Expert Analysis

• A Law Firm's Guide To Avoiding Client Conflicts

  

  With the pace of law firm mergers accelerating, Mark Hinderks at Stinson reviews the conflict of interest rules that may derail a deal or cause a firm to lose a new or existing client, and how courts have filled in perceived gaps in the rules.

• Opinion

  The Defense Bar Must Push Back On Social Inflation

  

  Social and litigation trends such as the rise of opioid and #MeToo cases have led to greater risks of nuclear verdicts for the defense bar and insurers, making efforts for tort reform, regulation of litigation funding and coordinated defense strategies essential, say Christopher Carroll and Joshua Wirtshafter at Kennedys and Rachel Kim at Sompo International.

• Guarding Consumer Financial Data As Federal Scrutiny Grows

  

  On the heels of a recent U.S. Senate request that the Financial Stability Oversight Council look into financial institutions' collection and sale of consumer data, the industry should take steps to ensure they handle this information in a manner that mitigates risk for all parties, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• Understanding DC Circ.'s Agency Rule Withdrawal Debate

  

  The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling that an agency must provide notice and an opportunity for comment when withdrawing a rule that has been filed for public inspection but not yet published in the Federal Register features a vigorous debate on the "point of no return" issue that has significant practical consequences whenever there is a change in administration, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

• Considerations For Associates As Lateral Hiring Cools Down

  

  Law firms are offering fewer signing bonuses and moving back to slower, more deliberate interview processes — a cue for associates to follow suit and consider the long-term advantages of a move instead of short-term financial gain, says Leeron Molloy at VOYlegal.

• Justices' EPA Ruling Didn't Move Needle On Chevron Doctrine

  

  Though some suggest the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in West Virginia v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency marked the end of a doctrine requiring judicial deference to federal regulators, the ruling merely articulated well-developed precedent on the limits of agency authority, say Dan Wolff and Eryn Howington at Crowell & Moring.

• How Courts Are Applying TransUnion Ruling To Privacy Suits

  

  One year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in TransUnion v. Ramirez, recent cases show the decision’s impact on privacy class actions, and how applying TransUnion's close-relationship test to these suits has proved significantly more challenging, says Daniel Rockey at BCLP.

• Ethics Lessons From The Alex Jones Discovery Debacle

  

  The botched production of a cache of texts and emails prior to Alex Jones' defamation trial, and a failure to take corrective actions, should remind attorneys of the potential pitfalls of discovery, their professional responsibilities throughout the process, and the possibility of severe sanctions, say attorneys at Harris Wiltshire.

• Why Gig Platforms Should Be On Alert

  

  The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general have set their sights on the gig economy and practices they view as deceptive and unfair, which will open gig platforms to more scrutiny — and past cases against gig-economy giants including Uber and Instacart are cautionary tales to keep in mind, say attorneys at Venable.

• Opinion

  Market Drops Show Tech Antitrust Reform Isn't Needed

  

  Recent equity market declines — and technology history — cast doubt on the staying power of the tech platform lock-in effects used to justify proposed antitrust regulatory and legislative interventions, says Jonathan Barnett at the University of Southern California.

• Series

  In-House At A Cannabis Company: The Advertising Issues

  

  Cannabis advertising regulations are necessary to ensure public health and safety, but when a state overshoots these baseline concerns, the restrictions meant to protect the public can hinder the creation of a safe and legal cannabis market, says Monique Saysana at Leafly.

• FinCEN's No-Action Letter Plan May Have Limited Impact

  

  The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently proposed no-action letter process for anti-money laundering compliance could provide clarity to financial services companies and promote their growth, but may also be limited by FinCEN's resources, approach and the lack of cross-regulator input, say Marc-Alain Galeazzi and Malka Levitin at MoFo.

• Combating Implicit Bias In Alternative Dispute Resolution

  

  Alternative dispute resolution requires a high degree of trust and belief that proceedings will be fair, so confronting implicit associations among neutrals through systemic and personal efforts is even more important in the ADR world, say arbitrators and mediators at JAMS.

• How The Metaverse Will Affect Business And Legal Processes

  

  It is time to start thinking about virtual reality's effects on cybersecurity, business dealings, case strategy and more, as the metaverse takes shape and organizations open banks, host law firm offices and create retail strategies digitally, says Samantha Green at Epiq. 

• Opinion

  9th Circ. Must Block Cos.' Unfair Rules For Mass Arbitration

  

  The Ninth Circuit should uphold a California federal court's decision in MacClelland v. Cellco Partnership, and make it clear that businesses cannot both force claims into individual arbitrations and make mass arbitration infeasible or impractical, say Raphael Janove and Sidney Cobb at Pollock Cohen.