Pennsylvania

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.

• Pandemic Force Majeure Interpretations May Be Shifting

  

  A New York federal court's ruling in JN Contemporary Art v. Phillips Auctioneers, deeming COVID-19 to be a natural disaster that triggers a force majeure clause, appears to loosen previously strict contours of contractual interpretation and could create a legal quandary for obligees, say Kimberly Daily and Matthew Rawlinson at Eversheds Sutherland.

• Questions Loom About DOJ Dismissal Power In FCA Suits

  

  The Second Circuit's recent decision to grant a U.S. Department of Justice motion to dismiss a False Claims Act suit, without weighing in on the standard for assessing the agency’s decision, illustrates a significant trend, given an increase in agency dismissals and the expected uptick in FCA cases amid the pandemic, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

• Republican AGs Likely To Challenge Biden On Multiple Fronts

  

  During recent presidential administrations, state attorneys general have challenged federal regulations and obtained nationwide injunctions against executive orders — and there is every reason to believe that Republican attorneys general will continue this trend, resisting Biden administration efforts on climate change, health care, immigration and more, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

• 3 Degrees Of Legalization Show True Prevalence Of Cannabis

  

  The three degrees of state marijuana legalization regimes throughout the U.S. show that cannabis is only fully illegal in three U.S. states and one territory — not 14 states as some counts indicate — and even in those places, there are stirrings of change, says Julie Werner-Simon at Drexel University's Thomas R. Kline School of Law.

• 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.

• Obtaining General Jurisdiction Over Out-Of-State Insurers

  

  A series of recent court decisions illustrate the challenges of litigating against insurers in a state where neither party resides, and demonstrate alternate means of securing jurisdiction, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

• 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.

• EPA Hazardous Pharma Waste Rule Has Wide Reach

  

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's soon-to-be-effective rule on hazardous waste pharmaceuticals may seem only relevant to health care entities, but its sweeping definitions could cover any business that dispenses over-the-counter medicines, say Andrew Stewart and Anushka Rahman at Sidley Austin and Renée van de Griend at Ramboll.

• 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 The Remote Sales Tax Legal Landscape Is Evolving

  

  As the remote sales tax landscape continues to change, the pandemic-driven shift toward e-commerce will likely hasten the adoption, application and enforcement of remote sales tax laws by state and local authorities, says Liz Armbruester at Avalara.

• Infrastructure Privatization Can Still Be A Useful Model

  

  While infrastructure privatizations have fallen out of favor and publicly funded projects are now in the spotlight, budget shortfalls at the state and local level mean that privatization can provide needed capital — but deals should be conducted transparently and with lessons learned from past missteps, says Adam Giuliano at Kaplan Kirsch.