International Trade

Expert Analysis

• Ethics Tips For Attorneys Telecommuting Across State Lines

  

  Attorneys working remotely from jurisdictions in which they are not admitted should take precautionary steps to avoid engaging in unauthorized practice of law, say John Schmidt and Michael Seaman at Phillips Lytle.

• 6 Ways Legal Employers Can Help Pandemic-Weary Parents

  

  Parenting during the pandemic has introduced a series of competing personal and professional obligations for attorneys and professional staff, and even organizations that are supportive of their parent employees can take steps to do better, says Meredith Kahan at Saul Ewing.

• How Cos. Can Combat Knockoffs At And Beyond ITC This Year

  

  To tackle knockoffs, the $500 billion criminal enterprise that economists predict will double by 2022 due to exponentially rising e-commerce and the pandemic's effects, brand-protective companies should deploy U.S. International Trade Commission remedies and a variety of alternatives, say Josh Pond and Preetha Chakrabarti at Crowell & Moring.

• Remote Working Tips For Lawyer Trainees And Their Firms

  

  The prospect of joining a law firm during the pandemic can cause added pressure, but with a few good practices — and a little help from their firms and supervising attorneys — lawyer trainees can get ahead of the curve while working remotely, say William Morris and Ted Landray at King & Spalding.

• Mitigate Key FCPA Risks With Tailor-Made Compliance

  

  Multinational companies should take a pragmatic approach to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance by being aware of key risk areas — such as inappropriate gift-giving, liability for third-party actions, and countries with recurring corruption issues — and implementing custom-designed procedures that evolve with their operations, says Howard Weissman at Miller Canfield.

• What Biden's Ethics Pledge Means For Gov't Revolving Door

  

  Attorneys at Nossaman look at how President Joe Biden’s ethics pledge goes beyond those of his predecessors by imposing post-employment shadow lobbying and golden parachute restrictions on his administration’s appointees — and how a House bill proposing expansion of federal ethics law could affect enforcement.

• Opinion

  Punishing Bar Exam Policies On Menstrual Products Must Go

  

  Law graduates across the states are sitting for the grueling two-day bar exam this week despite menstruation-related barriers, such as inadequate menstrual product and bathroom access, which could be eradicated with simple policy tweaks, say law professors Elizabeth Cooper, Margaret Johnson and Marcy Karin.

• Takeaways From DOJ Fraud Section's Pandemic Year

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division report on the Fraud Section's accomplishments in 2020 reveals impressive enforcement productivity, despite pandemic-related limitations, and we should expect to see a significant increase in prosecution later this year, say Kevin Muhlendorf and Holly Wilson at Wiley.

• It's Time For Law Firms To Start Loving And Leveraging Data

  

  The volume and diversity of data managed by law firms today — from client files to internal financial records — may seem daunting, but when properly organized, good data can help practitioners stay competitive by providing sharper insight into firm resources and cost of work, say Jaron Luttich and Barry Wiggins at Element Standard.

• Keys To Protecting Clients During Law Firm Dissolution

  

  Whether a law firm dissolution is amicable or adversarial, departing attorneys should take steps to maintain their legal and ethical responsibilities toward clients, and beware client confidentiality pitfalls when joining new firms, say John Schmidt and Colin Fitzgerald at Phillips Lytle.

• How Case Management Orders Can Support New Attorneys

  

  Courts are leading the way in ensuring oral argument opportunities for newer attorneys by incorporating innovative language in a variety of orders, and private parties can and should follow suit by incorporating similar language into case management orders, say Megan Jones and Halli Spraggins at Hausfeld.

• 3 Things To Know About FDA's Evolving Drug Inspections

  

  Companies regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration need to stay abreast of the pandemic's ongoing impact, including inspection delays, the FDA's expanded usage of remote evaluations, and supply chain constraints, say Peter Lindsay and Nathan Sheers at Paul Hastings.

• Effective E-Discovery Of Chat Apps In Gov't Investigations

  

  With the increasing reliance on multiple messaging applications for business conversations in the remote working environment, companies can implement several best practices for collecting, reviewing and producing data, despite an absence of guidance on discovery obligations in government investigations, say Jason Weinstein and Katie Dubyak at Steptoe & Johnson.

• An In-House Counsel's Guide To Better Work Management

  

  Amid economic uncertainty and increasing pressure on corporate legal departments to do more with less, work management processes should be aimed at tracking legal teams' every contribution, including routine matters that can be reallocated to nonlegal staff, says Aaron Pierce at LexisNexis CounselLink.

• US Cos. Must Prepare For EU Carbon Tax On Imports

  

  With the European Union considering a tax on imported goods reflecting the carbon emitted during their manufacture, U.S. exporters to the EU should assess their possible liabilities, review opportunities to mitigate costs and consider ways to reduce emissions, say David Lakhdhir and Mark Bergman at Paul Weiss.