vote is repealed.
Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly (palegis.us)) → · Bucks Independence
Rulings this week
- UK · EWHC Spares 5,000 late-served Dieselgate claims but makes claimants share costs
- 9TH CIR. Keeps California's captive audience meeting ban on hold
- CANADA Ontario Court of Appeal says licensed paralegals can negotiate accident benefits settlements for parties under disability
- UK · UKSC Backs insurer against Spain and France in Prestige oil spill arbitration case
Pennsylvania Act 106 standardizes sexual assault evidence testing statewide
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1212 was approved on October 22, 2026, as Act No. 106 of 2026, amending the Sexual Assault Testing and Evidence Collection Act of 2006. Sexual assault evidence now counts as awaiting testing whenever it has been collected and not yet analyzed, removing the local law enforcement agency's discretion over whether a kit should be tested. Laboratories and local agencies report backlogged evidence through the statewide tracking system. The act took effect immediately.
Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly (palegis.us)) → · Pennsylvania Senate Republicans
Pennsylvania Act 108 creates statewide licensure for electrical contractors and electricians
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1260 was approved on October 22, 2026, as Act No. 108 of 2026, the Electrical Services Licensure Act. From October 22, 2028, an individual may not provide electrical services for compensation unless licensed as an electrician or residential electrician by the new State Board of Electrical Licensure, and entities may not contract for electrical services unless licensed as electrical contractors. The board, fees, fines and penalties take effect December 21, 2026.
Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly (palegis.us)) → · Pennsylvania Senate Republicans
Pennsylvania Act 114 bars out-of-state dispute, arbitration and indemnification terms in Commonwealth procurement contracts
Pennsylvania enacted the Commonwealth Party Procurement Contract Terms Act (Senate Bill 1410) as Act No. 114 of 2026 on October 22, 2026. The act prohibits Commonwealth parties and local agencies from entering procurement contracts containing out-of-state dispute provisions, binding arbitration, non-Pennsylvania governing law or indemnification clauses. A prohibited term is void and unenforceable, and the remainder of the contract stays valid. The act takes effect December 21, 2026, and applies to contracts entered into, amended or renewed from that date.
Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly) → · Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill
Pennsylvania Act 115 ties Game Commission entry onto private land to the state constitution's search-and-seizure clause
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1431 was approved on October 22, 2026, as Act No. 115 of 2026, amending sections 303 and 901 of Title 34 (Game) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. From December 21, 2026, Game Commission officers, employees and representatives may enter property outside buildings only in accordance with Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, the search-and-seizure clause; the former unconditional right to enter posted or unposted land is repealed.
Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly (palegis.us)) → · Pennsylvania Senate Republicans
Pennsylvania Act 99 requires disclosure of synthetic content that creates a false perception in advertisements
Pennsylvania enacted the Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act (Senate Bill 806) as Act No. 99 of 2026 on October 22, 2026. From December 21, 2026, an advertiser may not knowingly, recklessly or willfully run an advertisement whose synthetic content creates a false consumer perception about the nature, origin or authenticity of goods or services without clearly disclosing that the content was modified or generated using artificial intelligence. The Attorney General and district attorneys enforce the act; civil fines reach $3,000.
United States requires FCC satellite emergency-alert rules under Mystic Alerts Act
The Mystic Alerts Act (H.R. 7022) was signed into law on October 22, 2026. It requires the Federal Communications Commission to publish a proposed satellite emergency-alert rule within six months and a final rule within eighteen months, in consultation with Homeland Security and FEMA. Covered mobile providers then file elections on satellite alert transmission within sixty days after the final rule takes effect.
Enrolled text (govinfo.gov) → · The White House
Competition Appeal Tribunal publishes judgment approving £260 million Google Play settlement; lawyers take 32% cut
The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has published its judgment approving a £260 million settlement of Professor Barry Rodger's collective claim alleging Google locked UK Android app developers into the Play Store. Solicitors Geradin Partners and counsel led by Robert O'Donoghue KC will share £12 million, 32% less than they are due, while funder Bench Walk Advisors' profit is cut to £56.2 million. The tribunal found the deal just and reasonable once the risks of trial were taken into account.
Order (Legal Futures) → · MLex
FLRA upholds telework award against HHS and finds most citations in agency's brief faulty
The Federal Labor Relations Authority has denied every exception HHS filed against an arbitration award finding that its return-to-office directive violated its contract with the National Treasury Employees Union. The authority said 35 of 42 citations in the agency's brief were fictitious, erroneous or irrelevant, said HHS may have used a generative AI tool, and warned parties using AI to verify their filings.
Order (Bloomberg Law) → · Federal News Network, Above the Law, Federal Labor Relations Authority
Florida's Fourth District refers lawyer to the Florida Bar over suspected AI-generated filings
Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal has referred lawyer Jaclyn R. Soroka to the Florida Bar after rejecting her 82-page response to an order to show cause over frivolous filings in a family-law case. In an October 21, 2026 order, the court said the response "does not deny using AI but evades the issue." Soroka has said she did not use AI and that a citation review found two human errors.
Order (Law360) → · ABA Journal, Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal
New Mexico judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion over Facebook privacy deception
A New Mexico state judge on October 21, 2026, ordered Meta Platforms to pay $25 billion after a Santa Fe jury found the company violated the state's Unfair Practices Act more than 43 million times. The attorney general's 2021 suit arose from the Cambridge Analytica data harvest and Meta's statements about user privacy and content moderation.
Filing (CNBC) → · NBC News (Reuters), TechCrunch
Fifth Circuit special committee orders Judge Ada Brown to explain sharing sealed documents
An October 20, 2026, order from the special committee investigating U.S. District Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas for the Fifth Circuit judicial council says Brown emailed confidential investigation materials and sealed court documents to approximately 140 judges, lawyers and journalists. The order directs Brown to answer three written questions by October 27 and urges her to reconsider her refusal to take part in the misconduct proceedings.
Order (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit) → · ABA Journal
Supreme Court refuses to let Bureau of Prisons enforce policy ending transgender inmates' care
The Supreme Court on October 21, 2026, denied the Trump administration's request to pause a federal judge's order barring the Bureau of Prisons from enforcing its February 2026 policy on health care for transgender inmates. The policy would have stopped inmates from obtaining hormone therapy and social accommodations such as makeup and wigs. Justices Alito and Thomas would have granted the request.
Order (SCOTUSblog) → · ABA Journal (The Washington Post)
Everlaw survey finds most in-house teams are cutting work sent to outside counsel
Everlaw's In-House Innovation Report, published October 20, 2026, found that 54% of in-house legal teams have already reduced the work they send to outside counsel because of AI, and another 44% plan to start within a year. The survey of 300 in-house attorneys and legal operations professionals was conducted with Wakefield Research.
Paper (ABA Journal) → · eDiscovery Today
Civil Justice Council group backs higher guideline hourly rate band for complex litigation
A Civil Justice Council working group in England and Wales has given provisional backing to a new Band 1A of guideline hourly rates for extremely complex, high-value commercial and corporate litigation, and to guideline rates for assessing counsel's fees. A consultation on both proposals opened October 20, 2026, and closes January 19, 2027.
Text (Law Gazette) → · Civil Justice Council
Longeye raises $20 million Series A for AI evidence review used by justice agencies
San Francisco startup Longeye, which sells an AI investigative workspace to police departments, prosecutors and public defenders, said on October 21, 2026, that it raised a $20 million Series A led by N47, with Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism practice participating. The company said more than 50 justice agencies now use the platform to search jail calls, video, phone extractions and financial records.
Announcement (Business Wire) → · We Are San Francisco
Legora raises $550 million Series E at $8.8 billion valuation
Swedish legal AI company Legora said on October 21, 2026, that it raised a $550 million Series E round at an $8.8 billion valuation, led by Atreides Management. The company said annual recurring revenue has passed $200 million and that it will use the money to expand in the U.S. and develop Legora aOS, its agentic AI operating system.
Announcement (TechCrunch) → · Legaltech News, Legal Business, The Lawyer
August launches Products so law firms can sell fixed-price services run by AI agents
Legal AI platform August on October 21, 2026, launched Products, a feature that lets law firms package recurring legal work as branded, fixed-price offerings. August's agents do the work using each firm's precedents, templates and playbooks, and the firm decides which outputs a lawyer must approve before they reach the client.
Announcement (Artificial Lawyer) → · LegalTechTalk