Legal Trends 2026
The legal landscape is shifting faster than ever. Get expert insight from Bloomberg Law into AI, litigation, executive orders and authority, and corporations and transactions in 2026, with actionable intelligence for law firms and in-house legal teams.
Every year, Bloomberg Law asks its legal analysts to identify the key developments, data trends, and hot-button issues that they are noticing in the legal market today, follow them into the future, and predict what will happen in these areas in the year ahead.
But 2025 was not like every year. Seemingly from week to week, old paradigms buckled and new norms took hold, leaving the legal industry uncertain. With lawyers scrambling to make sense of the present, the task of predicting the future has become a thornier challenge than ever.
If looking ahead has seldom felt more difficult, that also makes it all the more important. With so many areas of the law going through so many dynamic changes, lawyers need to know which areas deserve the most attention—and which ones can be regarded as more flash than consequence—as the new year begins.
It is through this real-world lens that Bloomberg Law has approached this latest installment of its annual outlook series, which takes a sharp, focused look ahead to what 2026 has in store for professionals in the legal industry.
This year’s iteration features deep dives into trends across four broad themes: litigation, executive orders and authority, corporations and transactions, and artificial intelligence.
Litigation
Our litigation analyses examine developments inside and outside the courtroom that will shape the course of law in the year ahead. Topics include:
- What’s next for the beleaguered Delaware court system amid rapid changes in corporate law
- Whether force majeure will be embraced as a survival strategy by businesses hard-hit by government actions on immigration
- Why intellectual property lawyers are exploring the International Trade Court as an alternative to traditional litigation
- What the cannabis industry can expect when the Supreme Court addresses gun ownership for drug users
- What judges’ statements, in decisions and in public, foretell about the state of the judiciary
- Whether anti-union “captive audience” meetings are on their way back into workplaces
- What 2026 holds for employees’ political speech in private-sector workplaces
- How judicial pushback against defensive bankruptcies will change the face of mass tort litigation
- How litigation funders will play a key role in accelerating the pace of nonlawyer investment in law firms
Delaware on Edge Amid Corporate Law Inflection Point
Delaware corporate law faces a pivotal moment, as landmark rulings in the Musk and Rutledge cases could reshape over a century of legal precedent, according to Senior Legal Analyst Michael Maugans.
Executive Orders and Authority
Our executive orders and authority analyses explore the most consequential changes in federal oversight and where they will lead lawyers in the year ahead. Topics include:
- Why the major questions doctrine will fade as a courtroom check on executive power
- Why a controversial drug discount program will be more vulnerable than ever in 2026
- What recent court cases signal about the survival of the National Labor Relations Board
- Why discovery will be a crucial battleground in Administrative Procedure Act lawsuits
- Where a new government database tracking patient information will come up short, legally
- Whether a newly replenished EEOC will provide much-needed DEI clarity for employers
- How federal immigration crackdowns will spur states to test their lawmaking limits
Foreign Affairs Will Derail Major Questions Doctrine
Principal Legal Analyst Erin L. Webb suggests the major questions doctrine is waning as executive actions increasingly invoke foreign policy and national security.
Corporations and Transactions
Our corporations and transactions analyses focus on the trends and forces shaping key markets of interest in the year ahead. Topics include:
- How the SEC plans to set up a legal framework for cryptocurrency
- Why dealmakers are poised for a breakout year in M&A–especially across international borders
- Whether mergers among digital asset treasuries will create a new era of DAT lawsuits
- Where the conflict over debanking will lead the banking and crypto industries
- What’s next for Big Tech’s biggest antitrust cases
- Why tariff headwinds for companies won’t subside in 2026
Tariff Headwinds for Companies Will Continue in 2026
President Trump’s sweeping tariffs have created operational challenges and legal questions, making tariff uncertainty a key trend reshaping the legal industry, explains Senior Legal Analyst Louann Troutman.
Artificial Intelligence
Our artificial intelligence analyses address the most compelling challenges that generative AI will bring to legal professionals in the year ahead. Topics include:
- How AI hallucinations are getting lawyers into expensive trouble in court
- How law firms can best harness the potential of agentic AI
- How the administration’s push to free up AI will benefit biotech M&A
- Why states are shifting from privacy regulation to AI regulation
- Why corporate legal departments will struggle to gauge the ROI of AI
- How AI’s need for energy and infrastructure will affect corporate transactions
- Why US tech firms aren’t holding their breath waiting for EU AI Act implementation
- How AI in the workplace will spur a legal test of disparate impact
Join Bloomberg Law’s analysts as they preview the themes and trends that they will be keeping an eye on in 2026.
Why AI Return on Investment in Legal Will Lag in 2026
Most in-house attorneys use generative AI, but measurable returns on these investments remain elusive, says Senior Legal Analyst Janet Chanchal.
Download the full legal trends report
Access your copy of the Bloomberg Law 2026 series for an in-depth look at the issues our legal analysts are tracking into 2026. This comprehensive report covers five key areas:
- Litigation
- Corporate deals and contract risk
- Artificial intelligence and legal risk
- Executive orders, regulations, and compliance
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