Insurance

Expert Analysis

• Financial Services Regulation For Fintech Companies: Part 2

  

  In the second part of this series on regulatory challenges faced by fintech innovators, Nathan Greene and Justin Reda of Shearman & Sterling caution entrepreneurs in the financial space to be aware of when their products could be categorized as securities, and of the many regulatory obligations that can arise as a result.

• 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.

• Financial Services Regulation For Fintech Companies: Part 1

  

  Firms in the U.S. financial sector are surrounded by a virtual moat of complex regulations, mandatory disclosures and compliance infrastructure. Nathan Greene and Justin Reda of Shearman & Sterling offer an overview of the regulatory context — and some of the crocodiles lurking in that moat — for fintech entrepreneurs entering the sector.

• Employer Options For White Collar Contractors After Dynamex

  

  Though multiple worker classification questions still swirl around the California Supreme Court's Dynamex decision, many have wondered what it means for white collar independent contractors. The law is still murky on this point, but there are several steps that might help hiring companies rebut a misclassification claim, say Raymond Bertrand and James de Haan at Paul Hastings.

• Insurers Must Prepare For 2 Possible Cyber Disasters

  

  Due to the massive scale on which contagious malware and cloud vulnerabilities could cause damage, insurers must develop ways to quantify losses from cyberattacks, predict future losses and address aggregation risk, say directors at Ankura Consulting.

• Opinion

  Calif. 'Surprise Billing' Law Could Jeopardize Access To Care

  

  Currently pending legislation in California, aiming to prevent patients from receiving surprise bills from out-of-network hospitals, could jeopardize the financial viability of hospitals while benefiting insurance companies that are already very profitable, say Daron Tooch of King & Spalding and Chris Fritz and Michael Heil of HealthWorks.

• Series

  Why I Became A Lawyer: A Fateful Phone Call

  

  When I was growing up, my mother was always the more mild-mannered parent. But during a trans-Atlantic phone call in 1991, when I told her I wanted to go to culinary school instead of law school, she started yelling — at a volume I had never heard from her, says Jason Brookner of Gray Reed.

• Insuring The Ever-Growing Cannabis Industry: Part 2

  

  By legalizing hemp, the Farm Bill has legitimized a portion of the cannabis space, but it has also created fertile ground for new liability exposures, which create significant opportunities for insurers to enter the cannabis market, say Jodi Green and Patricia Daza-Luu of Nicolaides Fink.

• Law Firms Can Do Better With Their Mentoring Programs

  

  There are a few practical, proactive steps law firms can take to create a mentoring program that pays dividends — instead of creating a mediocre program that both parties see as an obligation, says Kate Sheikh of Major Lindsey & Africa.

• The Latest Developments In Criminal Cases Against Execs

  

  This spring, there was some noteworthy news in white collar government investigations impacting executives, including the first successful prosecution in the opioid bribery scheme and the first criminal charges for failure to report under the Consumer Product Safety Act, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

• 'Rocket Docket' Justifies Its Name For 11th Straight Year

  

  The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia “rocket docket” is still the fastest federal civil trial court in the country despite some recent trends causing its median time to trial to grow to 13.2 months, says Robert Tata of Hunton.

• 5th Circ. Insights On Wrongful Conviction Insurance Coverage

  

  In Travelers v. Mitchell, the Fifth Circuit recently grappled with issues concerning trigger of insurance coverage for wrongful convictions that will likely continue to be tested in courts nationwide, but its decision notably relied on a discussion of trigger that is not aligned with most courts, say Ben Eggert and Karen Toto of Wiley Rein.

• When Experts Are Effective In Insurance Coverage Litigation

  

  Jonathan Kuller and Ashlyn Capote of Goldberg Segalla analyze persuasive use of expert testimony in insurance coverage cases, employing one of their cases as an example.

• Measuring The Value Of A Law Firm's Social Media Efforts

  

  Most legal marketers struggle to show the return on investment of their social media efforts, but establishing and answering several key questions can help demonstrate exactly how social media programs contribute to a law firm's bottom line, say Guy Alvarez of Good2bSocial and communications consultant Tom Orewyler.

• Why Association Health Plans Are Still A Great Idea

  

  Notwithstanding a recent federal court decision undercutting the U.S. Department of Labor’s association health plan rules, as well as constitutional challenges to the Affordable Care Act that may affect the legality of some plans, employer groups should consider forming AHPs, says Jewell Esposito of FisherBroyles.