Construction

Expert Analysis

• Environmental Policy And The Election: Part 1

  

  Attorneys at Akin Gump outline both presidential candidates' key environmental and energy policy goals, and identify recent Trump administration environmental rules that may be invalidated through the Congressional Review Act if Democrats win control of both the House and Senate.

• Guest Feature

  5 Ways Firms Can Avoid Female Atty Exodus During Pandemic

  

  The pandemic's disproportionate impact on women presents law firms with a unique opportunity to devise innovative policies that will address the increasing home life demands female lawyers face and help retain them long after COVID-19 is over, say Roberta Liebenberg at Fine Kaplan and Stephanie Scharf at Scharf Banks.

• Ill. Ruling Bolsters Trend Against No-Injury Monitoring Claims

  

  The Illinois Supreme Court's recent ruling in Berry v. City of Chicago, rejecting claims for medical monitoring by plaintiffs not suffering present physical injuries, reflects a growing trend and could influence other state courts to rule similarly, say John Ewald and Matthew Bush at King & Spalding.

• A Justice Barrett Could Bring Clarity To Property Rights Law

  

  While Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s recent Seventh Circuit decision in Protect Our Parks v. Chicago Park District reveals no particular vision on property rights, it suggests she would help clarify a famously muddled area of the law if confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, says Bryan Wenter at Miller Starr.

• UK Pandemic Recovery Offers Opportunities For Green Cos.

  

  The U.K. government's plans to use regulations and funding to accelerate the transition to a green economy after the COVID-19 pandemic promise significant opportunities for companies and investors focused on clean technologies, says Samantha Deacon at Goodwin.

• Opinion

  Lawyers Must Fight Voter Suppression This Election Season

  

  Lawyers should use their unique skill sets, knowledge and spheres of influence to fight burdensome ID requirements and other voter suppression tactics that may influence the 2020 elections, and to participate in potential post-election litigation, say CK Hoffler and Allyce Bailey at the National Bar Association.

• Why Sustainable Finance Is On The Rise

  

  With green bonds, green loans and sustainability-linked debt instruments appearing with increasing prevalence in the bond and loan markets, opportunities within sustainable finance look set to continue their upward trajectory as environmental, social and governance factors increase in importance for both companies and investors, say attorneys at Vinson & Elkins.

• 4 Enforcement Actions Highlight SEC's Focus On Earnings

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's four enforcement actions settled in the days before its fiscal year-end show the regulator is keeping an eye on issuers' earnings management and financial reporting, and demonstrate the dangers of fixating on analysts' earnings targets, says Lori Echavarria at WilmerHale.

• Why Online Mediation May Be Here To Stay

  

  Videoconferenced mediation offers several advantages and helps cases settle faster and more cordially, making it hard to imagine going back to logistically difficult in-person dispute resolution after COVID-19 restrictions are gone, says Sidney Kanazawa at ARC.

• Employer Arbitration Agreement Pointers From 2 Rulings

  

  While two recent decisions from the New Jersey Supreme Court and Third Circuit address separate employment arbitration agreement enforceability issues, both reaffirm the strong federal policy favoring arbitration and offer some clarity on when a court versus an arbitrator determines whether an agreement exists, says Kirsten Grossman at Nukk-Freeman.

• Clients Have The Power To Promote Wellness At Law Firms

  

  Law firm clients can play a role in lowering mental distress in the legal profession by seeking lawyer wellness data from firms and factoring those responses into outside counsel hiring decisions, says Jonathan Prokup at Cigna.

• Opinion

  Appellate Courts Should Welcome Well-Crafted Amicus Briefs

  

  A Seventh Circuit judge's recent order granting leave for three organizations to file amicus curiae briefs in Prairie Rivers Network v. Dynegy Midwest Generation is a reminder that relevant, nonduplicative amicus briefs can provide courts with helpful perspective, important facts and legal arguments, says Lawrence Ebner at Capital Appellate Advocacy.

• NY Art Disputes Highlight Fame's Role In Copyright Suits

  

  The long-standing art disputes in New York involving 5Pointz and The Andy Warhol Foundation demonstrate that the Visual Artist Rights Act operates differently than traditional copyright law and that arguments about an artist's fame outside of VARA can undermine public policy, say Susan Kohlmann and Jacob Tracer at Jenner & Block.

• 3 Keys To Avoiding Pandemic-Related Construction Suits

  

  By paying close attention to contractual compliance, contemporaneous documentation and fair dealing, construction parties can avoid claims stemming from the pandemic’s impact or position themselves to prevail when litigation is unavoidable, say Colby Balkenbush and Ryan Gormley at Weinberg Wheeler.

• Series

  AGs In A Pandemic: Miller Talks Iowa Derecho

  

  The intense, straight-line windstorm that devastated Iowa in August brought out scammers and charlatans, but state Attorney General Tom Miller says that the COVID-19 crisis had prepared his office's Consumer Protection Division to take swift action on price-gouging and other problems in the wake of the disaster.