Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  NFT Bill Needs Refining To Effectively Regulate Digital Assets

  

  A recent bill in the U.S. House proposing to regulate nonfungible tokens as digital assets would leave key concepts undefined until the U.S. comptroller general completes an after-the-fact study of NFTs, showing it needs more work before it is comprehensive enough to meaningfully protect the market, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

• McMahon SEC Settlement Warns Of Nondisclosure's Price

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent financial nondisclosure settlement with former WWE CEO Vince McMahon illustrates the breadth of executives' reimbursement obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and highlights the importance of building robust internal corporate reporting processes, say attorneys at BCLP.

• Series

  Racing Corvettes Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  The skills I use when racing Corvettes have enhanced my legal practice in several ways, because driving, like practicing law, requires precision, awareness and a good set of brakes — complete with the wisdom to know how and when to use them, says Kat Mateo at Olshan Frome.

• Bill Would Bring Welcome Clarity To Del. Corporate Law

  

  A recently proposed bill in Delaware that would provide greater predictability for areas including director independence and controlling stockholders reflects prudential adjustments consistent with the state's long history of refining and modernizing its corporate law, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• Opinion

  Attorneys Must Act Now To Protect Judicial Independence

  

  Given the Trump administration's recent moves threatening the independence of the judiciary, including efforts to impeach judges who ruled against executive actions, lawyers must protect the rule of law and resist attempts to dilute the judicial branch’s authority, says attorney Bhavleen Sabharwal.

• Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

  

  “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

• Del. Supreme Court TripAdvisor Ruling May Limit 'MFW Creep'

  

  The Delaware Supreme Court's recent Maffei v. Palkon ruling regarding TripAdvisor's proposed reincorporation to Nevada potentially signals a turning point in the trend of expanding the protections from Kahn v. M&F Worldwide to other types of transactions, says Andrew J. Haile at Elon University.

• What To Expect In Crypto Banking After SEC Nixed Guidance

  

  With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently rescinding its controversial cryptocurrency accounting guidance, the industry's focus will turn to the potentially significant hurdle to crypto banking posed by the federal banking regulators, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

• Partially Faulting Airline For 401(k) ESG Focus Belies ERISA

  

  A Texas federal court's recent finding that American Airlines breached its fiduciary duty of loyalty, but not of prudence, by letting its 401(k) pursue environmental, social and governance investments, misinterprets the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's standard of care, says Jeff Mamorsky, a Cohen & Buckmann partner and ERISA drafter.

• Fund Names Rule FAQs Leave Some Interpretative Uncertainty

  

  Although recently released FAQs clarify many specific points of the 2023 expansion to the Investment Company Act's fund names rule, important questions remain about how U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff will interpret other key terms when the end-of-year compliance date arrives, say attorneys at Dechert.

• How Design Thinking Can Help Lawyers Find Purpose In Work

  

  Lawyers everywhere are feeling overwhelmed amid mass government layoffs, increasing political instability and a justice system stretched to its limits — but a design-thinking framework can help attorneys navigate this uncertainty and find meaning in their work, say law professors at the University of Michigan.

• What Travis Hill's Vision For FDIC Could Portend For Banks

  

  If selected to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in a permanent capacity, acting Chairman Travis Hill is likely to prioritize removing barriers to innovation and institution-level growth, emphasizing the idea that eliminating rules, relaxing standards and reducing scrutiny will reinvigorate the industry, say attorneys at Mitchell Sandler.

• Will Independent Federal Agencies Remain Independent?

  

  For 90 years, members of multimember independent federal agencies have relied on the U.S. Supreme Court's 1935 ruling in Humphrey's Executor v. U.S. establishing the security of their positions — but as the Trump administration attempts to overturn this understanding, it is unclear how the high court will respond, says Harvey Reiter at Stinson.

• Del. Justices' D&O Ruling Clarifies 'Related' Claim Analysis

  

  In its recent decision in the Alexion Pharmaceuticals coverage case, the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a "meaningful linkage" standard for relatedness analysis, providing further guidance to Delaware policyholders on how to navigate those directors and officers insurance disputes, say attorneys at Hunton.

• 5 Major Crypto Developments From The Trump Admin So Far

  

  The early weeks of the Trump administration have set the stage for a significant transformation in U.S. digital asset policy by prioritizing regulatory clarity, innovation and a shift away from enforcement-heavy tactics, but many of these changes will require congressional support and progress may be gradual, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.