Expert Analysis

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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.

• 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.

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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.

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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.

• What Employers Should Know About Wash. Noncompete Ban

  

  Washington state recently passed one of the most expansive prohibitions on noncompetes in the country, marking a significant shift in the state's approach to restrictive covenants and requiring employers to carefully assess how this change will affect their current and future agreements, say attorneys at Cozen.

• Evaluating Congressional Investigation Risk In Deal Diligence

  

  Given the increasing frequency and sophistication of congressional investigations into corporate business practices, companies conducting transactional due diligence should add procedures to assess and mitigate the unique challenges and wide-ranging risks that can arise from Capitol Hill’s scrutiny, say attorneys at Covington.

• 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.

• Calif. Truck Regs Now Require Multiple Compliance Strategies

  

  California's various vehicle and truck emissions programs now move on different legal tracks, impose different obligations and create different business risks on different timelines — so companies that treat them as one package subject to a federal Clean Air Act waiver risk missing deadlines and mispricing contracts, says Thierry Montoya at FBT Gibbons.

• Del. Ruling Shows Power Of Postclose Governance Provisions

  

  After the Delaware Court of Chancery reinstated a target company's CEO as part of the equitable remedy in Fortis Advisors v. Krafton, deal parties should emphasize the importance of postclosing governance provisions to earnout economics, knowing that they will have to live with these provisions for the duration of the earnout period, say attorneys at Sidley.

• A Data-Driven Guide For Navigating The 2026 Oil Price Shock

  

  With the Iran war disrupting tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, oil price volatility has soared, and this extreme price dislocation is likely to generate complex legal disputes — but companies can protect themselves by preserving every scrap of market data available, say Peter Niculescu and Leslie Rahl at Capital Market Risk Advisors.

• 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.

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  Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

• What FMC's Rejection Of War Surcharges Means For Shipping

  

  The Federal Maritime Commission's rejection of multiple common carriers' requests last month to implement emergency shipping surcharges in response to conflict in the Mideast signals a decisive shift in the agency's regulatory posture toward stronger protections for shippers — with important implications for all supply chain participants, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

• Getting To Know The Key Partners In Nuclear Power Projects

  

  As more major technology companies and hyperscalers enter into energy offtake agreements with operators of existing, restarting and planned nuclear plants, it is essential that all stakeholders in such partnerships understand the roles and responsibilities of the key entities involved in a nuclear power project, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.