Immigration

Expert Analysis

• Remembering Justice Stevens As A Law Firm Leader

  

  Rothschild Barry's John Coffey, who joined Justice John Paul Stevens' law firm in 1965, shares what it was like to watch Justice Stevens practice law, mentor younger lawyers and land a malfunctioning plane.

• Answers To Key Legal Finance Ethics Questions

  

  While there is discussion in some quarters about new regulations on commercial legal finance, the hands-off approach taken by the majority of courts and legislatures is an implicit recognition that it is already sufficiently regulated, says Danielle Cutrona of Burford Capital.

• Federal Agencies Need A Uniform Record-Keeping Process

  

  The administrative record is very important to federal agency litigation — as showcased in last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census — yet there is no set of consistent principles to guide agencies in compiling these official records, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• The Role Of Dictionaries In Last Term's High Court Decisions

  

  Since 32 of the 67 decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court during its October term cite dictionaries, it’s worth reviewing the opinions to learn which dictionaries the justices consulted and how they used them, say Bruce Wessel and Brian Weissenberg of Irell & Manella.

• How To Evaluate The Rise In Legal Employment

  

  Although the rate of employment for law school graduates — which had been falling steadily — saw a small increase over the last year, other factors, such as fewer graduates overall and potential future job growth stagnation, temper the good news for those pursuing law degrees, say Tiffane Cochran and Tyler Grimm of AccessLex Institute.

• Opinion

  The Business Case For Championing Diverse Legal Teams

  

  Leveraging the collective strengths of a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do, it’s a strategic imperative for any successful firm or business, says Louise Pentland, executive vice president and chief business affairs and legal officer of PayPal.

• Rethinking The Tech-First Approach To Law Firm Solutions

  

  When a lawyer complains about some workflow inefficiency they are having, the knee-jerk reaction of many firms is to look for a technology-based workaround. This overlooks the importance of human psychology and behavior, which may be the root of the problem, says Ryan Steadman of Zero.

• High Court Breaks New Ground On Reviewing Agency Actions

  

  In U.S. Department of Commerce v. New York, the U.S. Supreme Court last week blocked, for now, the addition of a question about citizenship status to the upcoming census, but the debates between the justices on assessing “arbitrary and capricious” agency action and reviewing for pretext will have lasting importance, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

• Top 10 Techniques For Crafting A Dazzling Brief

  

  Legal writing often falls flat not because it’s unorganized, but because it’s technically unsound and riddled with gaffes that cheapen and degrade it. Avoiding the most common mistakes will keep judges interested and, most importantly, make them trust you, says Daniel Karon of Karon LLC.

• Q&A

  A Chat With Ballard Spahr Diversity Chief Virginia Essandoh

  

  In the final installment of this monthly series, legal recruiting expert Carlos Pauling from Major Lindsey & Africa talks with Virginia Essandoh about the trends and challenges she sees as chief diversity officer at Ballard Spahr.

• Series

  Judging A Book: McMahon On 'Roosevelt For The Defense'

  

  In "Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense," authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher meticulously chronicle the forgotten high-profile 1915 libel trial of Teddy Roosevelt, capturing the interesting legal customs of an era before things like notice pleading and pretrial discovery, says Chief U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York.

• How INA Poses Citizenship Hurdles In Int'l Surrogacy Cases

  

  The Immigration and Nationality Act was written in 1952, long before fertility treatments, surrogacy, sperm donors and the federal recognition of same-sex marriage. As several recent citizenship cases demonstrate, the anachronistic law fails to accommodate the intersection of same-sex marriage and international surrogacy, says Maya Shulman of Shulman Family Law Group.

• Perspectives

  Border Phone Search Questions Continue In Federal Court

  

  A Massachusetts federal court's eventual decision on cellphone searches at the U.S. border in Alasaad v. Nielsen will further illustrate the differences in how federal courts apply the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 decision in Riley v. California to the warrant-requirement exception for border searches, says Sharon Barney at Leech Tishman.

• 5 Ways Law Firms Can Improve Their Job Interviews

  

  When evaluating potential new hires, law firms should utilize structured interviews in order to create a consistent rating system that accurately and effectively assesses candidates' skills and competencies, says Jennifer Henderson of Major Lindsey.

• Opinion

  Gov't Scrutiny Of Social Media Will Unduly Hinder Immigration

  

  The U.S. Department of State's recent decision to collect five years’ worth of social media information for all visa applicants will result in the Trump administration having unfettered discretion to deny visas to anyone for arbitrary and capricious reasons — or for no reason at all, says Tahmina Watson of Watson Immigration Law.