Private Equity

Expert Analysis

• Warren Bill Presents Powerful Headwinds For Private Equity

  

  If passed, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's private equity reform bill would protect companies being purchased by private equity, but impose significant restrictions on funds by eliminating the liability shield and favorable tax treatment they currently enjoy, say Jon Brose and Kevin Neubauer at Seward & Kissel.

• 7 Steps For Managing Private Equity Whistleblower Risk

  

  In light of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's report last week that whistleblower payouts have declined, private equity firms — which face unique risks — should shore up policies to encourage internal reporting and discourage retaliation, say attorneys at Kirkland.

• How To Hire Lateral Partners More Effectively

  

  Although lateral partner hiring is the preferred method of inorganic growth among law firms, the traditional approach to vetting does not employ sufficient due diligence by the hiring firm, says Michael Ellenhorn at executive search firm Decipher Competitive Intelligence.

• Texas Could Take Page From Mass.'s Judicial Selection Book

  

  As Texas and other states review their judicial election processes, they would be well served by taking guidance from Massachusetts' Governor’s Council system, which protects the judiciary from the hazards of campaigning, says Richard Baker of New England Intellectual Property.

• Series

  Judging A Book: McKeown Reviews 'Conversations With RBG'

  

  Reading Jeffrey Rosen’s "Conversations With RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law" is like eavesdropping on the author and his subject while they discuss how the restrained judicial minimalist became the fiery leader of the opposition, says Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown.

• SEC Marketing Rule Changes Increase Flexibility For Advisers

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently proposed amendments to modernize its advertising and cash solicitation rules are significant for registered investment advisers because they show the SEC’s efforts to adapt to evolving technology, expectations and industry practices in regulating marketing activities, say attorneys at Davis Polk.

• Where A Litigator's Advice Can Improve Agreement Drafting

  

  Transactional attorneys should consider consulting with litigation counsel when drafting certain contractual provisions — choice of law, choice of forum, attorney fees and others — that could come into play in a broad range of substantive disputes, says Adrienne Koch at Katsky Korins.

• Opportunities Abound In Patent Litigation Funding At The ITC

  

  The recent funding of a patent infringement claim brought by the University of California Santa Barbara demonstrates the advantages of the U.S. International Trade Commission as a venue, where creative intellectual property owners and litigation financers may find lucrative opportunities, despite a few hurdles, say Matt Rizzolo and Hyun-Joong (Daniel) Kim of Ropes & Gray.

• Opinion

  Flat-Fee Legal Billing Can Liberate Attorneys

  

  Replacing hourly billing with flat-fee arrangements, especially for appellate work, will leave attorneys feeling free to spend as much time as necessary to produce their highest quality work, says Lawrence Ebner of Capital Appellate Advocacy.

• Spoliation Rule Remains Ambiguous Despite Amendments

  

  Although the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended to provide a uniform standard of culpability for spoliation, cases with similar facts are still reaching differing results because the rule does not specify how a court should evaluate a party's intent, say attorneys at Pepper Hamilton.

• SEC's Fraud Enforcement Shows Quality, If Not Quantity

  

  Over the course of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently ended fiscal year, the regulator's Division of Enforcement fulfilled its promise to emphasize quality over quantity in cases alleging misrepresentations of financial performance by covering a wide swath of accounting, disclosure, internal control and auditor independence issues, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

• 5 Trends Influencing RFPs For Law Firms

  

  Requests for proposals, the standard tool of companies evaluating law firms, are becoming better suited to the legal industry, says Matthew Prinn of RFP Advisory Group.

• Private Equity Wants To Buy Your Asbestos Liabilities

  

  BorgWarner's deal to sell off its asbestos liabilities this week confirms that such sales are a viable corporate strategy that can be less expensive than, and offer disclosure advantages over, prepackaged bankruptcy and loss portfolio insurance. But they still come with a cost, and can raise trust and security issues, says Stephen Hoke of Hoke LLC.

• 2 Del. Decisions Call Out Conflicted Controlling Stockholders

  

  In Tornetta v. Musk and the BGC Partners Derivative Litigation, the Delaware Chancery Court has reaffirmed that concerns over controlling stockholders may be valid even when the controller didn't intend to exercise coercive influence, independent directors negotiated a transaction, or stockholders approved the transaction, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

• What Industry, Investors Think Of The Proposed CFIUS Regs

  

  Comments on the U.S. Department of the Treasury's proposed regulations to expand and modernize the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States offer insight into investment community concerns and questions, as well as alternatives that would affect U.S. and foreign entities alike, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.