8am is one of my favorite legal tech vendors. it has been historicaly focused on the unsexy back-office stuff that small and mid-size firms really need. Cash flow. Billing. Getting paid. Not trying to be everything to everybody. It puts on a great conference. But in today’s a legal tech world where money is pouring in, I wonder whether 8am will maintain its focus. Here is my post for Above the Law on what I saw at this year’s conferance and … Read the rest
A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Johnson v. York Academy Regional Charter School, reminds employers of their obligation to meaningfully participate in the process of identifying reasonable accommodation of their employees’ religious beliefs.
Monik Johnson was employed by a charter school as a business manager. Many years into her employment, Ms. Johnson began observing the Lunar Sabbath, which required her not to work on the day of the New Moon, which … Read the rest
Maryland’s latest environmental mandate is no longer just a legislative concept. It is becoming an operating program.
In 2025, Maryland enacted Senate Bill 901, establishing an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework for packaging and paper products. Governor Wes Moore signed the legislation on May 13, 2025.
Now the Maryland Department of the Environment is moving from legislation to implementation. The first regulations under COMAR 26.04.14 became effective May 25, 2026, establishing definitions, registration requirements, covered materials, reporting obligations, producer requirements … Read the rest
As a reminder, beginning Oct. 1, 2026, Connecticut employers will have broader obligations to disclose wage ranges and benefits information to applicants and employees.
Under the new law, employers must include the wage or wage range and a general description of benefits in internal or public job postings. The law covers positions performed in Connecticut and certain positions outside the state that report directly to a supervisor, office, or other worksite in Connecticut.
It is important to note the new … Read the rest
Key Takeaways
- DOJ used the FCA to settle with Honeywell Aerospace Inc. for $ 2,042,518 over allegations that a Honeywell business unit submitted claims for payment under a DoW contract while failing to comply with NIST SP 800-171 cybersecurity requirements incorporated through DFARS 252.204-7012, reinforcing that cybersecurity compliance failures can create significant FCA exposure for defense contractors.
- The settlement arose from a 2022 qui tam whistleblower action filed by a former Honeywell employee, and DOJ reported a record
The Judiciary is making progress on three key initiatives: modernizing case-management technology, authority to manage mission-essential Judiciary properties, and setting policy on AI use, the Judicial Conference of the United States was told today.
Judiciary News – United States Courts… Read the rest
I’ve worked with lawyers who ask for a company research report before a meeting, receive a beautifully prepared document and then admit they only had time to skim the first page. I’ve also seen business development teams spend hours gathering information about a prospect without knowing exactly what the lawyer plans to do with it. Both situations illustrate a common challenge in law firm business development: we have access to an enormous amount of information, but we don’t always spend … Read the rest
Neil Duxbury
The General Law Renaissance and the Common Law
Abstract
Of late, there has emerged an important body of legal scholarship sympathetically reassessing the concept of “general law” – unwritten legal norms discoverable by courts. This article shows that these reassessments run up against a problem when the general law in question is common law. The problem arises from a question: what makes common law valid as law in the first place? In England, the answer is that common-law … Read the rest