Capital Markets

Expert Analysis

• Rebuttal

  Jury Trials, Though In Decline, Are Well Worth Preserving

  

  In a recent Law360 guest article, the author applauded the disappearance of jury trials as an inefficient, costly mechanism, but in doing so he overlooked the greater value of jury trials for our justice system, says Stephen Susman, executive director of the Civil Jury Project at NYU School of Law.

• A Broader View Of The US Supreme Court Bar

  

  During the past 15 years, three widely read articles bolstered by starstruck media have promulgated the incorrect perception — sorely in need of revision — that the U.S. Supreme Court bar is limited to a handful of elite lawyers, says Lawrence Ebner of Capital Appellate Advocacy.

• New FinCEN Action Is A Warning To P2P Crypto Exchangers

  

  The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network recently assessed its first civil penalty against a peer-to-peer exchanger of convertible virtual currency, indicating that virtual currency exchanges of any size that fail to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act do so at their own peril, say Wade Thomson and E.K. McWilliams of Jenner & Block.

• Opinion

  Post-Lucia, It’s Deja Vu With The SEC

  

  Given last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge who tried Raymond Lucia's case had not been constitutionally appointed, Lucia should not be facing an SEC ALJ again on remand, says Joel Nolette of Mintz.

• Justices Could Trigger Sea Change For Tender Offer Suits

  

  U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments Monday in Emulex v. Varjabedian — a case that could alter the landscape of tender offer litigation under Section 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act — confirmed the potentially significant nature of the forthcoming decision, as well as the justices’ sharp divide on the issues, say attorneys with Ropes & Gray.

• Opinion

  Jury Trials Are In Decline For Good Reason

  

  A recent Law360 article reported on federal judges bemoaning jury trials' nationwide decline, but these laments are unfounded as jury trials have been replaced by better alternatives, says J.B. Heaton of J.B. Heaton Research.

• New SEC Staff Guidance Could Leave Mutual Funds In A Bind

  

  Recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff guidance asked mutual funds to postpone the effective date of their registration statements if they are unable to respond to staff comments in a timely fashion. But complying with such a request could leave a fund without an effective registration statement, say Gretchen Passe Roin and Seth Davis of WilmerHale.

• Series

  Why I Became A Lawyer: A Circuitous Path To The Law

  

  Instead of going to college after high school, I followed in my father’s footsteps and became an electrician. Later I became an electrical engineer, and then an IP attorney. Every twist and turn along the way has made me a better lawyer, says Joseph Maraia of Burns & Levinson.

• Despite TurnKey, SEC Will Try To Regulate Most Digital Assets

  

  A careful reading of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new digital assets framework suggests that the TurnKey no-action letter — issued on the same day — is a rare exception to the SEC's general approach, say Deborah Meshulam and Benjamin Klein of DLA Piper.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Conrad Reviews 'The Jury Crisis'

  

  In "The Jury Crisis," jury consultant and social psychologist Drury Sherrod spotlights the vanishing jury trial, providing a fascinating canary-in-the-coal-mine warning for lawyers, litigants and society at large, says U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad of the Western District of North Carolina.