Expert Analysis

• A Look At The Increase In Employee Ownership Trusts

  

  The rise in employee ownership trusts has brought certain challenges, but with tax advantages and a proven positive impact on individuals, businesses and regional economies, employee buyouts are set to become more popular and could outstrip mainstream deal activity, says ​​​​​​​Lisa Hayward at Birketts.

• 5 Factors Driving Longer Prenotifications In EU Mergers

  

  Attorneys at Linklaters discuss reasons, including transaction complexity and a higher standard of proof, why the duration of the prenotification process in European Commission merger control cases has generally increased over the last 10 years, say attorneys at Linklaters.

• Series

  My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned To Argue Open-Mindedly

  

  Queens College President Frank Wu reflects on how Yale Kamisar’s teaching and guidance at the University of Michigan Law School emphasized a capacity to engage with alternative worldviews and the importance of the ability to argue for both sides of a debate.

• Imagining The Future Of Dispute Resolution In The Metaverse

  

  As the incipient metaverse of augmented and virtual reality evolves to host increasingly complex transactions, disputes on these novel platforms will raise important questions about how those matters will be decided and how decisions will be enforced, say Jonathan Schuman and Jayne Bentham at Simmons & Simmons.

• Cayman Courts Shift Toward More Efficient Case Management

  

  Recent Cayman Islands court decisions evidence a move toward a more robust case management style, with an increasingly flexible and progressive approach to case management stays and a welcome focus on fairness, efficiency and proportionality, say attorneys at Appleby.

• International Law May Protect Foreign Investors In Russia

  

  Investment treaties that allow eligible foreign investors to bring claims for compensation by way of international arbitration may offer a better, or the only, avenue to recover losses for assets that have been seized by Russia, say attorneys at Cooley.

• Tips For Handling Audio Data In E-Discovery Post-Pandemic

  

  The rise of remote meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the volume and importance of audio data in e-discovery — so organizations in highly regulated industries must collect and process that data, and establish complex strategies to manage their audio records, says Jack Bullen at FTI Consulting.

• Agreement Among Litigants Key To Using E-Discovery Tech

  

  Parties are increasingly using e-discovery technologies to control costs, but as a New York federal court order in Actos Antitrust Litigation shows, a well-drafted, negotiated protocol allows them to address potential objections prior to use and helps protect against later claims of incomplete production, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

• Opinion

  Law School Admissions Shouldn't Hinge On Test Scores

  

  The American Bar Association recently granted law schools some latitude on which tests it can consider in admissions decisions, but its continued emphasis on test scores harms student diversity and is an obstacle to holistic admissions strategies, says Aaron Taylor at AccessLex.

• UK Ruling Evinces Conflict In Int'l Award Enforcement

  

  A recent U.K. Supreme Court decision in Kabab-Ji SAL v. Kout Food Group, declining to enforce an International Chamber of Commerce award, revives a decade-old cautionary tale in Anglo-French judicial relations and the potential lack of consensus in the cross-border enforcement of international awards, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• 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.

• Perspectives

  Finding A Path Forward To Regulate The Legal Industry

  

  Gerald Knapton at Ropers Majeski analyzes U.S. and U.K. experiments to explore alternative business structures and independent oversight for law firms, which could lead to innovative approaches to increasing access to legal services.

• Opinion

  EU Class Action Policy Guided By Wrong Measure Of Success

  

  The political agreement obtained last month on the first European Union-wide rules on collective redress illustrates the fact that the main goal of the authorities is to increase the number of class action claims rather than focus on the application of standard civil liability principles, says Sylvie Gallage-Alwis at Signature Litigation.

• Ukraine's Litigation Funding Push May Help Fight Corruption

  

  Ukraine’s new third-party litigation funding initiative for civil cross-border actions may significantly strengthen the country's fight against corruption by helping with costs for proceedings against foreign criminals, says Oleg Shaulko at Kobre & Kim.

• Don't Forget Firm Culture When Adapting To Remote Work

  

  While law firms suddenly pivoting to remote work due to coronavirus restrictions are busy dealing with logistical challenges, an equally pressing and perhaps more difficult task may be adjusting a long-standing brick-and-mortar culture to working remotely for the first time, say Heather Clauson Haughian and Grant Walsh at Culhane Meadows.