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Latham & Watkins hires Hogan Lovells Cadwalader antitrust partner Victor Levy in Paris
Latham & Watkins hired Victor Levy as a partner in its Paris Antitrust & Competition practice on September 18, 2026, moving him from Hogan Lovells Cadwalader. Levy focuses on EU and French merger control, antitrust investigations, and follow-on damages, with sector experience in aerospace and defense, consumer goods, and industrials.
Announcement (CDR News) → · PR Newswire / Latham & Watkins
Weil Gotshal weighs strategic options including a possible merger after partner exits
Weil, Gotshal & Manges is considering options for its future, including a potential combination with a rival, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg, as the firm absorbs a wave of senior departures. Firm leaders have held informal discussions to gauge interest and have been canvassing partners while also studying lateral hires and promotions; a spokesperson said Weil is not engaged in merger discussions with any firm and could remain independent.
Announcement (Bloomberg) → · Bloomberg Law, Reuters
CourtListener ships ChatGPT Enterprise plugin for grounded case-law and PACER research
Free Law Project made a CourtListener plugin available in ChatGPT Enterprise, connecting the assistant to case law, RECAP/PACER filings, citation networks, oral-argument transcripts, and alerts with links back to primary sources. LawSites independently reported the CourtListener plugin on September 18, 2026; Free Law Project also said it was doubling CourtListener API rate limits through October 1, 2026.
Announcement (LawSites) → · Free Law Project, Artificial Lawyer
California restricts "reef safe" marketing claims on sunscreen products
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1744 (Chapter 272, Statutes of 2026) on September 18, 2026, adding Business and Professions Code section 17580.7. From January 1, 2027, no one may represent in advertising or on the label or container of a sunscreen product sold in California that it is “reef safe,” “reef friendly,” “ocean safe” or similar unless the product contains no chemical ultraviolet filters such as oxybenzone or octinoxate. Violations are misdemeanors; the rule covers FDA-regulated over-the-counter sunscreens.
California shifts bond filings from county recorders to county clerks starting in 2028
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1828 (Chapter 275, Statutes of 2026) on September 18, 2026. From January 1, 2028, bond filings for legal document assistants, unlawful detainer assistants, process servers, professional copiers and notaries public move from county recorders to county clerks. Clerks must retain each bond for at least six years (ten for notaries), issue the registrant one certified copy as official proof, and the $7 filing fee gives way to a fee set under Government Code Section 54985.
Rulings this week
- UK · EWHC Calls CPS citation of nonexistent 'R v J' case unsatisfactory but dismisses challenge
- D. ALASKA Alaska federal judge dismisses DOJ suit seeking to delay Senate race certification
- S.D. FLA. $10 billion WSJ defamation suit over Epstein letter with prejudice
- N.D. CAL. Federal judge bars DOJ and DHS from threatening election officials over alleged noncitizen ballots
California regulates sequential repayment of retirement-community entrance fees
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1983 (Chapter 281, Statutes of 2026) on September 18, 2026, amending Health and Safety Code sections 1771, 1788 and 1788.4. From January 1, 2027, a continuing care retirement community offering repayable in sequential order contracts must keep a repayment account, number each terminated contract and repay them in that order from later entrance fees. Contracts must disclose the average and longest wait between termination and repayment over the past five years.
California exempts stationary engineers from standard meal-period rules under qualifying union contracts
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2078 on September 18, 2026, adding stationary engineers who perform building-maintenance work to the categories of employees exempt from California's standard meal-period rules. The exemption applies only when the worker is covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that provides meal periods, final and binding arbitration of meal-period disputes, premium overtime pay, and a regular rate at least 30 percent above the state minimum wage.
California raises county recorder fees and mandates electronic recording systems
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2224 (Chapter 292, Statutes of 2026) on September 18, 2026, revising county recorder fee law from January 1, 2027. Recording and indexing fees rise to $15 for the first page and $4 per additional page, capped at reasonable costs, and recorders collecting the fee must implement an electronic recording delivery system. The act repeals nonconforming-page surcharges and per-name indexing fees, removes the 2027 sunset on electronic-recording contracts, and extends electronic recording to all document types.
California raises farm labor contractor surety bonds by payroll tier
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2227 (Chapter 294, Statutes of 2026) on September 18, 2026, amending Labor Code sections 1683 and 1684. From January 1, 2027, licensed farm labor contractors must post a $50,000 surety bond for payrolls up to $500,000, $100,000 for payrolls of $500,000 to $2 million and $150,000 above $2 million, double the previous tiers, deposited at first registration or first annual renewal. The Labor Commissioner must publish bond details on its public license database.
California adds email and text notice to 60-day warning of health plan provider-contract terminations
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2613 (Chapter 306, Statutes of 2026) on September 18, amending Health and Safety Code section 1373.65. From January 1, 2027, health plans must send the existing 60-day notice of a provider-group or hospital contract termination by email or text, as well as mail, to enrollees who opted in. If plan and provider later reach agreement, the plan must notify enrollees by mail and electronically within 10 business days of DMHC approval.
California accepts RPR certification for the shorthand-reporter skill exam and extends remote court-reporting pilot
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2783 on September 18, 2026, as an urgency statute. The act lets successful completion of the National Court Reporters Association's Registered Professional Reporter certification satisfy the Dictation/Transcription skill portion of California's certified shorthand reporter examination. It also extends the remote court-reporting pilot in 13 participating superior courts through July 1, 2028.
California conforms background-check rules across licensed occupations and adds refingerprinting requirements
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2796 on September 18, 2026, as an urgency statute. The act conforms criminal-history background-check requirements across firearms permits, education contractors, massage professionals, professional fiduciaries, tax preparers, humane officers, financial-sector workers, escrow agents, care facilities, and certain Medi-Cal providers. It includes an FBI-authorization fallback and requires subsequent-notification refingerprinting under Penal Code Section 11105.2.
California widens tied-house shelf-service exception to wine and spirits in containers of 500 milliliters or less
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 744 on September 18, 2026, as Chapter 265 of the Statutes of 2026, effective January 1, 2027. It amends Business and Professions Code section 25503.2, the tied-house exception that lets manufacturers and wholesalers stack, rotate, inventory and service their brands at off-sale retail premises with the retailer's permission. The exception, previously limited to beer and single-serve wine and spirits, will cover beer and wine or distilled spirits in containers of 500 milliliters or less.
California bans public sale of large nitrous oxide containers
Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 936 (Chapter 317, Statutes of 2026) on September 18, 2026, adding Chapter 10 to Part 15 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code. From January 1, 2027, no one may sell or distribute nitrous oxide containers holding more than eight grams or allowing direct inhalation, food-flavoured nitrous oxide, or inhalation devices, subject to medical, dental, culinary, automotive and manufacturing exemptions. Violations are infractions fined $500 to $2,000, with license suspension for repeat offenders.
Federal rules roundup, week to September 18, 2026: 16 Federal Register actions
This week’s roundup gathers 16 federal rules published in the Federal Register on 17 and September 18, 2026: nine FAA actions (six airworthiness directives, two instrument-procedure amendments, one airspace change), two Coast Guard temporary zones, a USDA milk-pricing correction, DHS domestic-sourcing rules for protective equipment, a DOE notice voiding its 2022 manufactured-housing standards, and two State Department ITAR rules, one adding Saudi Arabia and Peru to the major non-NATO ally list. Each item links to its Federal Register entry.
Definely brings contract review MCP tools into ChatGPT Enterprise for OpenAI for Law
Definely on September 18, 2026 said its Model Context Protocol tools for structured contract review are available inside ChatGPT Enterprise as an OpenAI for Law launch partner, letting lawyers run defined-term checks, precedent comparison, structural proofreading, and issues-list generation without leaving ChatGPT. Pulse2 independently reported the partnership on September 19.
Announcement (Definely) → · Pulse2
Gibson Dunn hires Paul Weiss products-liability lead Kimberly Branscome and two partners
Gibson Dunn hired a three-partner mass-torts and product-liability trial team from Paul Weiss on September 18, 2026. Kimberly Branscome joins as co-chair of the practice; Yahonnes Cleary and Jonathan Tam join as partners. Branscome and Tam are based in Los Angeles and Cleary in New York, adding first-chair trial depth in pharmaceutical, medical-device, consumer, and industrial matters.
Announcement (Bloomberg Law) → · Gibson Dunn
White & Case hires Freshfields Hamburg equity partner Natascha Doll for German M&A
White & Case is hiring Natascha Doll, a Freshfields Hamburg equity partner and co-head of Freshfields’ CEE/CIS practice since 2019, for its Hamburg office in a move reported on September 18, 2026. Doll focuses on M&A, infrastructure, and private capital; Legal Business and JUVE said the start date has not been disclosed.
Leah launches Leah Contracting on Maestro agentic harness for enterprise contracts
Leah launched Leah Contracting, an agentic contracting product run by its Leah Maestro harness that covers intake, review, negotiation, approval, signature, obligations and renewal, the company said on September 18, 2026. Specialist agents apply company playbooks, assess risk, draft and redline, and hand work between stages, with irreversible actions gated for human approval, the release said. Legaltech News led its September 18 Legaltech Rundown with the launch.
Announcement (SalesTechStar) → · Legaltech News
Litera brings Foundation Firm AI Search into ChatGPT Enterprise
Litera on September 17, 2026 made Foundation Firm AI Search available as a ChatGPT Enterprise plugin for eligible Foundation Cloud customers, letting lawyers query firm experience, relationships, and expertise with natural-language prompts grounded in permissioned Foundation records. LawFuel and LawSites reported the plugin; Litera said Foundation is already used by more than 300 law firms.
Announcement (LawFuel) → · LawSites