Expert Analysis

• What Lawyers Should Know Before Accepting Crypto Payment

  

  As clients increasingly request to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds using cryptocurrency, lawyers should consider how only a handful of state bar authorities have addressed the issue with varying ethics opinions, as well as the related questions that no authority has yet answered, says attorney Felix Shipkevich.

• How To Use AI In Employment Contract Drafting

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Before using artificial intelligence to draft employment contracts, law firms and employers must assess practical ethical guardrails, appropriate use cases, core risk areas and validation workflows, says Samuel Mitchell at Smith Gambrell.

• NY Severance Rules Persist Despite McLaren Macomb Threat

  

  Despite recent calls to overturn the National Labor Relations Board's decision in McLaren Macomb, New York's robust regulation will remain intact, limiting practitioners' ability to offer nonsupervisory employees severance agreements with confidentiality and nondisclosure provisions, says Matthew Berman at Valli Kane.

• How Evergreen Language Can Sink Landlord Credit Support

  

  A recent pattern in court decisions interpreting letters of credit underscores the importance of using precise language when seeking evergreen protection, so landlords should seek explicit successive-renewal terms, verify issuer forms and calendar deadlines in order to preserve credit support, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

• Data Sale In Spirit Bankruptcy Raises Novel Privacy Risks

  

  Spirit Airlines' planned sale of deidentified business data to Google for artificial intelligence training exposes gaps in the Bankruptcy Code's privacy guardrails, particularly for employee information, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

• Health Plan Takeaways After 2nd Circ. No Surprises Act Ruling

  

  While the Second Circuit's recent ruling in East Coast Advanced Plastic Surgery v. Cigna gives health plans breathing room in finding that healthcare providers cannot enforce out-of-network billing dispute resolution awards in court, sponsors should not assume that declining to pay awards will go unaddressed by regulators, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

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  Mentalism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Convincing strangers I can read their minds may seem like an unusual second career for a legal practitioner, but both disciplines share several important requirements, including trust and preparation, says Warren Biro at Manatt.

• Why And How To Build A Neurodiversity-Informed Practice

  

  By better understanding neurodiversity and implementing simple accommodations for clients with autism, ADHD or learning differences, attorneys can build stronger relationships with those who may otherwise struggle to obtain and benefit from legal services, while developing good habits that will benefit everyone they represent, says Ting Cheung at Sanford Heisler.

• How FTC Win Charts A Court-1st Merger Litigation Playbook

  

  A New York federal court's recent decision blocking Henkel's acquisition of Liquid Nails marked a decisive trial win for the Federal Trade Commission, and tips for merging parties in similar transactions now include preparing for full-blown federal litigation, including a complete evidentiary trial, say attorneys at Cooley.

• Foreclosure May Not Be The Fix For Distressed Office Loans

  

  Recently declining office values show that distressed borrowers and lenders should consider negotiated workouts, tax planning and value-preserving leasing strategies as refinancing gaps and special-servicing constraints make foreclosure an increasingly costly last resort, says Howard Koh at Meister Seelig.

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  NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

  

  Several developments from New York financial services regulators in the third quarter reflect a common theme — regulators are increasingly seeking to apply established supervisory expectations to newer market participants and emerging financial products, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

• AG Watch: Texas Takes A Lone State Stand Against Tech Cos.

  

  A look at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent actions against Meta Platforms and Amazon.com illustrates how Texas is distancing itself from multistate coordination, offering practitioners a crucial perspective on navigating individual state actions amid coordinated attorney general litigation, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

• Patent Eligibility Bulletin: Claim Solutions, Not Results

  

  In the third quarter of the year, two Federal Circuit decisions illustrated that claims sharing the same disclosure can fall on opposite sides of the patent eligibility line, depending on the specific nuances of tech patents' claims, says Reilley Keane at Banner Witcoff.

• Prediction Market Case Tests Novel Insider Trading Theory

  

  The government's argument in its case against a soldier accused of using classified information to bet on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's capture would represent a sea change in how insider trading wire fraud has been prosecuted for decades, says Alex Blanchard at Holland & Knight.

• HSR Compliance Lessons Abound In Proposed $250M Deal

  

  The U.S. Justice Department's recently proposed $250 million Hart-Scott-Rodino Act settlement with KKR sheds light on additional safeguards that companies can put into place to mitigate risk as they prepare for their next deal, including implementation of a robust document process, say attorneys at White & Case.