Delaware

Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  Time To Consider Percentage Rental Agreements For Lawyers

  

  It has long been the law that attorneys cannot use percentage rental agreements because doing so would constitute an impermissible sharing of fees with nonlawyers, but such arrangements can help lawyers match expenses with revenues in lean times like now, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Thompson at Holland & Knight.

• How Discovery Is Evolving In ERISA Benefits Litigation

  

  While courts have been reluctant to grant discovery in Employee Retirement Income Security Act benefits cases in the past, textual-minded judges questioning the legitimacy of judicially created doctrines are increasingly allowing more discovery, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Sherman.

• What You Say In Online Mediation May Be Discoverable

  

  Mediation conducted online with participants in different states makes it harder to determine where communications were made, increasing the risk that courts will apply laws of a state that does not protect mediation confidentiality, say mediators Jeff Kichaven and Teresa Frisbie and law student Tyler Codina.

• How COVID-19 Impact Analysis May Shape MAE Disputes

  

  Emerging disputes over whether the COVID-19 crisis has triggered a merger transaction’s material adverse effect clause shine a spotlight on the importance of showing whether the pandemic has disproportionately impacted particular industries and companies, say David Tabak and Edward Flores at NERA.

• EPA Limits On States' Project Reviews Likely To Face Lawsuits

  

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently announced rule limiting the scope of states' reviews of planned energy infrastructure projects will likely mean more litigation between states and the federal government — and more uncertainty for businesses and other stakeholders, says Philip Sholtz at Goldberg Segalla.

• 10 Tips For A Successful Remote Arbitration Hearing

  

  As I learned after completing a recent international arbitration remotely, with advance planning a video hearing can replicate the in-person experience surprisingly well, and may actually be superior in certain respects, says Kate Shih at Quinn Emanuel.

• Opinion

  To Achieve Diversity, Law Firms Must Reinvent Hiring Process

  

  If law firms are truly serious about making meaningful change in terms of diversity, they must adopt a demographically neutral, unbiased hiring equation that looks at personality traits with greater import than grades and class rank, says Thomas Latino at Florida State University College of Law.

• Virus, Regs Highlight Need For Model State Whistleblower Law

  

  The North American Securities Administrators Association's recently proposed model state whistleblower law could be a timely weapon against securities misconduct in light of the new and unique opportunities COVID-19 presents for fraudsters, and certain federal registration exemptions that may soon be relaxed, says attorney Patrick McCloskey.

• Cybersecurity Steps For Law Firms Amid Heightened Risks

  

  With large swaths of the population indoors and primarily online, cybercriminals will be able to exploit law firms more easily now than ever before, but some basic precautions can help, says Joel Wallenstrom at Wickr.

• A Strategy To Address Uncertainty In Life Sciences Contracts

  

  Understanding how to draft diligence clauses that require parties to use commercially reasonable efforts in life sciences contracts is more important than ever before, with COVID-19 likely redefining what is reasonable, say Gregory Litt and Resa Schlossberg at Skadden.

• Opinion

  It's Time For Law Firms To Support Work-From-Home Culture

  

  Now that law firms are on board with fully remote work environments, they must develop policies that match in-office culture and align partner and associate expectations, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.

• Harassment Ruling Doesn't Clear Cos. Of All Worker Conduct

  

  The Third Circuit’s recent opinion in Yucis v. Sears Outlet Stores shows that companies are not always liable for an employee’s sexual harassment of a customer, but courts can still find vicarious liability when one of five factors is satisfied, says Melissa Legault at Squire Patton.

• Opinion

  Republicans Keep Confirming Unqualified Judicial Nominees

  

  What emerges from the group of 200 federal judges confirmed by the Senate under President Donald Trump is a judiciary stacked with young conservative ideologues, many of whom lack basic judicial qualifications, says Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

• Tips For Crafting The Perfect Law Firm Alert

  

  As lawyers have had more time to write in recent weeks, the number of law firm alerts has increased massively, but a lot of them fail to capture readers and deliver new business, says Richard Torrenzano at The Torrenzano Group.

• Opinion

  It's Time For Valuation Experts To Let Go Of The Size Premium

  

  Valuation experts should abandon the practice of applying a size premium to estimate the cost of equity for smaller firms because its use jeopardizes the reliability of valuation conclusions, says Clifford Ang at Compass Lexecon.