Expert Analysis

• NYC Office Tower Ch. 11 Shines Light On Blocking Provisions

  

  PMW Management's Chapter 11 filing, which recently received extra time to submit a restructuring plan, highlights courts' increasing skepticism of bankruptcy blocking provisions and favoritism toward leaving bankruptcy restructuring plans in the hands of the debtor, say Jeff Marwil and Ashley Weringa at Proskauer.

• Opinion

  Justices Should Resolve FCA Cases' Rule 9(b) Circuit Split

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court should agree to hear three related False Claims Act cases and resolve the circuit split over the level of detail Rule 9(b) requires in qui tam complaints, or the viability of such actions will increasingly depend on where they are filed, say Kenneth Abell and Katherine Kulkarni at Abell Eskew.

• Opinion

  Now's The Time To Address Archaic Law School Curricula

  

  With law school enrollments jumping significantly ahead of a potential recession and more students graduating than the market can absorb, law schools should turn to creative solutions to teach students how to negotiate, work with clients, specialize and use technology to practice their craft more efficiently, says University of Colorado adjunct professor Jason Mendelson.

• Lessons From Lawyer Fee-Sharing Agreements Gone Wrong

  

  The recent fee-sharing dispute between Edelson and Girardi Keese is a reminder that lawyers who do not strictly follow the applicable rules may risk a disciplinary complaint, lose their share of the fee, or wind up in costly litigation with co-counsel, says David Grossbaum at Hinshaw.

• LeClairRyan Bankruptcy Highlights Pass-Through Tax Issue

  

  A Virginia bankruptcy court's recent ruling in the case of defunct law firm LeClairRyan shows there may be serious tax consequences for pass-through entity partners who give up their ownership interest without following operating agreement exit provisions and updating bankruptcy court filings, say Edward Schnitzer and Hannah Travaglini at Montgomery McCracken.

• Chicago Cos. Must Prepare For New Sex Harassment Law

  

  A Chicago ordinance taking effect next week imposes new requirements on employers around preventing sexual harassment in the workplace, so in-house employment counsel and human resources professionals should take several compliance steps and invest in efforts to foster respectful workplaces, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• 1st Amendment May Help Cannabis Cos. Beat TM Claims

  

  Frederic Rocafort at Harris Bricken explains how the First Amendment’s free speech protections may present a legal recourse for cannabis brands facing trademark infringement claims — if they can show that their parodic marks have artistic relevance and do not intentionally mislead consumers.

• How Day-Of-Rest Law Changes May Affect Ill. Employers

  

  Recent amendments to Illinois' One Day Rest in Seven Act change meal break calculations and increase penalties for violations, so employers should review their meal, break and day of rest policies and consider conservative precautions to avoid accidental violations or litigation, says Darren Mungerson at Littler.

• A Robust Tool For Defending Against Illinois Biometric Suits

  

  Many defendants in class actions brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act may be able to avail themselves of the law's financial institution exemption, which, as two recent cases demonstrate, covers a range of entities beyond traditional banks — but parties must be able to establish their entitlement to this defense, says David Oberly at Squire Patton.

• 8 Steps To Creating A Legal Ops Technology Road Map

  

  Legal departments struggling to find and implement the right technologies for their operations should consider creating a road map that summarizes their approach to technology changes, provides clearly defined metrics for success, and serves as the single source of truth for stakeholders, says Melanie Shafer at SimpleLegal.

• The Importance Of Data And Data Analysis In Litigation

  

  Understanding, analyzing and effectively presenting large data sets is an increasingly important skill in litigation as it allows plaintiffs to dramatically scale up the scope of cases and is often critical to defeating motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment, says David Burnett at Motley Rice.

• Justices' Airline Ruling Bolsters Arbitration Course Correction

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Southwest v. Saxon, together with its May ruling in Morgan v. Sundance, limits the reach of mandatory arbitration and sends a strong message to the federal judiciary, with potentially broad applications in the employment context, says University of Denver professor and Outten & Golden counsel Nantiya Ruan.

• 2 New Defenses To Federal Shareholder Derivative Claims

  

  Increasingly, plaintiffs are bringing Securities Exchange Act claims in derivative suits because they perceive these claims to have advantages compared to traditional fiduciary duty claims, but there are several reasons why plaintiffs are wrong and the flawed assumptions underlying these claims should be tested in court, say Brian Lutz and Michael Kahn at Gibson Dunn.

• Steps Companies Can Take To Mitigate Privilege Labeling Risk

  

  Although Google prevailed on a recent privilege labeling sanctions motion, an important takeaway from the decision is that companies should assess their in-house procedures and employee training programs regarding privileged communications to mitigate risks of the potential appearance of bad faith privilege claims, say Gareth Evans at Redgrave and e-discovery attorney James Hertsch.

• What Litigation Funding Disclosure In Delaware May Look Like

  

  A standing order issued by Delaware's chief federal judge requiring litigants to disclose whether their cases or defenses are being financed by third parties is unlikely to have onerous effects but may raise questions regarding potential conflicts of interest and access to justice, say Cayse Llorens and Matthew Oxman at LexShares.