Pennsylvania

Expert Analysis

• Ethics Reminders As Employees Move To Or From Gov't

  

  Many organizations are making plans for executives to go into government jobs, or for government officials to join a private sector team, but they must understand the many ethics rules that can put a damper on just how valuable the former employee or new hire can be, say Scott Thomas and Jennifer Carrier at Blank Rome.

• NJ Cannabis Strides Highlight Nearby States' Need To Legalize

  

  As New Jersey's ballot measure approving adult-use cannabis gives the state a strong head start in the race to legalization, neighboring states Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut need to move quickly to follow suit or risk losing out on significant cannabis tax revenue, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

• Surveying Drug Pricing Reform: The Latest State Activity

  

  Attorneys at Ropes & Gray explore four types of high-impact drug pricing initiatives at the state level — pricing transparency, pharmacy benefit manager controls, drug importation and value-based arrangements — examining how the current wave of reforms may affect drug companies' business operations.

• A Key To Helping Clients Make Better Decisions During Crisis

  

  As the pandemic brings a variety of legal stresses for businesses, lawyers must understand the emotional dynamic of a crisis and the particular energy it produces to effectively fulfill their role as advisers, say Meredith Parfet and Aaron Solomon at Ravenyard Group.

• Where Data Privacy And CFPB Are Headed Under Biden

  

  Data privacy is likely to be a key area of legislative and enforcement focus for President-elect Joe Biden, and consumer financial protection is expected to be an immediate priority due to the economic impact of the pandemic, with the most drastic shift likely to occur at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

• 6 Best Practices For Banks Serving The Marijuana Industry

  

  As more states legalize marijuana, financial institutions with marijuana-related business customers should implement robust and nuanced compliance programs, and those that do not want to serve the industry should have policies in place for determining whether existing customers are engaged in marijuana-related activities, say attorneys at Venable.

• Ethics Considerations For Law Firms Implementing AI

  

  Richard Finkelman and Yihua Astle at Berkeley Research Group discuss the ethical and bias concerns law firms must address when implementing artificial intelligence-powered applications for recruiting, conflict identification and client counseling.

• How Federal Virus Liability Law Will Apply To Vaccine Claims

  

  Three federal court decisions addressing the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act suggest that the law likely preempts state claims related to a COVID-19 vaccine, but is unlikely to cover the failure to administer the vaccine, says Nathan Adams at Holland & Knight.

• 3rd Circ. Could Select Middle Path On Foreign Discovery Law

  

  In a circuit split over whether a U.S. foreign discovery law may be used for private arbitration, the Third Circuit in Axion Holding Cyprus may choose a middle ground by finding that private arbitration under the U.K. Arbitration Act involves sufficient judicial oversight to make it subject to the statute, says Adrienne Koch at Katsky Korins.

• Picking The Right Location And Tools For Virtual Courtrooms

  

  Attorneys should consider the pros and cons of participating in virtual court proceedings from home versus their law firm offices, and whether they have the right audio, video and team communication tools for their particular setup, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

• Beware Atty Ethics Rules When Reporting COVID-19 Fraud

  

  Attorneys considering blowing the whistle on False Claims Act violations by recipients of COVID-19 relief may face a number of ethical constraints on their ability to disclose client information and file qui tam actions, say Breon Peace and Jennifer Kennedy Park at Cleary.

• Looking For Judicial Activists? Check The Footnotes

  

  U.S. Supreme Court nominees typically face intense questioning over potential judicial activism, but a better way to gauge judges' activist tendencies may be to look at the footnotes in their opinions, say Christopher Collier at Hawkins Parnell and Michael Arndt at Rohan Law.

• Rebuttal

  Courts Are Not Confused About Opioid Insurance Suits

  

  Although a recent Law360 guest article claimed that confusion has seeped into decisions concerning insurance coverage for opioid lawsuits, courts have addressed the issue clearly and consistently in holding that commercial general liability policies cover the defense of such cases, say attorneys at Miller Friel.

• Ex-Informant Ruling Guides On Challenging SEC Enforcement

  

  A New Jersey federal court’s recent decision in a dispute between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a former government informant highlights the agency's obligations as a litigant, and offers guidance for challenging enforcement actions in court, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

• Best Practices For Legal Technology Adoption

  

  The pandemic has accelerated the need to improve the practice of law through technology, but law firms and in-house legal departments must first ensure they have employee buy-in and well-defined processes for new digital tools, say Dan Broderick at BlackBoiler and Daryl Shetterly at Orrick.