Expert Analysis

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

  

  Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

• Software Patents May Face New Eligibility Scrutiny

  

  November guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, along with recent litigation trends from the Federal Circuit, may encourage new challenges in the USPTO and district courts to artificial intelligence and software patents that rely on generic computing functions without concrete details, say attorneys at Venable.

• Contract Disputes Recap: Delay, Plain Text, Sovereign Acts

  

  Three recent decisions addressing familiar pressure points show that even well-worn doctrines evolve, and both contractors and the government should reexamine their assumptions, says Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth.

• Opinion

  A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

  

  To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

• 9th Circ. Ruling Clarifies Auditor Liability For IPO Errors

  

  The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Hunt v. PricewaterhouseCoopers elucidates the legal standard for claims against auditors in connection with a company's initial public offering, confirming that audit opinions are subjective and becoming the first circuit to review this precise question since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 Omnicare ruling, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• 10th Circ. Dissent May Light Path For Master Account Access

  

  While the Tenth Circuit's majority in Custodia Bank v. Federal Reserve Board recently affirmed Federal Reserve banks' control over master account access, the dissent raised constitutional questions that could support banks seeking master accounts in future litigation, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

• 3 Defense Strategies For Sporadically Prosecuted Conduct

  

  Not to be confused with selective prosecutions, sporadic prosecutions — charging someone for conduct many others do without consequences — can be challenging to defend, but focusing on materiality, prosecutorial motivations and public opinion can be a winning strategy, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

• Series

  The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

  

  Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

• Patent Disclaimers Ruling Offers Restriction Practice Insights

  

  The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Focus Products v. Kartri confirms that prosecution disclaimers can extend to examiner-defined species in restriction practice, making it important for patent practitioners to manage restriction requirement responses carefully to avoid unintended claim scope limitations, say attorneys at BCLP.

• Opinion

  Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

  

  While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

• Suncor Is Justices' Chance To Rule On Climate Nuisance Suits

  

  If the U.S. Supreme Court chooses to hear Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, Colorado, it will have the chance to resolve whether federal law precludes state law nuisance claims targeting interstate and global emissions — and the answer will have major implications for climate litigation nationwide, say attorneys at Liskow & Lewis.

• Key Crypto Class Action Trends And Rulings In 2025

  

  As the law continued to take shape in the growing area of crypto-assets, this year saw a jump in crypto class action litigation, including noteworthy decisions on motions to compel arbitration and class certification, according to Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.

• NBA, MLB Betting Indictments: Slam Dunks Or Strikeouts?

  

  Recent fraud charges against bettors, NBA players and MLB pitchers raise questions about what the government will need to prove to prosecute individuals involved in placing bets based on nonpublic information, and it could be a tough sell to juries, say attorneys at Ford O'Brien.

• Series

  Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

• Eveready Vs. Squirt: How Trademark Surveys Fare In 9th Circ.

  

  An analysis of how two consumer surveys for measuring confusion in trademark disputes perform in the Ninth Circuit across pivotal points in trademark cases' progression reveals insights not only on how the two formats stack up against each other, but also how to maximize a survey's effectiveness, say attorneys at Dorsey.