Construction

Expert Analysis

• What COVID-19 Means For Calif. Real Estate And Use Permits

  

  In California, the coronavirus pandemic and the state's response have raised important questions for those involved in pending or approved construction projects, as well as existing businesses that require modification or emergency funding, say Stephanie Smith and Avneet Sidhu at Grid Legal.

• Confronting The Challenges Of Virtual Mediation

  

  Conducting mediation via videoconference amid the ongoing pandemic poses significant challenges, including the difficulty of reading people when you are not with them in person. Daniel Garrie at JAMS shares six tips to overcome the limitations.

• 3 Steps To Building Effective Teams While On Lockdown

  

  When your team is working from different locations due to the COVID-19 outbreak, don’t default to just sending emails. Collaboration is much easier when team members are also communicating in real time over the phone or through videoconferences, say William Oxley and Meghan Rohling Kelly at BakerHostetler.

• Private Infrastructure Investment And The COVID-19 Pandemic

  

  COVID-19 has already led to the postponement of a number of private infrastructure mergers, acquisitions and financing activities, but investment in the sector will likely show resilience due to continuing demand, say Fred Day at Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Roald Nashi at Kirkland.

• Client Advocacy Tips For Remote Hearings During COVID-19

  

  As the judiciary implements telephone and video hearings in response to the coronavirus pandemic, attorneys can deliver effective advocacy by following certain best practices, such as using backup materials and specially preparing witnesses and exhibits, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

• How To Conduct Depositions Remotely

  

  Remote depositions are a useful tool for meeting discovery deadlines while allowing all parties to stay at home amid the COVID-19 outbreak. But they come with a unique set of challenges, say Eliot Williams and Daniel Rabinowitz at Baker Botts. 

• A Guide To Zealously Representing Clients During COVID-19

  

  The American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct require lawyers to be zealous advocates for clients' interests, but how do these rules apply in this unprecedented time of COVID-19? Anne Lockner at Robins Kaplan offers some pointers.

• 7 Ways Attys Can Create The Right Home Office Environment

  

  In the midst of this health crisis when lawyers are working from home with their loved ones around all day, practitioners need to ensure their “home” and “office” settings coexist without one trumping the needs of the other, says Luciana Fragali at Design Solutions.

• Aviation Waste Problem Is A Green Economy Opportunity

  

  As airport projects receive increasing environmental and legal scrutiny, the need for a resource recovery model that can handle the aviation sector's waste challenges is clear, say Jonathan Cocker at Baker McKenzie and Andrew Wilson at the International Aviation Waste Management Association.

• 10 E-Discovery Challenges Caused By COVID-19

  

  The COVID-19 crisis will continue to affect e-discovery long after we overcome this pandemic. When litigation and investigations reengage and courts start moving their schedules forward, these concerns will need to be addressed, say David Kessler and Andrea D'Ambra at Norton Rose.

• Emergency Environmental Exemptions During The Pandemic

  

  The national response to the coronavirus faces many impediments, but federal and state environmental laws should not be among them, thanks to exemptions that allow projects to bypass normal procedures and waive some substantive requirements in emergencies, say Michael Gerrard and Brian Israel of Arnold & Porter.

• BigLaw Leaders Must Prepare For COVID-19 Economic Fallout

  

  The financial impact of COVID-19 is already starting to ripple through law firms in the form of diminished demand and time entry. A few lessons from the 2008 financial crisis and some new ideas can help firm leaders navigate the storm, says Peter Zeughauser at Zeughauser Group.

• 3 Ways Leaders Can Improve Remote Work For Lawyers

  

  Remote working doesn’t work when people feel they must apologize for or hide it, and lawyers often feel that way — even in unavoidable, disaster-related scenarios like we see with the pandemic today, says David Pierce at Axiom.

• Tips For Online Mediation In The Age Of Social Distancing

  

  While mediating via an internet conferencing platform during the COVID-19 crisis, remember that visual interactions are of vital importance. A simple phrase can be transformed into a sincere inquiry, a shocked response or a sarcastic put-down depending upon how we visually convey that message, says mediator Sidney Kanazawa at ARC.

• Updating Publicly Traded Company Disclosures For COVID-19

  

  U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission-reporting companies confronting the evolving COVID-19 pandemic should be aware of updated filing obligations to keep investors apprised of what new developments mean for their businesses, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.