Expert Analysis

• Junior Attys Must Beware Of 5 Common Legal Brief Mistakes

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Junior law firm associates must be careful to avoid five common pitfalls when drafting legal briefs — from including every possible argument to not developing a theme — to build the reputation of a sought-after litigator, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.

• Expect DOJ To Repeat 4 Themes From 2024's FCPA Trials

  

  As two upcoming Foreign Corrupt Practice Act trials approach, defense counsel should anticipate the U.S. Department of Justice to revive several of the same themes prosecutors leaned on in trials last year to motivate jurors to convict, and build counternarratives to neutralize these arguments, says James Koukios at MoFo.

• How The SEC Has Subtly Changed Its Injunction Approach

  

  For decades, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has relied on the obey-the-law injunction, but judicial deference to the SEC's desired language has fractured since 2012 — with the commission itself this year utilizing a more tailored approach to injunctions, albeit inconsistently, say attorneys at Hilgers Graben.

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  Power To The Paralegals: How And Why Training Must Evolve

  

  Empowering paralegals through new models of education that emphasize digital fluency, interdisciplinary collaboration and human-centered lawyering could help solve workforce challenges and the justice gap — if firms, educators and policymakers get on board, say Kristine Custodio Suero and Kelli Radnothy.

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  Playing Softball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  My time on the softball field has taught me lessons that also apply to success in legal work — on effective preparation, flexibility, communication and teamwork, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.

• IPO Suit Reinforces Strict Section 11 Tracing Requirement

  

  A California federal court's recent dismissal of an investor class action against Allbirds in connection with the company's initial public offering cites the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Slack v. Pirani decision, reinforcing the firm tracing requirement for Section 11 plaintiffs — even at the pleading stage, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

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  Law School's Missed Lessons: Mastering Time Management

  

  Law students typically have weeks or months to prepare for any given deadline, but the unpredictability of practicing in the real world means that lawyers must become time-management pros, ready to adapt to scheduling conflicts and unexpected assignments at any given moment, says David Thomas at Honigman.

• Courts Keep Upping Standing Ante In ERISA Healthcare Suits

  

  As Article III standing becomes increasingly important in litigation brought by employer-sponsored health plan members under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, several recent cases suggest that courts are taking a more scrutinizing approach to the standing inquiry in both class actions and individual matters, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• How Hyperlinks Are Changing E-Discovery Responsibilities

  

  A recent e-discovery dispute over hyperlinked data in Hubbard v. Crow shows how courts have increasingly broadened the definition of control to account for cloud-based evidence, and why organizations must rethink preservation practices to avoid spoliation risks, says Bree Murphy at Exterro.

• CFPB Proposal Defining Consumer Risk May Add Uncertainty

  

  Though a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposal would codify when risks to consumers justify supervisory intervention against nonbanks, furthering Trump administration plans to curtail CFPB authority, firms may still struggle to identify what could attract supervisory designation under the new rule, say attorneys at Steptoe.

• Atkins-Led SEC Continues Focus On Private Funds

  

  Since the change in administration, there has overall been a more accommodative regulatory stance toward private funds, but a recent enforcement action suggests that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is not backing off from enforcement in the space completely, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• 9th Circ. Ruling Leaves SEC Gag Rule Open To Future Attacks

  

  Though the Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Powell v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission leaves the SEC's no-admit, no-deny rule intact, it could provide some fodder for litigants who wish to criticize the commission's activities either before or after settling with the commission, says Jonathan Richman at Brown Rudnick.

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  Writing Musicals Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  My experiences with writing musicals and practicing law have shown that the building blocks for both endeavors are one and the same, because drama is necessary for the law to exist, says Addison O’Donnell at LOIS Law.

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  Adapting To Private Practice: From Va. AUSA To Mid-Law

  

  Returning to the firm where I began my career after seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia has been complex, nuanced and rewarding, and I’ve learned that the pursuit of justice remains the constant, even as the mindset and client change, says Kristin Johnson at Woods Rogers.

• Rebutting Price Impact In Securities Class Actions

  

  Defendants litigating securities cases historically faced long odds in defeating class certification, but that paradigm has recently begun to shift, with recent cases ushering in a more searching analysis of price impact and changing the evidence courts can consider at the class certification stage, say attorneys at Katten.