Mergers & Acquisitions

Expert Analysis

• Del. Uber Ruling Reinforces High Bar To Prove Director Bias

  

  The Delaware Supreme Court's recent dismissal of a stockholder action alleging conflicts among Uber's board demonstrates how unlikely it is that independent directors would be held personally liable for fiduciary breaches, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

• TikTok Investigation Should Prompt More Data Transparency

  

  The U.S. national security investigation into the Chinese-owned TikTok app serves as a reminder that social media platforms need to establish clear privacy notices to explain how users' personal data will be used and stored, particularly in cross-border applications, say Craig Giles and Zahra Deera of Bird & Bird.

• Union Recognition Lessons From CNN's Record NLRB Deal

  

  The National Labor Relations Board’s record $76 million settlement with CNN reminds employers to carefully navigate union relationships after a significant business change because workers often retain bargaining and representation rights, say David Pryzbylski and Thomas Payne at Barnes & Thornburg.

• Rebuttal

  AI Can't Accurately Predict Case Length And Cost — Yet

  

  A recent Law360 guest article argued that artificial intelligence can precisely estimate the length and cost of a new case, but several limitations will likely delay truly accurate predictions for years to come, says Andrew Russell at Shaw Keller.

• Opinion

  PE Investors Should Reject Life Tenure For General Partners

  

  Institutional investors in private equity and venture capital funds should push back against limited partnership agreements that make it impossible to remove a general partner for any reason, say Kenneth Witt and Marc Lieberman at Kutak Rock.

• The Advantages Of PE Sponsor-Strategic Partnerships

  

  Several recent mergers and acquisitions concentrated in the health care sector illustrate a growing trend of private equity sponsors teaming up with strategic buyers in innovative ways that provide value for both sides, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• A Good Year Ahead For Energy Infrastructure M&A

  

  Recent policy developments and investment trends in China, Europe and the United States offer a number of compelling reasons to expect that energy infrastructure M&A deals will be strong in 2020, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

• Lawyers Can Build Trust Through The Spoken Word

  

  As attorneys, we may prefer the precision of written communication, but a phone call or an in-person conversation builds trust by letting others see and hear our authentic selves, rather than something constructed or scripted, says mediator Sidney Kanazawa of ARC.

• Opinion

  Legal Prediction Is Demanding But Not Impossible

  

  The New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent decision in Balducci v. Cige incorrectly concluded that predicting the length and cost of a case is nearly impossible, and overlooked artificial intelligence's ability to do so, says Joseph Avery with Claudius Legal Intelligence.

• Recent Cases Defy Conventional Merger Control Wisdom

  Excerpt from Lexis Practice Advisor

  

  In the decades since the passage of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and Tunney Act, four mergers and acquisitions antitrust practice trends have endured, but there are several recent counterexamples — including a New York federal court's approval of the T-Mobile-Sprint merger this week, says Tim Haney of Lexis Practice Advisor.

• The Deal Maker's Guide To The New CFIUS Framework

  

  Now that new national security regulations governing cross-border investment and acquisitions are in effect, attorneys at MoFo identify the key questions deal makers should be asking to assess whether they must, or should, notify the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States of a transaction.

• T-Mobile/Sprint Ruling Elevates Tech Market Merger Analysis

  

  A New York federal court’s recent refusal to block the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile provides a compelling case for considering the dynamism of high-tech markets and demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the nuances and limitations of empirical economic analysis, says Jeffrey Eisenach of NERA Economic Consulting.

• Malpractice Landscape Is Becoming Riskier For BigLaw

  

  A recent survey of lawyers’ professional liability insurers revealed an increase in malpractice claims against law firms, suggesting clients will demand more accountability in the coming decade, say Gerald Klein and Amy Nguyen at Klein & Wilson.

• Perspectives

  Book Review: A Lawyer Reflects On Defending Guilty People

  

  In her new book, "Guilty People," Abbe Smith successfully conveys that seeing ourselves in people who commit crime may be the first step to exacting change in our justice system, says U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa of the District of Arizona.

• The Optimistic Outlook For M&A In The UK

  

  As we enter the 2020s, booming deal activity in the U.K. is not a certainty, but market participants have five reasons to be confident, says George Knighton of Skadden.