Personal Injury & Medical Malpractice

Expert Analysis

• The Latest On Vapor Intrusion Regs In Calif.

  

  Recent and upcoming vapor intrusion policies from California environmental regulators will increase the number of properties investigated, shift the focus to indoor air sampling, and possibly affect real estate transactions, say Catherine Johnson and Dorothy Dickey of Environmental General Counsel LLP.

• Lenders Score Major High Court Victory In Foreclosure Case

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling on Wednesday in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP removes nearly all activities taken by creditors seeking nonjudicial foreclosure of liens and mortgages from the ambit of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, says John Baxter of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.

• Trial Counsel's Role On A Mass Tort Virtual Law Team

  

  Trial counsel’s contribution to the virtual law team throughout the life cycle of a mass tort litigation rests in the key skill of viewing the case through the eyes of the ultimate audience for the defense, the jury, say attorneys at Covington & Burling LLP and Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.

• Tech Trends From SXSW Pose Unique Questions For Lawyers

  

  These days, a popular theme in media is that lawyers' jobs will be taken by robots. However, based on the tech issues discussed at the South by Southwest technology conference in Austin, Texas, last month, robots may in fact need lawyers, says Nick Abrahams of Norton Rose Fulbright.

• Liability For CEO Misconduct Expands After #MeToo

  

  The Nevada Gaming Commission's recent $20 million fine against Wynn Resorts for failing to act after reports of its former CEO's alleged sexual misconduct demonstrates how #MeToo has altered the classic economic assessment for harassment claims, says Dove Burns of Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP.

• In Bar Admissions Process, It's Candor Or Bust

  

  You passed the bar exam and are ready for the character and fitness committee interview. Time to think about how to discuss that minor incident in college, that misdemeanor in high school or that mental health issue that you have totally under control, says Richard Maltz of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Bashant Reviews 'Doing Justice'

  

  My initial reaction to "Doing Justice" was that author Preet Bharara may have bitten off more than he could chew — an accusation leveled against him when he served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York — but I found the book full of helpful gems, says U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant of the Southern District of California.

• Firms Can Leverage Communications When Economy Is Slow

  

  Though most experts believe that an imminent recession is unlikely, slowdown fears are increasing. Now is the time for firms to consider how to best leverage their communications and marketing teams to lessen impacts from a potential economic slowdown, says Tom Orewyler of Tom Orewyler Communications LLC.

• The Immodest Textualism Of Justices' Retirement Tax Opinion

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent opinion in BNSF Railway v. Loos, resolving the meaning of “compensation” under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, is unsatisfying, not because it is bad or wrong so much as it is analytically immodest, say Christopher Collier and Michael Arndt at Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP.

• Rebuttal

  Attys In Opioid Suits Are Holding Big Pharma Accountable

  

  A recent Law360 guest article suggested that law firms representing states and municipalities against opioid manufacturers are unscrupulous for working on a contingency basis. But these plaintiffs cannot afford the enormous costs and need contingency-based lawyers, says David Scott of Scott & Scott Attorneys at Law LLP.