Expert Analysis

• Future Of Fed Independence Shaky After Justices' Ruling

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Trump v. Cook preserved the Federal Reserve's formal independence but could invite the president to remove board members with just modest protections, leaving the central bank's autonomy uncertain and potentially setting up fresh clashes over other agencies, says Steven Schwinn at the University of Chicago.

• Fiduciary Duty Risks In Continuation Vehicle Transactions

  

  Continuation vehicle transactions have become prominent in private equity, but conflicts may arise due to transaction structures and implicate fiduciary duties, with a recent Delaware case highlighting several procedural considerations for sponsors, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• A New Regulatory Environment For PE In Calif. Healthcare

  

  The California Office of Health Care Affordability's proposed revisions to its cost and market impact review regulations, amid broader state scrutiny of private equity-backed healthcare arrangements, represent a qualitative shift in California's regulatory posture toward institutional healthcare investment, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Series

  Bass Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Landing a trophy striped bass and closing a big deal both require cultivating the patience to finesse — not force — your way to desired outcomes, changing course when your old approach isn’t working and learning from the ones that got away, says Jon Ruiss at Alston & Bird.

• What Consent Decree Trends Mean For Deal Clearances

  

  With merger remedies back on the table under the current administration, an analysis of recent Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice consent decrees reveals that prior approval and prior notice provisions are no longer a foregone conclusion, and companies may be able to negotiate narrowly tailored obligations, say attorneys at Weil.

• How Rated Note Feeders Help Insurers Tap Private Credit

  

  With insurer investments comprising nearly a third of the private credit market, rated note feeders offer insurers a compelling way to access private credit yields through debt instruments by balancing key features of debt investment with the structural and economic profiles of private credit funds, say attorneys at Akin.

• Roundup

  The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

  

  This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

• A Potential Turning Point For Short-And-Distort Claims

  

  A California federal jury's conviction of Andrew Left signals that the historically blurry line between securities fraud and legitimate criticism of companies is growing clearer, and that there is a viable recourse against so-called short-and-distort campaigns intended to create a false impression of the market, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

• How Maine's Expanded Health Deal Reviews Complicate M&A

  

  A pair of recently approved Maine competition laws establish notice and approval requirements for certain healthcare transactions and expand state antitrust oversight, creating new hurdles for dealmakers as states take a more aggressive role in policing healthcare consolidation, especially involving private equity, say attorneys at McDermott.

• Series

  Choral Singing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Singing in the New York City Bar Chorus — a hobby partly inspired by the late U.S. District Judge Richard Owen, who infused my clerkship year with opera music — has improved my legal career by refining my abilities to listen, exude confidence and develop emotional intelligence, says Bonnie Baker at Friedman Kaplan.

• Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

  

  As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

• More Cos. Will Copy SpaceX's Shareholder Proposal Opt-Out

  

  For more than 80 years, the shareholder proposal looked like a federal right guaranteed to all public company investors, but after SpaceX opted out before its recent initial public offering, other companies are likely to follow, says Mohsen Manesh at the University of Oregon School of Law.

• Series

  Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

  

  Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

• Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

  

  An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

• Opinion

  State Courts Must Be Gatekeepers Of Expert Testimony

  

  Based on my experience in the state judiciary, emulating federal courts' role as gatekeepers of expert witness testimony would help state court judges maintain the appearance of impartiality and assist juries, thus enhancing the overall confidence people have in their justice system, says Lorie Gildea at Greenberg Traurig.