Legal Ethics

Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  DC Court Is Wrong On Jan. 6 Grand Jury Evidence Sharing

  

  The D.C. federal court erred recently when it denied the government's request to share grand jury materials from U.S. Capitol riot cases with a private contractor hired to organize the voluminous evidence, turning the practical grand jury secrecy doctrine into a straitjacket, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

• Law Firms, Know Who's Responsible For Your Cloud Security

  

  Lawyers generally know that files go into the cloud and that the files are then secured and protected, but it's necessary for firms to take a closer look at their cloud supply chain and then come up with a responsibility matrix that helps mitigate any potential risks or weaknesses, says Martin Ward at iManage.

• Benefits For Law Firms Venturing Into New Services

  

  By offering more services, law firms can deepen and strengthen their client relationships and truly become an extension of their clients' teams while generating new revenue streams, and while there are risks associated with expanding into consulting, they may be worth it, says Lou Ramos at Major Lindsey.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Exelon GC Talks Diversity Initiatives

  

  Executing a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion programming, through recruitment, inclusive legal pipelines and community empowerment via pro bono efforts, can ensure a strong environmental, social and governance proposition, says Gayle Littleton at Exelon.

• Revamping Law Firm Marketing Lists — With Partner Buy-In

  

  Jackson Lewis’ Paige Bowser shares lessons from the firm's recent overhaul of an outdated email marketing database, including tips for getting partners on board, ensuring compliance with privacy laws and augmenting outreach strategies.

• The Murky World Of Legal Rankings Gets Some Clarity In NJ

  

  New Jersey's new, stringent approach to legal rankings will make accolade advertising more transparent, benefiting both attorneys and clients and offering legal marketers a new set of best practices amid evolving standards, say Penny Paul at Lowenstein Sandler and Susan Peters at Greybridge.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Cigna Counsel Talks Employee Wellness

  

  Building employee well-being into corporate environmental, social and governance priorities required our legal team to focus more closely on cross-functional collaboration within the company and increased communication with our board of directors and shareholders, says Julia Brncic at Cigna.

• Hybrid Work Models Are Key To Gender Parity In Law Firms

  

  To curb the historically high rates of attrition among female lawyers, Roberta Liebenberg at Fine Kaplan and Stephanie Scharf at Scharf Banks suggest firms must normalize hybrid work schedules, and they recommend best practices to promote engagement among all attorneys, regardless of where they work.

• 3 Keys To Winning Your Next Oral Argument

  

  To leverage the unique opportunity oral arguments provide to talk directly to judges and contribute to their decision making, attorneys must mind the three hallmarks of persuasiveness: projecting credibility, exuding likability and gaining the listener's trust, says Daniel Karon at Karon LLC.

• Keys To Efficient And Accurate Doc Review For E-Discovery

  

  Attorneys involved in e-discovery can review information accurately and cost-effectively by understanding the data in a document collection and identifying its key pitfalls, drafting comprehensive review guidelines, and preparing ahead, says John Wertelet at Eckert Seamans.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Raytheon GC Talks Climate Change

  

  Now that the climate crisis is seen as an existential threat, the stakes couldn't be higher — or the challenges more daunting — for the general counsel, who must enlist all parts of the company for support while providing both a legal and ethical road map on how to respond, says Frank Jimenez at Raytheon.

• Opinion

  Amend Rule 702 To Clarify Expert Witness Standards

  

  Courts have taken widely different approaches to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Daubert decision on expert testimony admissibility, often misinterpreting the underlying standards set forth by Federal Rule of Evidence 702, but a proposed amendment will dispel misunderstandings and clarify the judicial gatekeeping role, says Alex Dahl at defense-side group Lawyers for Civil Justice.

• Mass. Ruling A Cautionary Tale For Attorneys Changing Firms

  

  The Massachusetts high court's recent ruling in Governo v. Bergeron, that lawyers could be held liable for unfair competition with a former firm, highlights important considerations for departing attorneys soliciting clients to come with them, say Mariana Korsunsky and Gary Ronan at Goulston & Storrs.

• How To Avert Media Narrative And Get A Fair High-Stakes Trial

  

  Corporate defendants in bet-the-company litigation may face an uphill battle to a fair trial when the media paints an entire industry, and every entity within it, as a villain — but some strategic tools can help build a more constructive defense and counteract damaging outside spin, says Jessie Zeigler at Bass Berry.

• Opinion

  State Courts' Stark Lack Of Diversity Demands Action

  

  With state judiciaries lagging their federal counterparts in demographic and professional diversity, law firms, state bar associations and other stakeholders should help build a path for more people with diverse backgrounds to become state judges, say Janna Adelstein and Alicia Bannon at the Brennan Center for Justice.