Expert Analysis

• New Scrutiny For NDAs In Sexual Harassment Matters

  

  Recent government scrutiny of nondisclosure agreements related to allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against Steve Wynn and Harvey Weinstein raises the question of whether some uses of NDAs could amount to obstruction of justice or a violation of lawyers' ethical obligations, say attorneys at Cleary.

• Opinion

  SRA Should Not Condemn Lawful Tax Avoidance

  

  In suggesting that solicitors who facilitate tax avoidance breach its code of conduct, the Solicitors Regulation Authority fails to distinguish between legal tax avoidance and illegal tax evasion, says attorney Martin Kenney.

• Proposed Arbitration Law May Be A Misstep For India

  

  A proposed Indian law, which could have the effect of excluding non-Indians from acting as arbitrators, is threatening to undermine the country's ambition to become an important seat of international arbitration, says Sarosh Zaiwalla of Zaiwalla & Co.

• British Overseas Territories Can Benefit From Transparency

  

  British overseas territories have pushed back against a recent U.K. measure requiring them to create publicly accessible registers of companies' beneficial owners. However, considering global trends toward transparency, perhaps the territories should embrace the new rules as a force of good, says Simon Airey of Paul Hastings LLP.

• Legal Technology Is Likely To Flourish In The UK

  

  The U.K. may soon surpass the U.S. in legal technology, thanks to regulatory reform, law firm investment and an entrepreneurial environment, says Bridget Deiters of InCloudCounsel.

• Law & Reorder: The Emergence Of The UK Legaltech Sector

  

  Recent market dynamics are driving the U.K. legal industry to adopt nascent technologies in new service offerings as well as pre-existing solutions. The rise of legaltech should also lead to an increase in acquisitions by law firms striving to maintain relevance, says Jo Charles of Livingstone Partners LLP.

• Why English Courts Are Prepared To Assist Cyber Victims

  

  This year, a number of cases have illustrated how English courts are dealing with legal hurdles for cybercrime victims and making it easier to obtain a freezing order or injunction under such circumstances, says Fiona Cain of Haynes and Boone LLP.

• Extradition To The United States: Fight Or Flight?

  

  Recent extradition cases have demonstrated that individuals in the United Kingdom facing charges in the United States can either fight extradition proceedings tooth and nail, or voluntarily travel to the U.S. An approach carefully tailored to the facts of each case is required in order to best protect a requested person's interests, says Ben Isaacs of 7 Bedford Row.

• UK Internal Investigations Are Taking An Ungainly Turn

  

  The London High Court's decision in Serious Fraud Office v. Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation has a lot to say on the vitality of legal professional privilege and the conduct of internal investigations in the U.K., but its flawed logic and lack of pragmatism feel like the latest installment in SFO Director David Green's pushback against U.S.-style investigation procedures, say Matthew Herrington and Tom Best of Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

• Once More Unto The Breach — Rehearing In Newman?

  

  On Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York decided to seek appellate review of several aspects of the recent insider-trading decision in U.S. v. Newman and Chiasson. En banc rehearing petitions are rarely granted in any circuit, and are particularly rare in the Second Circuit, which hears the fewest number of rehearings of any circuit in the country, say Eugene Ingoglia and Gregory Morvillo of Morvillo LLP.

• UK Tax Advisers Are Beyond Legal Advice Privilege

  

  A recent judgment from the U.K. Supreme Court in one of the most significant decisions on legal advice privilege for many years. Prudential PLC v. Special Commissioner of Income Tax, which dealt a blow to tax advisers and other nonlegally qualified service providers who provide legal advice to their clients, confirmed that — consistent with the position in the U.S. — legal advice privilege only protects communications to or from a qualified lawyer, say Richard Hornshaw and Daniel Cohen of Bingham McCutchen LLP.