Expert Analysis

• 5 Things Associates Must Ask About Their Firm's Merger Plan

  

  The associates who navigate law firm mergers best ask the right questions early, such as inquiring about partners' plans, to assess how the merger could affect their workflow and career path, says Jackie Bokser-LeFebvre at Major Lindsey.

• High Seas Vessel Forfeitures Face Constitutional Headwinds

  

  The owner of an oil tanker the government seized over ties to Iran recently asked a D.C. federal court to dismiss the forfeiture action for lack of jurisdiction, raising constitutional questions about U.S. forfeiture law and the seizure of ships without a foreign government's cooperation, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

• FinCEN World Cup Warning Raises Trafficking Risks For Cos.

  

  The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent warning of human trafficking risks during the World Cup games signals heightened scrutiny ahead of the upcoming tournament, and suggests regulators increasingly expect businesses beyond financial institutions to maintain effective trafficking-risk controls, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• 2 'Rocket Dockets' And The Rules That Propel Them

  

  The fastest civil trial courts in the country are currently in the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Florida, and their chief judges provide insights into the court rules that keep them ahead, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

• Defense Patent Holiday's Real Prize May Be Collab Potential

  

  The true value of participating in the ongoing defense patent holiday program might lie not in access to technology developed by the U.S. Department of War, but in developing a working relationship with a federally funded lab and potentially achieving a cooperative research and development agreement, says Lawrence Kass at Steptoe.

• Your Next Litigation Hold Should Cover AI Chat Logs

  

  The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision in Fortis Advisors v. Krafton to treat a CEO’s artificial intelligence chats as substantive evidence is being read as a discovery warning to litigators, but there is a second duty-to-preserve lesson that is especially pertinent to in-house counsel, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

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  Studying Foreign Languages Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Studying Italian and Japanese has shown me that learning a new language can benefit a legal career in several ways, including by demonstrating the importance of approaching problems from a fresh perspective and the value of practicing patience with colleagues and clients, says Anna King at Genworth Financial.

• Sold Inventory May Drive Tax Treatment Of Tariff Refunds

  

  Companies determining the tax treatment of refunds expected following the U.S. Supreme Court's February decision invalidating tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act should consider whether the tariff costs have already reduced their income considering the cost of goods sold, say attorneys at McDermott.

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  NY Times Word Puzzles Make Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Every morning I let The New York Times humble me with word games, which offer a chance to recalibrate my brain before the day's chaos arrives and remind me that a solution — whether to a puzzle or employment law issue — almost always exists once I find the right angle, says Amy Epstein Gluck at Pierson Ferdinand.

• How Anthropic's Mythos May Upend Defense Cyber Rules

  

  Anthropic’s recent announcement that Claude Mythos, an AI general-purpose language model, could soon enable virtually anyone to exploit vulnerabilities in major web browsers and operating systems marks an imminent increase in threat levels that current defense cybersecurity regulations were not designed to navigate, say attorneys at Fluet.

• Big Issues Linger After Senate Prediction Market Trading Ban

  

  Whether the Senate can — or should — extend prediction market trading restrictions beyond itself will test not only the boundaries of insider trading law, but also the structural limits of legislative power in an era where information itself has become a tradable asset, say attorneys at Benesch.

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  Law School's Missed Lesson: Diagnose Before Arguing

  

  Law school often skips over explicitly teaching students how to determine what kind of problem a case presents before they commit to a particular doctrinal path, which risks building arguments that are internally coherent but externally misaligned, says Melanie Oxhorn at Kobre & Kim.

• Becoming The Biz-Savvy GC That Portfolio Companies Need

  

  Candidates for general counsel roles at private equity-backed portfolio companies should prioritize proving their sector-specific experience, commercial judgment and ease with uncertainty — and attorneys hoping to be candidates in five to 10 years should start working on those skills now, says Dimitri Mastrocola at Major Lindsey.

• Bid Protest Spotlight: Discriminators, Fairness, Experience

  

  In this month's bid protest roundup, Victoria Angle at MoFo surveys three recent decisions from the Government Accountability Office that show performance benchmarks may serve as qualitative discriminators, solicitation amendments and timelines must allow for fair competition, and past performance submissions must strictly comply with proposal requests.

• AI Regulatory Gaps May Fuel FCA Enforcement Action

  

  The intersection of artificial intelligence and False Claims Act enforcement presents legal risk for government contractors across several industries, particularly in the absence of a federal regulatory framework explicitly governing its development and use, say attorneys at O’Melveny.