Expert Analysis

• Assessing The 9th Circ.'s Recent Stock Drop Dismissal Trend

  

  The recent decision in Nova Scotia Health Employees' Pension Plan v. Comerica is an important circuit-level addition to the growing trend of Ninth Circuit securities class action dismissals on loss causation grounds, which have used a contextual analysis premised on stock drops that are modest, typical and short-lived, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

• How 'Spillover' Effects Can Skew AI Securities Class Actions

  

  Event study evidence is often central in securities litigation at class certification and beyond, but in an environment where earnings forecasts and statements can have spillover market implications, particularly when concerning artificial intelligence, the task of parsing out the price impact of news requires careful consideration, say Erik Johannesson, Olivia Wurgaft and Nguyet Nguyen at Brattle Group.

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  Playing Magic: The Gathering Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  The competitive card game Magic: The Gathering offers me a training ground for the strategic thinking skills crucial to litigation, challenging me to adapt to oft-updated rules, analyze text as complicated as any statute and anticipate my opponent’s next moves, says Christopher Smith at Lash Goldberg.

• Improving Well-Being In Law, 10 Years After Landmark Study

  

  An important 2016 study revealed significant substance abuse and mental health issues among lawyers, and while the findings helped normalize the conversation around these topics, a decade later, structural change is still needed, says Denise Robinson at PLI.

• How Food, Beverage Claims May Preview Cosmetic Litigation

  

  Class action litigation targeting cosmetics and personal care products is accelerating, with a playbook that comes from the food and beverage industry — and the defenses that succeeded, and failed, in past class actions offer a critical road map for beauty and personal care brands, say attorneys at Crowell.

• Contract Language Reigned Supreme In Bancorp Dismissal

  

  A Minnesota federal court's recent dismissal of claims over U.S. Bancorp's cash sweep program underscores that clear contractual disclosures hold weight in class actions, demonstrating the power of contract language that plainly indicates terms, fiduciary limits and institutional benefits to customers, says Quin Seiler at Winthrop & Weinstine.

• PFAS Study Is Wake-Up Call For Pet Food Companies

  

  As standards around per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances continue to evolve, a new study revealing that PFAS have found their way into many brands of pet food is a warning to the industry to reexamine the contents and marketing of their products in the face of increasing regulatory and litigation exposure, say attorneys at MG+M.

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  Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

• Written Consent Ruling May Signal Change For Telemarketing

  

  The Fifth Circuit's ruling in Bradford v. Sovereign Pest Control is a takedown of the Federal Communications Commission's prior express written consent regulation, and because Loper Bright empowers courts to disregard agency interpretations, Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigants now have an opportunity to challenge previously settled FCC regulations, orders and interpretations, say attorneys at Manatt.

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  Law School's Missed Lessons: How To Draft Pleadings

  

  Most law school graduates step into their first jobs without ever having drafted a complaint, answer, motion or other type of pleading, but that gap can be closed by understanding the strategy embedded in every filing, writing with clarity and purpose, and seeking feedback at every step, says Eric Yakaitis at Haug Barron.

• E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On ESI Control

  

  Several recent federal court decisions have perpetuated a split over what constitutes “control” of electronically stored information — with judges divided on whether the standard should turn on a party's legal right or practical ability to obtain the information, say attorneys at Sidley.

• Insurer Lessons From 1st Wave Of GenAI Coverage Rulings

  

  Several pending cases target the issue of whether generative AI may appropriately replace human professional decision-making, and though each case is still in discovery, the decisions thus far provide insurers with guidance on how courts may view these claims, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• The Role Of Operational Data In Tech Platform Liability Suits

  

  As litigation becomes a de facto substitute for the regulation of major technology platforms, with plaintiffs advancing claims under product liability, public nuisance and consumer protection laws, among others, courts are evaluating how platform systems operate in practice based on large-scale operational data, say attorneys at Brattle.

• 2nd Circ. Ruling Reinforces Securities Act Limits Post-Slack

  

  The Second Circuit's recent decision to limit treatment of mandatory reverse splits as actionable sales in Knapp v. Barclays is narrow but important, offering issuers a stronger basis to challenge expansive Securities Act theories and reinforcing the post-Slack v. Pirani discipline of tracing, says Elisha Kobre at Sheppard.

• 2 Discovery Rulings Break With Heppner On AI Privilege Issue

  

  While a New York federal court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner suggests that some litigants’ communications with AI tools are discoverable, two other recent federal court decisions demonstrate that such interactions generally qualify for work-product protection under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, says Joshua Dunn at Brown Rudnick.