Expert Analysis

• NJ Justices' Walmart Ruling Clarifies Future Snowstorm Duty

  

  A recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision, that a contractor's spreading of salt on a minimal snow accumulation in a Walmart parking lot did not create liability, delivers important clarity on the state's ongoing-storm rule, says Maxx Johnson at Stradley Ronon.

• What Trial Teams Should Know About AI Jury Research Tools

  

  Using artificial intelligence for jury research is quickly becoming part of the litigation consulting landscape, and can be a useful part of a case assessment toolkit — but litigators must understand what these systems are built to measure, and what conclusions can reasonably be drawn from their output, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

• Attorneys Using AI May Have Ethical Duty To Redact Docs

  

  The trajectory of legal ethics guidance in recent years strongly suggests that as redaction technology becomes more accessible, the failure to use it when uploading highly confidential materials into artificial intelligence tools will become increasingly difficult to defend as reasonable, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

• Minn. Ruling Expands Insureds' Right To Independent Counsel

  

  If upheld on appeal, a recent decision by a Minnesota appellate court — Fabyanske Westra Hart & Thomson v. Western National Mutual Insurance — will give Minnesota policyholders a stronger basis to demand independent counsel when an insurer accepts a defense under a reservation of rights, say attorneys at Stoel Rives.

• Series

  Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

• Opinion

  NC Litigation Funding Ban Sets Model For Other States

  

  States worried about rising liability costs and the commercialization of their courts should treat North Carolina's recently enacted litigation funding ban as a model because a prohibition adequately addresses the distortion that disclosure only documents, say attorneys at McAngus Goudelock.

• 10th Circ. Ruling Propels Emerging 'Occurrence' Consensus

  

  The Tenth Circuit recently revived the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' bid for insurance coverage in a sexual abuse case, continuing a trend as the second circuit court to find that, where ambiguous, the definition of "occurrence" must be interpreted in favor of coverage, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

• SVB Parent's Claim Loss To FDIC Bears Bond Wording Lesson

  

  A North Carolina federal court’s recent ruling that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as receiver for the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, solely owns a $73 million fraud claim illustrates why parent financial institutions should scrutinize joint assured provisions in fidelity bonds to prevent a failed subsidiary's covered losses going to a receiver, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

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  Ballet Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  A lifetime of learning and performing ballet taught me that success — whether in dance or practicing law — comes only through hours of thorough preparation, boundless energy and relentless effort, says Sharon Katz-Pearlman at Greenberg Traurig.

• Insurer Spoliation Ruling Flags Continuing Duty To Preserve

  

  An Illinois federal court’s recent decision to impose spoliation sanctions on the insurer in H.D. Smith v. Cincinnati Insurance provides practical guidance for navigating long-tail coverage litigation, underscoring the importance of evaluating preservation obligations in light of the full life cycle of a dispute, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• Series

  Taekwondo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Taekwondo has taught me to recognize when to fight for a position and when to focus on finding a solution, and that the best outcomes are often achieved by solving problems — all of which has improved my work as a bankruptcy lawyer, mediator and Subchapter V trustee, says Amy Denton Mayer at Berger Singerman.

• When And How To Use 4 Types Of Cross-Exam Questions

  

  Perceptions of a great cross-examination are often shaped by aggressive courtroom exchanges, but to be truly effective, this stage of trial requires strategically selecting confirmation, confinement, contrast or confrontation questions at key moments, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

• What To Know As Legal Duty To Consider AI Takes Shape

  

  While the U.K. Jurisdiction Taskforce’s recent statement on liability for artificial intelligence harms is nonbinding for both U.K. and U.S. lawyers, it highlights the importance of being able to distinguish between the availability of a tool and a professional obligation to use it, say Jonny Frank and Michael Costa at StoneTurn.

• Discovery Into Insurers' AI Use Should Stay Proportional

  

  As insurers increasingly use artificial intelligence to make claim decisions, plaintiffs in first-party coverage litigation should seek discovery that tracks how materially the automated system influenced the challenged decision, not whether the insurer used AI somewhere in its operations, says attorney Joe Zaid.

• Mitigating The Risk Of Antiestablishment Jurors

  

  The legal battles currently embroiling social media companies underscore that jurors with anti-corporate bias and conspiratorial thinking patterns pose myriad risks to corporate defendants, and defense counsel should adapt their trial strategies accordingly, say consultants at Persuasion Strategies.