Civil Law

Virginia Amends Workplace Violence Reporting Requirements for Hospitals

Virginia is among a growing number of states that have adopted healthcare-specific workplace violence prevention and reporting obligations. On April 6, 2026, Governor Abigail Spanberger signed House Bill (HB) 1489, which expands and clarifies workplace violence reporting requirements for hospitals with emergency departments.

Specifically, the new law requires covered hospitals to:

  • Collect more detailed information about reported workplace violence incidents, including specific incident descriptors and the degree of physical injuries to staff;
  • Report facility-level data at least quarterly to additional
… Read the rest
Civil Law

Your Website’s Pixels May Be Wiretaps: 10 Questions Every Business Should Ask About CIPA

The plaintiffs’ bar has been ramping up lawsuits under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) and federal and state wiretapping statutes for years, and the wave is not receding. Tens of thousands of claims have been filed since 2022, with CIPA wiretapping continuing to accelerate in recent months. Meanwhile, plaintiffs are branching out beyond California to Florida, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, and increasingly relying on the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to reach companies nationwide.

Companies outside of California … Read the rest

Civil Law

Student presentation to connect the histories of lotteries and marijuana reforms

The second student presentation in this week’s Marijuana Law and Policy seminar at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law explores parallels between the history of the lottery and the history of marijuana reforms. Here is how he explains his topic and his selection of background reading:

In my presentation, I will be discussing the global history and modern-day regulation of the lottery in the United States, while comparing its history and current status to that of marijuana. I will begin

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Civil Law

Agentic AI: It’s A Whole New Bag of Risks

She begged “Do not do that,” then “STOP OPENCLAW.” Neither worked.

That’s what happened to Summer Yue, Meta’s Director of Alignment at their superintelligence safety lab. By the time she reached her desktop to kill the process manually, the AI agent she’d created had already deleted hundreds of emails. You would expect someone with Yue’s expertise to avoid a problem like this. You would be wrong.

Jennifer Ellis’s article lays out a practical checklist for lawyers considering agentic AI — … Read the rest

Civil Law

Defects in Administration Appointments and Extensions – Assume the worst and remedy on that basis?(UK)

There is something to be said for “assume the worst” when it comes to defects in administration appointments and extensions.  The court has taken this approach in a few cases where, rather than trying to work out the intricacies and effect of a defect on an appointment or extension, it has assumed the worst (i.e invalidity) and made a retrospective order to remedy the position. 

There is much to be said for this approach, which stems from the Bradford Bulls … Read the rest

Civil Law

Pet Leave on the Horizon? What Employers Should Know (US)

In recent years workplace leave policies and related legal frameworks have expanded to address a broader range of employee needs, including bereavement, pregnancy loss and paid family leave.

Against this backdrop, legislators also are increasingly recognizing the personal and emotional significance of companion animals. As that recognition continues to expand, employers may be seeing early signs of a broader legal shift extending into the workplace, reflected in emerging proposals for pet care and pet bereavement leave laws.

As of the … Read the rest

Civil Law

CAS Legal Mailbag – 4/2/26

Originally appeared in the CAS Weekly Newsletter

Dear Legal Mailbag:

As you can imagine, personnel issues are a frequent challenge for school principals like me.  A recent challenge has been figuring out a way to complete psychological evaluations of students in a timely manner.  Student mental health problems are on the rise, and the school psychologist whom we share with the middle school is overwhelmed.  

Though you wouldn’t know it to look at me, I have been the principal here for over twenty … Read the rest

Civil Law

The EU Takes a Major Step Toward Harmonised Insolvency Rules

The Council of the European Union has just given the green light to a new EU Law that aims to bring consistency to key aspects of insolvency rules across Member States.

For years, businesses and investors have had to navigate a patchwork of national regimes—each with its own procedures, timelines, and quirks. The new Directive marks a significant shift toward a more predictable and efficient regime.

By introducing common standards, the rules aim to maximise creditor recoveries and streamline insolvency … Read the rest