Dinsmore & Shohl added a three-lawyer construction litigation team in Tampa from Freeman Mathis & Gary on September 23, 2026, Law.com’s Daily Business Review and Law360 Pulse reported. Peter Lenart and Audrey Smith joined as partners and Robert White as an associate in the commercial litigation practice as Florida construction dispute demand rises.
Cole Schotz announced that Nino G. Cammalleri returned as a member of its New Jersey Real Estate Department after more than a decade as senior vice president and real estate counsel at Seritage Growth Properties, Law360 Pulse reported on September 23, 2026. His practice covers commercial and mixed-use acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, repurposing, and development.
Akerman LLP announced on September 23, 2026 the launch of PineWest Data Intelligence, a service division extending its e-discovery practice into data services for litigation, privacy, governance, and transactions, Law360 Pulse reported. The firm said the division, led by managing director Elan Hersh, grows out of its eDiscovery practice and covers information governance consulting, e-discovery and litigation data services, privacy and data-subject-request fulfillment, and transactional data diligence.
Governor Tina Kotek signed Executive Order 26-26 on September 23, 2026, effective immediately. It sets state policy that Oregon shall seek to purchase, contract for, or use frontier artificial intelligence models that have received independent third-party safety review. The State Chief Information Officer must submit an implementation proposal to the Governor within 90 days, covering a definition of frontier model, standards for adequate third-party review, and evaluation of a “kill switch” requirement. The Governor reassesses the order every three months.
Augustine Ripa is joining Whistleblower Law Collaborative as a Boston partner in its False Claims Act practice from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bloomberg Law reported on September 23, 2026; the firm said the move takes effect on September 28. His practice focuses on health-care FCA matters including pharmaceutical pricing, Anti-Kickback Statute issues, and FDA and regulatory-approval fraud theories.
At its Kaleidoscope conference in Las Vegas on September 23, 2026, 8am announced a Claude MCP connector for MyCase with 73 actions, new 8am IQ Firm Agent and IQ Draft features headed to beta in October, plus Smart Spend Intelligence and 8am Capital lending inside LawPay, LawSites and Law.com Legaltech News reported. The AI releases apply to MyCase among 8am’s practice-management brands.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan approved a settlement agreement between Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and officials of tribal online lender Plain Green on September 23, 2026. The order resolves federal litigation alleging Plain Green charged Minnesota borrowers annual interest rates approaching seven hundred percent, exceeding state rate caps. Plain Green cancelled all interest on existing loans, credited prior payments toward principal, and agreed to stop marketing or making loans in Minnesota unless it complies with state lending law.
Greenberg Traurig added Sofiya Bumagin as a shareholder in its London energy and natural resources practice from Sidley Austin and Hayley Çapani as of counsel to its London litigation practice from Shoosmiths, the firm announced on 23 and September 22, 2026; Bloomberg Law reported both hires on September 23. Bumagin advises financial sponsors on energy-transition and digital-infrastructure M&A including battery storage, district heating, data centers and fibre; Çapani advises on contentious restructuring and insolvency.
The Supreme Court of Texas will hear argument on October 6, 2026 in In re Patrick Hughey, No. 25-0463, on whether a trial court could quash depositions taken through the AI platform Skribe.ai and strike the transcript it produced without a certified shorthand reporter. Reddico Construction and the National Court Reporters Association defend the order under Government Code chapter 154; an AI law institute's brief backs the relator.
Kerrick Seay joined Mayer Brown as a partner in its global leveraged finance and private capital group in New York from White & Case, Bloomberg Law reported on September 23, 2026. His practice covers syndicated lending, private credit, restructuring-related financings, and liability-management exercises for financial institutions and direct lenders.
Legal contract AI vendor Spellbook appointed Meltem Kuran-Berkowitz as its first chief marketing officer on September 23, 2026, Business Insider and Legal IT Insider reported, after she led marketing on an interim basis. She previously spent five and a half years as head of growth at Deel as that company scaled past $1 billion in ARR, and will lead growth and marketing as Spellbook expands Autonomous Contract Management and Review for in-house teams.
Duane Morris and a former partner notified a California federal court that they had agreed to settle the plaintiff’s claims individually after private mediation. Reuters reported the notice on September 24. The lawsuit challenged the treatment of non-equity partners; the firm had previously denied wrongdoing.
Clifford Chance said on September 23, 2026 it is bringing back leveraged finance partners Taner Hassan and Silvia Menendez from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Law.com International, Law360 and Non-Billable reported. Hassan, formerly Paul Weiss’s European leveraged finance head, will be based in London; Menendez will work across London and Madrid. The firm said the pair are its eighth and ninth private capital lateral partner hires this year.
The Department of Health and Human Services published an interim final rule on September 23, 2026 (91 FR 60317, CMS-9872-IFC) codifying CMS authority to impose temporary moratoria on Exchange agent and broker registration, and immediately paused Plan Year 2027 registration on the federally facilitated Exchanges for agents and brokers without Plan Year 2026 agreements. The moratorium took effect September 22, 2026 and runs through February 1, 2027 unless CMS lifts, extends or modifies it; comments are due November 21, 2026.
Amani Khalifa, head of Freshfields’ Saudi Arabia disputes practice, is leaving to join arbitration boutique Three Crowns as a partner in its Dubai International Financial Centre office from January 1, 2027, the boutique announced on September 23, 2026; Law.com International and Global Arbitration Review reported the move the same day. Three Crowns, founded in 2014, opened its DIFC office in January 2026 and moved to larger premises there in September.
President Trump told the 81st United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2026 that United States documents will use the term "super intelligence" in place of "artificial intelligence," and that the administration will watch the sector through the Justice Department rather than new regulation. No executive order, memorandum or Federal Register document had made the change as of that evening.
Berlin legal AI company Noxtua raised a Series C of more than €100 million in which German publisher C.H.BECK becomes majority shareholder and Austrian publisher MANZ joins as a new investor, Tech.eu and Artificial Lawyer reported on September 23, 2026. Prior backers including Global Brain, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, CMS, Dentons, and Dominik Schiener are exiting as Noxtua deepens publisher partnerships for jurisdiction-specific Legal AI Workspaces across Europe.
The Seattle City Council passed Council Bill 121267 by 7-2 on September 22, 2026, adding a Fair Pricing and Transparency chapter (SMC 7.35) that bars grocery businesses with 20 or more locations, mixed-use retailers and delivery services from setting prices based on tracking or automated analysis of a consumer's personal data. Retailers must disclose discount eligibility criteria and keep records. The bill awaits the mayor's signature and takes effect September 1, 2027.
India’s Supreme Court on September 23, 2026 questioned how far the Bar Council of India may control or run law colleges while hearing Girish Mittal v Bar Council of India, Bar & Bench and LiveLaw reported. Chief Justice Kant asked what expertise BCI has in legal education, distinguishing prescribing broad standards from operational control, and issued notice to the BCI on the petition.
Claimant firm Pogust Goodhead said it intends to move away from its name after co-founder Harris Pogust sent notice that he would file a cease-and-desist to remove “Pogust” from its branding, Legal Business, Non-Billable and City AM reported. Pogust, who left management about three years ago, criticised the firm for naming its own clients as defendants in the Mariana dam litigation. A firm spokesperson said neither former founder runs the business today and the name should reflect that.