The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), enacted July 4, 2025, creates new tax deductions for tax years 2025 through 2028 for recipients of qualified tips and qualified overtime compensation. The OBBBA amendments to the Code generally impose information reporting requirements, such as on Form W-2 or Form 1099, on the payors of qualified
Future-Focused: Our 2026 Checklist to Shift California Employers Into High Gear
As California continues to set the pace for employment law regulation, 2026 looks to be another high-speed race filled with sharp turns and new obstacles. From restrictions on repayment agreements and expanded Cal WARN notice requirements to stricter pay equity rules, and much more, California employers are entering a compliance race where every second counts.
Register Now: 2026 California Employer Update Webinar | Navigating Change with Precision
Fast Track to 2026: A 75-Minute Must-Attend Webinar for In-House Counsel
The legal landscape impacting California employers is evolving at breakneck speed. As we race toward 2026, employers need to stay agile, informed, and ready to shift gears. This high-impact session will cover the most pressing workplace trends, risks, and regulatory changes ahead for California
US AI Vision in Action: What Businesses Need to Know About the White House AI Action Plan
On July 23, the White House unveiled its much-anticipated AI Action Plan. The Action Plan follows President Trump’s Executive Order 14179 of January 23 on “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence”—which directed the development of the Action Plan within 180 days—and subsequent consultation with stakeholders to “define the priority policy actions needed to sustain and enhance America’s AI dominance, and to ensure that unnecessarily burdensome requirements do not hamper private sector AI innovation.” This update provides a summary of the Action Plan and key considerations for businesses developing or deploying AI.
The Action Plan is structured around three pillars: (I) Accelerating AI Innovation, (II) Building American AI Infrastructure, and (III) Leading in International AI Diplomacy and Security. Although, the AI Action Plan is not legally binding in itself, each pillar contains a number of policy recommendations and actions, which will subsequently need to be actioned by various government agencies and institutes.
Pillar I – Accelerating AI Innovation
Pillar I focuses on reducing the impact of regulation that may hamper AI development. To this end, the Action Plan instructs the Office of Management and Budget to “consider a state’s AI regulatory climate when making funding decisions and limit funding if the state’s AI regulatory regimes may hinder the effectiveness of that funding or award.” Pillar I emphasizes the need for workplace action that supports transition to an AI economy, citing AI literary and skill development among key workforce priorities. The Action Plan also calls for federal- and state-led efforts to evaluate the impact of AI on the labor market. In order to promote advancements in American AI technologies, Pillar I specifically calls for investment in open-source AI models, support for the preparation of high-quality datasets for use in model training, and acceleration of the federal government’s adoption of AI.
Pillar II – Building American AI Infrastructure
Pillar II of the Action Plan includes actions aimed at strengthening the country’s AI infrastructure. The Action Plan seeks to streamline the expansion of America’s semiconductor manufacturing capabilities by removing extraneous policy requirements for CHIPS-funded semiconductor manufacturing operations. Pillar II also focuses on the fortification of AI systems and other critical infrastructure assets against cybersecurity threats. In order to achieve these goals, the Action Plan proposes various measures to enhance cybersecurity protections such as sharing AI-security threat intelligence across critical infrastructure sectors and developing standards to facilitate the development of resilient and secure AI systems.Continue Reading US AI Vision in Action: What Businesses Need to Know About the White House AI Action Plan
No Tax on Tips or Overtime in the OBBBA: What Employers Need to Know (Video Chat)
- What do employers need to track and report?
- How will payroll systems need to adapt?
- What guidance can
Preparing Multinational Employers for (More) RIFs in 2025 (Video Chat)
Reductions in force (RIFs) are rarely straightforward—especially for multinational employers. Navigating conflicting labor laws, benefits obligations, cultural expectations, and logistical hurdles requires strategic planning and coordination to stay compliant and minimize disruption.
In this video chat, our Employment and Compensation attorneys unpack the legal and practical challenges of RIFs inside and outside of the US.
Top Strategies to Safeguard Tech Trade Secrets
Trade secrets give tech companies a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving landscape, where success depends on the ability to innovate. The unauthorized acquisition, use, or disclosure of trade secrets can result in significant loss and disruption, making it essential for organizations to have robust safeguards in place to protect their trade secrets. Here, we explore clear steps organizations can take to manage and mitigate risks with a focus on trade secret identification and the role of employees in trade secret protection.
Mission Critical: Protecting Tech Trade Secrets
Fast-paced developments
The technology sector continues to experience huge transformation with emerging technologies and advancements in AI. Companies are investing heavily in developing capabilities, and new services and products. Rapid innovation and desire to be first to market, has caused trade secrets to become an increasingly preferred method of protection over other types of intellectual property regimes, such as applying for a patent, which can be costly and raise complex timing considerations. Trade secrets can protect algorithms, processes, datasets, customer lists, and more. The trade secrets of companies at the forefront of AI and other tech innovation are highly valuable.
Expanding threat landscape
Threat actors are leveraging tech advancements to steal vast amounts of company information through more sophisticated and efficient attacks. Heightened internet usage increases hacking risks from competitors, foreign governments and hacktivist groups.
AI developments currently require high computational power, concentrating progress in large tech companies. However, the competitor landscape is changing, with many start-ups and established companies building applications within the AI technology stack, alongside new players entering the AI frontier race. The demand for tech talent with the skills to drive innovation is at all-time high, making trade secret protection critical.
In the past few years, tech companies have also been especially susceptible to the public disclosure of confidential internal documents by employee activists motivated by non-monetary factors.
Legal remedies
Legal frameworks for protecting trade secrets have become more robust and varied across jurisdictions. Injunctive relief (to prevent use of trade secrets and reclaim them) is an essential tool in trade secret breach cases. Victims may also pursue financial remedies, such as damages.Continue Reading Top Strategies to Safeguard Tech Trade Secrets
SCOTUS Settles Conflict on Standard of Proof for FLSA Exemptions: Preponderance of the Evidence Prevails
The Supreme Court of the United States recently settled a circuit split on the standard of proof required to classify employees as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime pay provisions. In a unanimous opinion, SCOTUS held in EMD Sales, Inc. v. Carrera that the “preponderance of the evidence” standard–and
California Employer 2025 Checklist: Top 10 Changes to Know this January
As you plan your to-dos for the year ahead, our “2025 Top 10” will guide you through the material employment law changes ahead in the Golden State. While we have not included all new California employment laws effective 2025, we’ve highlighted the major changes our clients need to know.
| Key California Change | Employer To-Dos | |
| (1) | Minimum |
California’s CLE Compliance Deadline Is Approaching – We can help!
Join our AI and Cyber CLE Series
If your last name starts with A-G, you are probably well aware that your (recently extended) MCLE compliance deadline is on March 30, 2025. In addition to the general credit requirement, the state of California requires all attorneys to complete:
- At least four hours of legal ethics
- At least two hours on competence issues
- At least two hours on the elimination of bias in the legal profession and society. Of the two hours, at least one hour must focus on implicit bias and the promotion of bias‑reducing strategies.
- At least one hour on technology
- At least one hour on civility
Continue Reading California’s CLE Compliance Deadline Is Approaching – We can help!