Expert Analysis

• The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Leadership Strategy After Day 1

  

  For law firm leaders, ensuring a newly combined law firm lives up to its promise, both in its first days of operation and well after, includes tough decisions, clear and specific communication, and cheerleading, says Peter Michaud at Ballard Spahr.

• The Challenges Of Detecting Event Contract Manipulation

  

  While concerns about possible manipulation and insider trading in event contracts have increasingly been raised by market observers, distinguishing a speculative position from a hedge and effective surveillance make regulation difficult, particularly as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission argues for exclusive jurisdiction to do so, say economic consultants at the Brattle Group.

• How Blockchain Could Streamline Real Estate Transactions

  

  As U.S. real estate markets face pressure to adopt digital frameworks, blockchain technology offers a credible solution for consolidating execution, payment and recording into a single record, with a unified ledger potentially replacing fragmented processes with digitally authenticated events, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Calif.'s Civility Push Shows Why Professionalism Is Vital

  

  The California Bar’s campaign against discourteous behavior by attorneys, including a newly required annual civility oath, reflects a growing concern among states that professionalism in law needs shoring up — and recognizes that maintaining composure even when stressed is key to both succeeding professionally and maintaining faith in the legal system, says Lucy Wang at Hinshaw.

• Del. Dispatch: Workplace Sexual Misconduct Liability In Flux

  

  Following the Delaware Court of Chancery's recent contradictory rulings in sexual misconduct cases involving eXp World, Credit Glory and McDonald's, it's now unclear when directors' or officers' fiduciary duties may be implicated in cases of their own or others' sexual misconduct against employees, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

• 4th Circ. D&O Ruling Shows Why Textual Policy Args Are Best

  

  The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in favor of the insurer in Navigators Insurance v. Under Armour highlights how plain-text policy interpretation protects party autonomy and improves predictability to the benefit of both insurers and insureds, say attorneys at Zelle.

• Should Prediction Markets Allow Trading On Nonpublic Info?

  

  Recent trading activity, such as the Polymarket wager on the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, has raised questions about whether some participants may be engaging in trading that is based on material nonpublic information, and highlights ongoing uncertainty about how existing derivatives and anti-fraud rules apply to event-based contracts, say economic consultants at the Brattle Group.

• Series

  Trivia Competition Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing trivia taught me to quickly absorb information and recognize when I've learned what I'm expected to know, training me in the crucial skills needed to be a good attorney, and reminding me to be gracious in defeat, says Jonah Knobler at Patterson Belknap.

• Coinbase Ruling Outlines Litigation Committee Conflict Risks

  

  The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent rejection in Grabski v. Andreessen of a special litigation committee's motion to terminate or settle — its first such decision in over a decade — over conflict concerns highlights why the independence of SLC counsel matters just as much as that of committee members, says Joel Fleming at Equity Litigation Group.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: What Cross-Selling Truly Takes

  

  Early-career attorneys may struggle to introduce clients to practitioners in other specialties, but cross-selling becomes easier once they know why it’s vital to their first years of practice, which mistakes to avoid and how to anticipate clients' needs, say attorneys at Moses & Singer.

• OCC Mortgage Escrow Rules Add Fuel To Preemption Debate

  

  Two rules proposed in December by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which would preempt state laws requiring national banks to pay interest on mortgage escrow accounts, are a bold new federal gambit in the debate over how much authority Congress intended to hand state regulators under the Dodd-Frank Act, says Christian Hancock at Bradley Arant.

• When Tokenized Real-World Assets Collide With Real World

  

  The city of Detroit's ongoing case against Real Token, alleging building code and safety violations across over 400 Detroit residential properties, highlights the brave new world we face when real estate assets are tokenized via blockchain technology — and what happens to the human tenants caught in the middle, say Biying Cheng and Cornell law professor David Reiss.

• Series

  Judges On AI: Practical Use Cases In Chambers

  

  U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard in the Southern District of California discusses how she uses generative artificial intelligence tools in chambers to make work more efficient and effective — from editing jury instructions for clarity to summarizing key documents.

• Opinion

  Corporations Should Think Twice About Mandatory Arbitration

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent acceptance of mandatory arbitration provisions in corporate charters and bylaws does not make them wise, as the current system of class actions still offers critical advantages for corporations, says Mohsen Manesh at the University of Oregon School of Law.

• A Closer Look At California Financial Regulator's 2026 Agenda

  

  California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation Commissioner KC Mohseni in recent remarks demonstrated the regulator's growing importance amid the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's retreat by debuting expansive goals for 2026, including finalizing rulemaking for the state's digital asset law and expanding enforcement authority around consumer complaints, says John Kimble at Hinshaw.