Federal

Fuel Credit Regs Clear Clouds Over Middleman Sales

Kat Lucero

The U.S. Treasury Department's move to allow domestic clean fuel producers selling to intermediaries to qualify for the production tax credit under newly released proposed rules recognizes the industry's commercial realities and clears up uncertainty that had been hindering the market, practitioners said.

The Tax Angle: DC Home Rule Override, GOP Messaging

Stephen K. Cooper
Editor-at-Large

From a look at congressional efforts to overturn a Washington, D.C., law decoupling the district's tax code from the 2025 GOP budget law to Republicans' efforts to recast the budget law as more favorable to working families, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few developing tax stories.

5 Takeaways From 5th Circ.'s Limited Partner Tax Decision

Kat Lucero

The Fifth Circuit has issued a long-awaited opinion holding that partners with limited liability under state law qualify for an exclusion from the self-employment tax, and the decision offers five notable takeaways that experts said may shed light on the potential fate of partnership taxation and compliance.

Judges On AI: Practical Use Cases In Chambers

U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard in the Southern District of California discusses how she uses generative artificial intelligence tools in chambers to make work more efficient and effective — from editing jury instructions for clarity to summarizing key documents.

What's At Stake In Possible Circuit Split On Medicaid Rule

A recent Eleventh Circuit decision, reviving Florida's lawsuit against a federal rule that reduces Medicaid funding based on agreements between hospitals, sets up a potential circuit split with the Fifth Circuit, with important ramifications for states looking to private administrators to run provider tax programs, say Liz Goodman, Karuna Seshasai and Rebecca Pitt at FTI Consulting.

Malpractice Claim Assignability Continues To Divide Courts

Recent decisions from courts across the country demonstrate how different jurisdictions balance competing policy interests in determining whether legal malpractice claims can be assigned, providing a framework to identify when and how to challenge any attempted assignment, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin & Lodgen.

Where PCAOB Goes Next After A Year Of Uncertainty

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will likely bring fewer enforcement matters in 2026, reflecting a notable change in board priorities following the change in administrations, say Robert Cox and Nicole Byrd at Whiteford Taylor and Matthew Rogers at Bridgehaven Consulting.

5th Circ. Ruling Clarifies Tax Rules For Limited Partners

The Fifth Circuit’s Jan. 16 decision in Sirius Solutions v. Commissioner provides greater tax planning certainty by adopting a bright-line test for determining when partners in limited liability companies are exempt from self-employment tax, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

Rescheduling Cannabis Marks New Tax Era For Operators

As the attorney general takes steps to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, operators and advisers should prepare by considering the significant changes this will bring from tax, state, industry and market perspectives, says Michael Harlow at CohnReznick.

Judges On AI: How Judicial Use Informs Guardrails

U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado discusses why having a sense of how generative AI tools behave, where they add value, where they introduce risk and how they are reshaping the practice of law is key for today's judges.

Presidential Pardon Brokering Can Create Risks For Attys

The emergence of an apparent “pardon shopping” marketplace, in which attorneys treat presidential pardons as a market product, may invite investigative scrutiny of counsel and potential criminal charges grounded in bribery, wire fraud and other statutes, says David Klasing at The Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing.

Key False Claims Act Trends From The Last Year

The False Claims Act remains a powerful enforcement tool after some record verdicts and settlements in 2025, and while traditional fraud areas remain a priority, new initiatives are raising questions about its expanding application, says Veronica Nannis at Joseph Greenwald.

Hosting Exchange Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Opening my home to foreign exchange students makes me a better lawyer not just because prioritizing visiting high schoolers forces me to hone my organization and time management skills but also because sharing the study-abroad experience with newcomers and locals reconnects me to my community, says Alison Lippa at Nicolaides Fink.

How A 1947 Tugboat Ruling May Shape Work Product In AI Era

Rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence test work-product principles first articulated in the U.S. Supreme Court’s nearly 80-year-old Hickman v. Taylor decision, as courts and ethics bodies confront whether disclosure of attorneys’ AI prompts and outputs would reveal their thought processes, say Larry Silver and Sasha Burton at Langsam Stevens.