On May 21, 2024, the Council of the European Union (the Council) formally signed off on the latest draft of the European Union’s (EU) Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) (see the press release here). This marks the final seal of approval from the EU legislators. The text will officially become law once it is signed by Presidents of the European Parliament and of the Council and published in the Official Journal of the EU. This could take place within the next … Read the rest
We have written a couple of times about the 23&Me phenomenon and the chance that those who enter this unknown world come back not just surprised but possibly creeped out by their quest for ancestral knowledge. USA Today published on this recently and cited a 2022 study by Baylor University of 23,000 people who “took the test” related to their parentage. That study was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics in 2022. It found that 3% learned that … Read the rest

New York’s recently approved 2024 – 2025 budget brings two major changes to the landscape of leave and accommodation laws that New York employers need to know about.
Paid Lactation Breaks
Effective June 19, 2024, all private sector employers (regardless of size) will be required to provide 30 minutes of paid break time to employees who need to express breast milk for a nursing child at work. Employees must also be allowed to use any existing paid break or meal … Read the rest
The environmental climate change case that has attracted the most attention, Juliana v. United States has come to an unceremonious end and all Americans should be concerned. On May 1, 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered, “The district court is instructed to dismiss the case forthwith for lack of Article III standing, without leave to amend.”
Without regard to one’s perspective on the merits of the claims, the dismissal of this case after nearly a decade … Read the rest
The Supreme Court of New Zealand recently overturned strike-out decisions to allow climate change claims (involving a new climate tort) to proceed to trial.
Background
In 2022, Michael Smith, a Māori tribal elder and the climate change spokesman for the Iwi Chairs Forum, a national forum of tribal leaders, brought proceedings against seven corporate defendants, alleging that they were collectively responsible for one-third of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2020-2021.
Mr Smith sought a declaration that the seven defendants … Read the rest
We invite you to watch our webinar, “Deciphering the FTC’s Non-Compete Ban: Navigating the New Regulatory Terrain and Adequately Protecting Employers’ Interests.” Our multi-disciplinary team, comprised of Michael Wexler, Robert Milligan, Kate Perrelli, Suzie Saxman, Marc Fosse, and Cary Burke, dissected the ramifications of the new FTC rule banning most non-competes with workers and provided invaluable insights into how it impacts a variety of aspects of many businesses.
Here are the key takeaways from the webinar:
- Labor: The FTC rule
Welcome to the GT London Real Estate Practice’s Spring 2024 Newsletter, reviewing a range of legal and practice developments affecting stakeholders within the UK real estate sector.
Continue reading the London Real Estate Practice Quarterly Legal Update.
For healthcare providers and practitioners, the rules surrounding non-competition agreements have evolved rapidly over the last two years, and that evolution accelerated even more this month. Over the past 18 months, states and the federal government enacted several new laws that substantially limit when healthcare entities can enforce non-competes. Then, on April 24, the Federal Trade Commission issued a rule that will bar most non-competes in the U.S. if it survives legal challenges (albeit no sooner than late August 2024). … Read the rest
