Expert Analysis

• Series

  Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

• Opinion

  DOJ's Tracing Rule For Pandemic Loan Fraud Is Untenable

  

  In conducting investigations related to COVID-19 relief fraud, the government's assertion that loan proceeds are nonfungible and had to have been segregated from other funds is unsupported by underlying legislation, precedent or the language establishing similar federal relief programs, say Sharon McCarthy, Jay Nanavati and Lasya Ravulapati at Kostelanetz.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

  

  Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

• Loper Bright's Evolving Application In Labor Case Appeals

  

  Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which upended decades of precedent requiring courts to defer to agency interpretations of federal regulations, the Third and Sixth Circuits' differing approaches leave little certainty as to which employment regulations remain in play, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

• How DHS' H-1B Proposal May Affect Hiring, Strategic Planning

  

  For employers, DHS’ proposal to change the H-1B visa lottery from a random selection process to one favoring higher-wage workers may increase labor and compliance costs, limit access to entry-level international talent, and raise strategic questions about compensation, geography and long-term workforce planning, says Ian MacDonald at Greenberg Traurig.

• Where 4th And 9th Circ. Diverge On Trade Secret Timing

  

  Recent Fourth and Ninth Circuit decisions have revealed a deepening circuit split over when plaintiffs must specifically define their alleged trade secrets, turning the early stages of trade secret litigation into a key battleground and elevating the importance of forum selection, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Series

  Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

  

  After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

• Series

  Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

• H-2A Rule Rollback Sheds Light On 2 Policy Litigation Issues

  

  The Trump administration’s recent refusal to defend an immigration regulation implemented by the Biden administration highlights a questionable process that both parties have used to bypass the Administrative Procedure Act’s rulemaking process, and points toward the next step in the fight over universal injunctions, says Mark Stevens at Clark Hill.

• What's At Stake At High Court For Presidential Removal Power

  

  Two pending U.S. Supreme Court cases —Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook — raise fundamental questions about the constitutional separation of powers, threaten the 90-year-old precedent of Humphrey's Executor v. U.S. and will determine the president's authority to control independent federal agencies, says Kolya Glick at Arnold & Porter.

• Employer Considerations As Ill. Ends Mandatory Fact-Finding

  

  Illinois recently eliminated mandatory fact-finding conferences, and while such meetings tend to benefit complainants, respondent employers should not dismiss them out of hand without conducting a thorough analysis of the risks and benefits, which will vary from case to case, says Kimberly Ross at FordHarrison.

• Calif. Justices Usher In Stricter Era For Wage Law Ignorance

  

  In Iloff v. LaPaille, the California Supreme Court determined that neither an employer's ignorance of wage obligations nor a worker agreeing to an unconventional arrangement is sufficient to establish good faith, demonstrating that the era of casual wage arrangements without legal vetting is over, says Brandy Alonzo-Mayland at Michelman & Robinson.

• What The New Nondomiciled-Trucker Rule Means For Carriers

  

  A new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration interim final rule restricting states' issuance of commercial drivers licenses to nondomiciled drivers does not alter motor carriers' obligations to verify drivers' qualifications, but may create disruptions by reducing the number of eligible drivers, say attorneys at Benesch.

• Understanding And Managing Jurors' Hindsight Bias

  

  Hindsight bias — wherein events seem more predictable after the fact than they were beforehand — presents a persistent cognitive distortion in jury decision-making, but attorneys can mitigate its effects at trial through awareness, repetition and framing, say consultants at Courtroom Sciences.

• Protecting Sensitive Court Filings After Recent Cyber Breach

  

  In the wake of a recent cyberattack on federal courts' Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, civil litigants should consider seeking enhanced protections for sensitive materials filed under seal to mitigate the risk of unauthorized exposure, say attorneys at Redgrave.