Expert Analysis

• Congress Crypto Movement Could Bring CFTC 'Clarity' At Last

  

  The Clarity Act's arrival at the House floor during "Crypto Week" in Congress demonstrates enduring bipartisan support for legislation addressing digital assets and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's important role in a future regulatory structure, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• Preparing For Trump Pushback Against State Climate Laws

  

  An April executive order from President Donald Trump mandated a report from the U.S. attorney general on countering so-called state overreach in climate policy, and while that report has yet to appear, companies can expect that it will likely call for using litigation, legislation and funding to actively reshape energy policy, say attorneys at Bracewell.

• Tips For Managing Social Media And International Travel Risks

  

  Employers should familiarize themselves with the legal framework governing border searches and adopt specific risk management practices that address increasing scrutiny of employees’ social media activities by immigration enforcement, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

• Practical Implications Of SEC's New Crypto Staking Guidance

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent staff guidance that protocol staking does not constitute securities offerings provides a workable compliance blueprint for crypto developers, validators and custodial platforms willing to keep staking strictly limited to protocol-driven rewards, say attorneys at Cahill.

• DOJ Actions Signal Rising Enforcement Risk For Health Cos.

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice's announcement of a new False Claims Act working group, together with the largest healthcare fraud takedown in history, underscore the importance of sophisticated compliance programs that align with the DOJ's data-driven approach, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• Stablecoin Bills Present Opportunities, Challenges For Banks

  

  Stablecoin legislation that Congress is expected to adopt in the coming weeks — the GENIUS and STABLE Acts — would create openings for banks to engage in digital asset activities, but it also creates a platform for certain tech-savvy nonbanks to directly compete, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

• How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

  

  E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

• New FCPA Guidance May Flip The Whistleblowing Script

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice’s updated Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guidelines lay out a new incentive structure that may put multinational U.S.-based companies in an unusual offensive whistleblowing position, potentially spurring them to conduct external investigations of their foreign rivals, says Markus Funk at Perkins Coie.

• Leveraging Diligence Findings For Better Life Sciences Deals

  

  Life sciences parties should utilize due diligence strategically to review and draft deal documents, address issues identified during the diligence, and craft solutions to achieve the party's transactional goals, says Anna Zhao at Gunner Cooke.

• How McKesson Ruling Will Inform Interpretations Of The TCPA

  

  Amid the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, we can expect to see both plaintiffs and defendants utilizing the decision to revisit the Federal Communications Commission's past Telephone Consumer Protection Act interpretations and decisions they did not like, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.

• Capital One Deal Approval Lights Up Path For Bank M&A

  

  The federal banking regulators' recent approval of Capital One's acquisition of Discover signals the agencies' willingness to approve large transactions and a more favorable environment generally for bank mergers under the Trump administration, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

• Bills' Defeat Means Brighter Outlook For Texas Renewables

  

  The failure of a trio of bills from the recently concluded Texas legislative session that would have imposed new burdens on wind, solar and battery storage projects bodes well for a state with rapidly growing energy needs, say attorneys at Troutman.

• Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures

  

  With the recent rise of securities fraud actions based on external events — like a data breach or environmental disaster — that drive down stock prices, risk disclosures have become more of a sword for the plaintiffs bar than a shield for public companies, now the subject of a growing circuit split, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

• New FCPA Guidance Creates 5 Compliance Imperatives

  

  In light of new Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guidelines that mark a fundamental shift in enforcement priorities, companies should consider several specific steps to ensure compliance, from enhanced due diligence to robust whistleblower protections, says Andrew Wirmani at Reese Marketos.

• Series

  Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.