Property

Expert Analysis

• The Pandemic's Bright Spots For Lawyers Who Are Parents

  

  The COVID-19 crisis has allowed lawyers to hone remote advocacy strategies and effectively represent clients with minimal travel — abilities that have benefited working parents and should be utilized long after the pandemic is over, says Chelsea Loughran at Wolf Greenfield.

• Why The Future Law Firm Model Is Industry-Based Offerings

  

  Multidisciplinary, industry-based groups at law firms allow for more holistic legal advice, lead to sustainable client relationships, and are likely to replace practice group monoliths at many firms, say Jennifer Simpson Carr at Furia Rubel, Timothy Corcoran at Corcoran Consulting and Mike Mellor at Pryor Cashman.

• Outliers Offer False Hope For Virus Biz Interruption Claims

  

  A few recent policyholder wins have caused some to overstate the potential for recovery in commercial property claims over COVID-19 prevention efforts, but in reality business interruption decisions are consistently and overwhelmingly favoring insurers, say Erin Bradham and Keith Moskowitz at Dentons.

• Thought Leadership's Critical Role In Law Firm Diversity

  

  Minority attorneys are often underrepresented in conferences, media interviews and other law firm thought leadership campaigns, which affects their visibility with potential clients and their ability to advance at their firms, says John Hellerman at Hellerman Communications.

• 3 Reasons Securities Fraud Litigation Exposure Fell In Q1

  

  Nessim Mezrahi and Stephen Sigrist at SAR analyze data on securities class actions filed against public companies in the first quarter of 2021, and explore factors that may have contributed to issuers facing their lowest exposure to such claims in years.

• Remote Law Firm Culture Should Prioritize Associate Training

  

  Due to the pandemic, the gap between law school and the first day on the job has never been wider, but law firms can leverage training to bridge that intimidating gap and convey the unique value of their culture in a virtual environment, say Melissa Schwind at Ward and Smith, and William Kenney and Jaron Luttich at Element Standard.

• Virtual Litigation May Unravel The Narcissistic Lawyer

  

  The virtual courtroom limits a narcissistic lawyer's ability to intimidate witnesses and opposing counsel, boast to clients or engage in grandstanding — an unexpected benefit of the global pandemic as some aspects of remote litigation are likely here to stay, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

• Federal COVID-19 Insurance Decisions Ignore State Law

  

  Federal courts are dismissing policyholder lawsuits seeking business insurance coverage for losses from COVID-19 lockdowns at a far higher rate than state courts, likely because they are not following the Erie doctrine, which requires them to apply state law, says Carl Salisbury at Bramnick Rodriguez.

• Insurers May Be Estopped From Relitigating Pandemic Issues

  

  The doctrine of offensive collateral estoppel may support policyholders in pandemic-related litigation against insurers that have already lost lawsuits concerning similar issues, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes and Boone.

• 3 Cybersecurity Questions To Ask Before A Remote Mediation

  

  Lawyers preparing to mediate or arbitrate a case through videoconference should take steps to ensure they and their alternative dispute resolution providers are employing reasonable security precautions to protect digital client data and conform to confidentiality obligations, say F. Keith Brown and Michael Koss at ADR Systems.

• Safeguarding Privileged Communications In A Remote World

  

  With the pandemic ushering in remote collaboration tools, counsel must revisit fundamentals of the attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine, study cases involving email and other recent technologies, and follow 10 best practices to protect confidentiality, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• Questions Following 2 Recent Cyber Insurance Developments

  

  A Minnesota federal court's recent decision in Target v. ACE and guidance from the New York State Department of Financial Services have furthered confusion surrounding how insurance policy language should be applied to the unique circumstances of cyber incidents, say Huiyi Chen and David Kroeger at Jenner & Block.

• For Law Firm Digital Marketing, Less Is Sometimes More

  

  Attorneys and law firms often look to cast the widest net possible and maximize online impressions, when they should be focusing their digital marketing efforts on fewer, better-qualified prospects, says Guy Alvarez at Good2BSocial.