Expert Analysis

• Cybersecurity Basics Are Key to Combating Ransomware

  

  Recent prohibitions on ransom payments and other public policy measures vastly underestimate the breadth and complexity of the ransomware problem and will only work if organizations adopt basic cyber defenses, says Kate Margolis at Bradley.

• Recent Trade Secret Cases Show Sentencing Disparities

  

  Sentencing disparities in U.S. trade secret cases have surfaced in recent years, and legal practitioners should know that courts have found that the intended loss does not necessarily equal the cost of development of stolen trade secrets or the defendant's intended gain from misappropriation, says Steven Lee at Lewis Brisbois.

• Beware Arbitration Clauses That May Bar Inter Partes Review

  

  Recent decisions show that the Federal Circuit and district courts are moving toward recognizing that standard arbitration clauses can bar inter partes review at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a new landscape that will require careful consideration for parties negotiating patent-related contracts, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Opinion

  Now's The Time To Address Archaic Law School Curricula

  

  With law school enrollments jumping significantly ahead of a potential recession and more students graduating than the market can absorb, law schools should turn to creative solutions to teach students how to negotiate, work with clients, specialize and use technology to practice their craft more efficiently, says University of Colorado adjunct professor Jason Mendelson.

• The Unique Nature Of COVID-Era Patent Procurement Trends

  

  Data shows the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting patent procurement differently than past financial crises, with newly filed applications slowing in number while pending applications are maintained and not abandoned, say Michael Sartori and Sarah Hassan at Baker Botts.

• Proposed Online Platform Regs Deviate From Antitrust Norms

  

  The U.S. and EU are on the cusp of adopting digital platform legislation that would impose regulations based solely on firms' size, avoiding traditional antitrust principles and potentially changing the way online platforms' conduct is litigated, say Daniel Fenske at Mayer Brown and Felipe Pereira at Tauil Chequer.

• Lessons From Lawyer Fee-Sharing Agreements Gone Wrong

  

  The recent fee-sharing dispute between Edelson and Girardi Keese is a reminder that lawyers who do not strictly follow the applicable rules may risk a disciplinary complaint, lose their share of the fee, or wind up in costly litigation with co-counsel, says David Grossbaum at Hinshaw.

• LeClairRyan Bankruptcy Highlights Pass-Through Tax Issue

  

  A Virginia bankruptcy court's recent ruling in the case of defunct law firm LeClairRyan shows there may be serious tax consequences for pass-through entity partners who give up their ownership interest without following operating agreement exit provisions and updating bankruptcy court filings, say Edward Schnitzer and Hannah Travaglini at Montgomery McCracken.

• Fed. Circ. AI Inventor Case Offers A Glimpse Into The Future

  

  The recent oral argument in Thaler v. Vidal marks the first time that the Federal Circuit has substantively considered artificial intelligence, and while the court pushed back on arguments that an AI machine is entitled to patents, the broader context of this appeal can provide strategic guidance for future AI litigation, says Mark Davies at Orrick.

• SEC Crypto Unit Expansion Is A Warning To Industry

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent decision to expand its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit is a clear signal that federal regulators may increase enforcement against those violating securities laws in the digital asset space, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

• Enforcement Trends To Watch After SEP Remedies Withdrawal

  

  Patent holders and implementers will need to consider several key issues in light of the new case-by-case federal enforcement stance following the withdrawal of the 2019 policy statement on standard-essential patents and the recent decision not to implement a new policy statement, say Alexander Okuliar and John Lanham at MoFo.

• 8 Steps To Creating A Legal Ops Technology Road Map

  

  Legal departments struggling to find and implement the right technologies for their operations should consider creating a road map that summarizes their approach to technology changes, provides clearly defined metrics for success, and serves as the single source of truth for stakeholders, says Melanie Shafer at SimpleLegal.

• How High Court May Tackle Fair Use In Warhol Case

  

  After disappointing the technology world last year by leaving questions of copyrightability unanswered in Google v. Oracle, the U.S. Supreme Court appears primed to extend the fair use doctrine in the pending Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith case and clarify where to draw the line between transformative use and derivative works, say Benjamin Stern and Anuj Khetarpal at Nutter.

• Awaiting Critical Bankruptcy Decision For Surety Industry

  

  The recent oral argument in Argonaut Insurance v. Falcon V offers the Fifth Circuit an opportunity to create a rule for multilateral contracts in bankruptcy and exposed the common misconception that a surety assumes the risk of the principal's nonperformance when it issues a bond, say Lisa Tancredi at Womble Bond and Laura Murphy at Travelers.

• The Importance Of Data And Data Analysis In Litigation

  

  Understanding, analyzing and effectively presenting large data sets is an increasingly important skill in litigation as it allows plaintiffs to dramatically scale up the scope of cases and is often critical to defeating motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment, says David Burnett at Motley Rice.