International Arbitration

Expert Analysis

• What Associates Should Consider Before Switching Practices

  

  The current high demand for midlevel associates provides them a rare opportunity to potentially explore new practice areas, but associates should first ask themselves six questions to begin figuring out why a change sounds appealing, says Stephanie Biderman at Major Lindsey.

• 4 Effective Ways To Prioritize Client Advocacy

  

  To truly support a client going through a complicated lawsuit or a painful experience, lawyers must think beyond interpreting legal guidelines and navigating court proceedings, says attorney Scott Corwin.

• 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.

• ABA Remote Work Guide Raises Bar For Atty Tech Know-How

  

  A recent American Bar Association opinion on lawyers' ethical duties of competence and confidentiality when working remotely should be viewed as part of a larger movement by which attorneys are being exhorted to develop competence in 21st century technology, say Jennifer Goldsmith at Ironshore and Barry Temkin at Mound Cotton.

• Lateral Hire Conflict Screening Lessons From DLA Piper Case

  

  While a Texas federal court recently denied a motion to disqualify DLA Piper from representing Apple in a patent dispute after the law firm hired an attorney who formerly represented opponent Maxwell, the case is a reminder that robust conflict checks during lateral hiring can save firms the time and expense of defending disqualification motions, says Hope Comisky at Griesing Law.

• Opinion

  High Court Int'l Discovery Case Fits Mootness Exception

  

  Even if the underlying arbitration in Servotronics v. Rolls Royce concludes before the U.S. Supreme Court decides the case, the court should recognize an exception to mootness and resolve the circuit split on whether a U.S. discovery statute applies to international commercial arbitration, say attorneys at Freshfields.

• How USMCA Empowers Investors Against Mexico Power Law

  

  U.S. and Canadian investors in Mexico's energy sector pursuing legal remedies against the country's newly amended Electricity Industry Law, which introduces preferences for the Mexican state-owned utility, should consider the ways they can seek relief under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• 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.

• A Uniform Mediation Act Primer As States Continue Adoption

  

  With Georgia expected to soon become the 13th jurisdiction to adopt the Uniform Mediation Act and with more states likely to follow suit amid widespread trial delays, practitioners should familiarize themselves with the act's conflict disclosure requirements and the boundaries of its confidentiality provisions, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

• 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.

• 4 Areas Of Cyberattack Vulnerability For Law Firms

  

  Recent data breaches involving Goodwin and Jones Day show that cyberattacks are very real threats to the legal profession, especially in the era of remote work, so law firms should revisit common business practices that expose them to unnecessary risks, says Ara Aslanian at Inverselogic.

• Justices Will Bring Welcome Resolution In Int'l Discovery Row

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's decision this week to review Servotronics v. Rolls-Royce — a case concerning use of a U.S. discovery statute in aid of private international arbitration — will result in greater certainty as to the statute's scope and allow domestic parties to better defend themselves from foreign discovery requests, say Dan Ward and Elena Davis at Ropes & Gray.

• How To Help Your Witnesses Overcome Hindsight Bias

  

  Witnesses facing tricky questions from opposing counsel often find themselves engaging in hindsight bias, when they use present knowledge to second-guess past actions, but these problematic thought processes can be overcome during deposition or trial preparation through tough questions and some catharsis, says Merrie Jo Pitera at Litigation Insights.

• NJ 'Reply All' Ethics Opinion Brings New Pitfalls For Attorneys

  

  While a recent New Jersey ethics opinion rightly concluded that an attorney cannot claim an ethics violation when opposing counsel replies all to a group email including clients, it runs counter to stances taken by other states and presents new dangers of confidentiality breaches and unfiltered messages to opposing parties, says Roger Plawker at Pashman Stein.