Expert Analysis

• Series

  Being In The Peace Corps Made Me A Better Lawyer

  

  When I served in the Peace Corps, the people of the West African village where I was stationed helped me acclimate to my new surroundings and enabled me to develop problem-solving, teamwork and empathy skills that have bolstered my legal practice far beyond the ability to offer technical advice, says Brian Bewley at McGuireWoods.

• Where DOJ's Fraud Directive May Actually Affect Enforcement

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent directive outlining corporate fraud enforcement priorities is mostly a management document instead of a policy, but one part may actually undermine the directive's goals by leading to worse outcomes for organizational defendants and less corporate self-disclosure, says Zachary Warren at Williams & Connolly.

• How A New Case Redefines The Birthright Citizenship Battle

  

  After the U.S. Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling last term in Trump v. Barbara, the Trump administration issued a new executive order attempting to limit the categories of individuals eligible for this status — and a pending court challenge to the new order shows where the legal battle lines are being redrawn, say attorneys at Fragomen.

• What Lawyers Should Know Before Accepting Crypto Payment

  

  As clients increasingly request to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds using cryptocurrency, lawyers should consider how only a handful of state bar authorities have addressed the issue with varying ethics opinions, as well as the related questions that no authority has yet answered, says attorney Felix Shipkevich.

• Series

  Mentalism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Convincing strangers I can read their minds may seem like an unusual second career for a legal practitioner, but both disciplines share several important requirements, including trust and preparation, says Warren Biro at Manatt.

• Why And How To Build A Neurodiversity-Informed Practice

  

  By better understanding neurodiversity and implementing simple accommodations for clients with autism, ADHD or learning differences, attorneys can build stronger relationships with those who may otherwise struggle to obtain and benefit from legal services, while developing good habits that will benefit everyone they represent, says Ting Cheung at Sanford Heisler.

• Visa Ruling Exposes APA Risks For DHS Grace Period Repeal

  

  Four defects described in a September district court decision halting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's new restrictions on student visas as arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act can also be seen in the agency's recent proposal to eliminate a long-standing grace period for laid-off skilled foreign workers, says Jun Li at Reid & Wise.

• Testing AI's Promise For Large-Scale Document Review

  

  Our document-review comparison of attorneys' responsiveness and issue coding decisions versus predictions generated by artificial intelligence across 1,600 documents suggests that these tools can offer a reasonable and reliable basis for improved discovery workflows, provided lawyers understand where guardrails are needed, say attorneys at Redgrave.

• AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

  

  The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

• Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

  

  In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses six recent rulings involving pecuniary loss in false price comparison advertising, privity in an insurance fee class, antitrust standing, immigration class representatives, retirement beneficiary class commonality, and Rule 23(f) appeals in Fair Labor Standards Act claims.

• BIA Ruling Could Make Immigration Bond A Catch-22

  

  A recent Board of Immigration Appeals decision refining the way immigration judges assess flight risk, when read broadly, could create a circular rule under which a noncitizen can be treated as a flight risk because they have too few ties to the U.S., but also because they have too many, says Georgianna Pisano Goetz at the National Immigrant Justice Center.

• Series

  Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

• Opinion

  Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

  

  California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

• A Look At Loper Bright's Uneven Effect On Immigration Law

  

  Recently decided cases in the Second and Fourth Circuits show the disparate effects independent judicial review has had on long-standing immigration precedents since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 ruling that ended Chevron deference, says Danny Alicea at the Legal Aid Society.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Cultivating Good Judgment

  

  Law schools generally overlook the role that solid judgment skills play in real-world practice, but attorneys can bridge the gap by strengthening their abilities to assess a case’s strengths and weaknesses, develop and execute effective strategies, and provide clear recommendations to clients, says Manny Caixeiro at Venable.