Florida

Expert Analysis

• Avoiding Inadvertent Privilege Waivers In E-Communications

  

  Attorneys at WilmerHale highlight recent developments in privilege law, the significant challenges raised by nontraditional working arrangements popularized during the pandemic, and ways to avoid waiving attorney-client privilege when using electronic communications.

• Limiting Employer Liability For Secondhand Virus Exposure

  

  While the law on secondhand exposure to workplace hazards like COVID-19 varies from state to state, employers can make educated guesses about the scope of liability and the steps needed to protect workers and limit claims from third parties, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

• Reopening Sports Venues To Fans Poses Legal Hurdles

  

  As the economy reopens, sports leagues planning to bring back games with fans in attendance will need to weigh not only important health and safety issues but also the accompanying business and legal risks, say Christopher Conniff and Nicholas Macri at Ropes & Gray.

• Opinion

  Don't Cancel Your Summer Associate Programs

  

  While pulling off an effective summer associate program this year will be no easy feat, law firms' investments in their future attorneys should be considered necessary even during this difficult time, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.

• 5 Ways To Reduce Post-Pandemic Legal Malpractice Exposure

  

  History suggests that legal malpractice claims will rise following the current economic downturn, and while a certain percentage of the claims will be unavoidable, there are prophylactic steps that law firms can take, says John Johnson at Cozen O'Connor.

• Steps Borrowers In Commercial Real Estate Must Take Now

  

  Many lenders accommodated commercial real estate investors and borrowers with short, multimonth payment deferrals amid the COVID-19 crisis, but these grace periods will end well before the fallout of the pandemic will, and the bank will come knocking, says Katherine Amador at Berger Singerman.

• Opinion

  Justices Should Construe Computer Fraud Law Narrowly

  

  In U.S. v. Van Buren, the U.S. Supreme Court should follow burglary and trespass cases to limit the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act’s scope to accessing or misusing employer data and avoid the absurd result of criminalizing an employee's unauthorized Facebook visit, say Anthony Volini and Karen Heart at DePaul University.

• Opinion

  Fla. Felon Voting Decision Interprets Constitution Incorrectly

  

  The recent Florida federal court ruling in Jones v. DeSantis — that preventing convicted felons from voting if they can’t afford their legal financial obligations is unconstitutional — was wrongly decided because disenfranchisement neither violates equal protection nor constitutes a poll tax, says attorney R. D. Kelly.

• Opinion

  Credibility Concerns About Virtual Arbitration Are Unfounded

  

  Concerns that videoconferenced arbitration hearings compromise an arbitrator's ability to reliably resolve credibility contests are based on mistaken perceptions of how many cases actually turn on credibility, what credibility means in the legal world, and how arbitrators make credibility determinations, says Wayne Brazil at JAMS.

• Opinion

  COVID-19 Relief Should Include Federal Infrastructure Bill

  

  To create jobs and address the country's $4.5 trillion infrastructure backlog, the federal government should enact coronavirus relief directed at infrastructure investment, leveraged by the allocation of funds for public-private partnerships, say Andrej Micovic and Eric Singer at Bilzin Sumberg.

• Opinion

  Fla. Sports Bar's COVID-19 Insurance Claim Should Proceed

  

  Florida-based Prime Time Sports Grill's lawsuit seeking insurance coverage for COVID-19 business interruption should withstand Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London's motion to dismiss because the insurer's arguments ignore physical loss caused by the pandemic and are not supported by relevant case law, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes and Boone.

• A Lawyer's Guide To Client Service Continuity Planning

  

  Ensuring uninterrupted client service and compliance with ethical obligations in a time when attorneys are more likely to fall ill means taking six basic — yet often ignored — steps to build some redundancy and internal communication into legal practice, say attorneys at Axinn.

• Fla. Suit Reveals Insurer Defense Against COVID-19 Coverage

  

  A motion recently filed in Florida federal court by a Lloyd's insurer seeking to dismiss policyholder Prime Time Sports Grill's lawsuit provides insight into how insurers might argue against coverage for business income losses related to COVID-19, say attorneys at Goldberg Segalla.

• Virtual Meetings Could Be Fertile Ground For Legal Discovery

  

  Many remote meeting technologies include recording features as default settings, raising three primary concerns from a legal discovery and data retention perspective, and possibly bringing unintended consequences for companies in future litigation, says Courtney Murphy at Clark Hill.

• How Courts May Interpret COVID-19 Waivers Of Liability

  

  As businesses begin to reopen, they may seek to release themselves from negligence claims for COVID-19 infections through contractual waivers of liability, but whether a waiver is enforceable varies significantly by state, says Jessica Kelly at Sherin and Lodgen.