Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  Subject Matter Eligibility Test Should Return To Preemption

  

  Subject matter eligibility has posed challenges for patentees due to courts' arbitrary and confusing reasoning, but adopting a two-part preemption test could align the applicant, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the courts, says Manav Das at McDonnell Boehnen.

• 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

  

  Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

• Kousisis Concurrence Maps FCA Defense To Anti-DEI Suits

  

  Justice Clarence Thomas' recent concurrence in Kousisis v. U.S. lays out how federal funding recipients could use the high standard for materiality in government fraud cases to fight the U.S. Justice Department’s threatened False Claims Act suits against payees deviating from the administration’s anti-DEI policies, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

• Assessing New Changes To Texas Officer Exculpation Law

  

  Consistent with Texas' recent modernization of its corporate law, the recently passed S.B. 2411 allows officer exculpation, streamlines certificate of formation amendments, authorizes representatives to act on shareholders' behalf in mergers and makes other changes aimed toward companies seeking a more codified, statutory model of corporate governance, say attorneys at Bracewell.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

  

  Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

• Trending At The PTAB: Shifts In Parallel Proceedings Strategy

  

  Dynamics are changing between the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and federal courts, with two recent discretionary denials and one Federal Circuit decision offering takeaways for both patent owners and challengers navigating parallel proceedings, say attorneys at Finnegan.

• Series

  Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm

  

  My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.

• Del. Ruling May Redefine Consideration In Noncompetes

  

  The Delaware Court of Chancery's conclusion in North American Fire v. Doorly, that restrictive covenants tied to a forfeited equity award were unenforceable for lack of consideration, will surprise many employment practitioners, who should consider this new development when structuring equity-based agreements, say attorneys at Morrison Foerster.

• Discretionary Denial Rulings May Spur Calls For PTAB Reform

  

  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent decision in iRhythm Technologies v. Welch Allyn, denying inter partes review based on the patent owner's settled expectations that the patent would not be challenged, could motivate patent holders to seek Patent Trial and Appeal Board reform to preserve patent quality without burdening owners, say attorneys at Dechert.

• Opinion

  Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

  

  The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.

• Drawbacks For Taxpayers From Justices' Levy Dispute Ruling

  

  The Supreme Court's June decision in Commissioner v. Zuch, holding the Tax Court lacks jurisdiction to resolve disputes where the IRS has stopped pursuing a levy, may require taxpayers to explore new tactics for mitigating the increased difficulty of appealing their liability via collection due process hearings, says Matthew Roberts at Meadows Collier.

• Tips For Litigating Apex Doctrine Disputes Amid Controversy

  

  Litigants once took for granted that deposition requests of high-ranking corporate officers required a greater showing of need than for lower-level witnesses, but the apex doctrine has proven controversial in recent years, and fights over such depositions will be won by creative lawyers adapting their arguments to this particular moment, say attorneys at Hangley Aronchick.

• Series

  Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Rejecting Biz Dev Myths

  

  Law schools don’t spend sufficient time dispelling certain myths that prevent young lawyers from exploring new business opportunities, but by dismissing these misguided beliefs, even an introverted first-year associate with a small network of contacts can find long-term success, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

• Del. Dispatch: General Partner Discretion In Valuing Incentives

  

  In Walker v. FRP Investors, the Delaware Court of Chancery recently held that the general partner of a limited partnership breached its obligations when determining the threshold value of newly issued incentive units, highlighting the court's willingness to reconstruct what a reasonable determination of value by a general partner should have been, say attorneys at Fried Frank.