Expert Analysis

• ConvergeOne Ch. 11 Ruling Clarifies Lender Incentive Limits

  

  The recent ConvergeOne ruling from a Texas federal court marks the latest rebuke of selective lender incentives in bankruptcy, and, along with two appellate decision from late 2024, delineates the boundaries of liability management exercises inside and outside Chapter 11, says Pratik Raj Ghosh at MoloLamken.

• Strategies For Merchants As Payment Processing Costs Rise

  

  As current economic pressures and rising card processing costs threaten to decrease margins for businesses, retail merchants should consider restructuring how payments are made and who processes them within the evolving legal framework, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

• 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

  

  As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

• $2B PDVSA Ruling Offers Insight Into Foreign-Issued Debt

  

  A New York federal court's recent decision denying a request by PDVSA, Venezuela's state-owned oil company, to refuse enforcement of $2 billion in defaulted bonds serves as a guide for the scope of review required in assessing the validity of foreign-issued securities with New York choice-of-law provisions, say attorneys at Cleary.

• Del. Dispatch: Chancery Expands On Caremark Red Flags

  

  The Delaware Court of Chancery’s recent Brewer v. Turner decision, allowing a shareholder derivative suit against the board of Regions Bank to proceed, takes a more expansive view as to what constitutes red flags, bad faith and corporate trauma in Caremark claims, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

• Insights From Recent Cases On Navigating Snap Removal

  

  Snap removal, which allows defendants to transfer state court cases to federal court before a forum defendant is properly joined and served, is viewed differently across federal circuits — but keys to making it work can be drawn from recent decisions critiquing the practice, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

• Opinion

  It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

  

  After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

• Recent Trends In Lending To Nonbank Financial Institutions

  

  Loans to nondepository financial institutions represent the fastest-growing bank lending asset this year, while exhibiting the cleanest credit profile and the lowest delinquency rate, but two recent bankruptcies also emphasize important cautionary considerations, says Chris van Heerden at Cadwalader.

• Why This Popular Class Cert. Approach Doesn't Measure Up

  

  In recent class certification decisions, plaintiffs experts have used the in-sample prediction approach to show that challenged conduct harmed all, or almost all, proposed class members — but this approach is unreliable because it fails two fundamental tests of reliable econometric methods, say consultants at Cornerstone Research.

• Opinion

  Crypto Bills' Narrow Scope Guarantees Continued Uncertainty

  

  The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and Responsible Financial Innovation Act aim to make the $4 trillion crypto market more transparent and less susceptible to fraud, but their focus on digital assets sold in investment contract transactions promises continued uncertainty for the industry, says Joe Hall at Davis Polk.

• Federal Debanking Scrutiny Prompts Compliance Questions

  

  Recent U.S. Small Business Administration guidance sets forth requirements for preventing so-called politicized debanking and specific additional instructions for small lenders, but falls short on clarity for larger institutions, leaving lenders of all sizes with questions as they navigate this unique compliance challenge, say attorneys at Cooley.

• Series

  Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

• SEC's No-Action Relief Could Dramatically Alter Retail Voting

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently cleared the way for ExxonMobil to institute a novel change in retail shareholder voting that could greatly increase voter turnout, granting no-action relief that represents an effective and meaningful step toward modernizing the shareholder voting process and the much-needed democratization of retail investors, say attorneys at Cozen.

• New Mass. 'Junk Fee' Regs Will Be Felt Across Industries

  

  The reach of a newly effective regulation prohibiting so-called junk fees and deceptive pricing in Massachusetts will be widespread across industries, which should prompt businesses to take note of new advertising, pricing information and negative option requirements, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

• SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

  

  The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.