Immigration

Expert Analysis

• How To Hire Lateral Partners More Effectively

  

  Although lateral partner hiring is the preferred method of inorganic growth among law firms, the traditional approach to vetting does not employ sufficient due diligence by the hiring firm, says Michael Ellenhorn at executive search firm Decipher Competitive Intelligence.

• High Court Hears DACA: Procedure, Practicalities, Predictions

  

  At oral argument last week, the U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed likely to rule that the Trump administration had sufficient reasons to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which would leave the lives of DACA recipients and their families in limbo, says Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer at Cornell Law School.

• High Court's Pass On 1 SEC Case Offers Insight Into Another

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court effectively recognized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's extraterritorial reach in denying certiorari in Scoville v. SEC. The move may foreshadow the high court's eventual ruling in Liu v. SEC, which will determine the regulator's authority to seek disgorgement, say Adam Schwartz and Russell Koonin at Homer Bonner.

• 4 Months After Kisor V. Wilkie, Auer Deference Survives

  

  Recent federal appellate and district court rulings suggest that the predicted radical curtailing of Auer deference in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kisor v. Wilkie has not come to fruition, say Jeffrey Karp and Edward Mahaffey at Sullivan & Worcester.

• Texas Could Take Page From Mass.'s Judicial Selection Book

  

  As Texas and other states review their judicial election processes, they would be well served by taking guidance from Massachusetts' Governor’s Council system, which protects the judiciary from the hazards of campaigning, says Richard Baker of New England Intellectual Property.

• Series

  Judging A Book: McKeown Reviews 'Conversations With RBG'

  

  Reading Jeffrey Rosen’s "Conversations With RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law" is like eavesdropping on the author and his subject while they discuss how the restrained judicial minimalist became the fiery leader of the opposition, says Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown.

• High Court's Disgorgement Ruling Could Curb SEC Authority

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to review Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which challenges the SEC's ability to obtain disgorgement from federal courts, and has the potential to significantly restrict the regulator's enforcement power, say attorneys at Cleary.

• Opinion

  Trump Adviser's Influence Should Sound Alarm In DACA Case

  

  Next week, the Trump administration goes before the U.S. Supreme Court to support its cancellation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, but the troubling record of immigration adviser Kris Kobach should raise concerns about how legally sound the administration’s case will be, says Liz Mair of Mair Strategies.

• Opinion

  Flat-Fee Legal Billing Can Liberate Attorneys

  

  Replacing hourly billing with flat-fee arrangements, especially for appellate work, will leave attorneys feeling free to spend as much time as necessary to produce their highest quality work, says Lawrence Ebner of Capital Appellate Advocacy.

• Spoliation Rule Remains Ambiguous Despite Amendments

  

  Although the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended to provide a uniform standard of culpability for spoliation, cases with similar facts are still reaching differing results because the rule does not specify how a court should evaluate a party's intent, say attorneys at Pepper Hamilton.

• 5 Trends Influencing RFPs For Law Firms

  

  Requests for proposals, the standard tool of companies evaluating law firms, are becoming better suited to the legal industry, says Matthew Prinn of RFP Advisory Group.

• Series

  Why I Became A Lawyer: Being There For Families In Trouble

  

  My parents' contentious, drawn-out divorce was one of the worst experiences of my life. But it taught me how to be resilient — and ultimately led me to leave corporate litigation for a career in family law, helping other families during their own difficult times, says Sheryl Seiden of Seiden Family Law.

• Where Law Firm Partners Go When Changing Jobs

  

  We reviewed 177 law firm partners' job changes from the last seven years and discovered some migration patterns and gender dynamics, say James Bailey of the George Washington University School of Business and Jane Azzinaro of Cognizant.

• 3 Ways To Leverage Vulnerability For Lawyer Well-Being

  

  Admitting to imperfection is an elusive construct in the legal industry, but addressing this roadblock by capitalizing on vulnerabilities can increase personal and professional power, says life coach and attorney Julie Krolczyk.

• Preemption Issues High Court Is Considering In I-9 Fraud Case

  

  Questions from the bench at last week's U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Kansas v. Garcia appear to show the court's core understanding of the respondent's argument that a state cannot, by means of identity theft statutes, create its own immigration enforcement process, says Amy Peck at Jackson Lewis.