Telecommunications

Expert Analysis

• 4 Things FTC Competition Bureau Looks For In White Papers

  

  Most written advocacy to the Bureau of Competition is of an extremely high quality, but sometimes we notice that there’s some room for improvement, says Daniel Francis, an associate director at the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition.

• Remembering Justice Stevens As A Law Firm Leader

  

  Rothschild Barry's John Coffey, who joined Justice John Paul Stevens' law firm in 1965, shares what it was like to watch Justice Stevens practice law, mentor younger lawyers and land a malfunctioning plane.

• 5 Takeaways From DOJ Focus On Chinese Trade Secret Theft

  

  Since its official announcement of the China Initiative eight months ago, the U.S. Department of Justice has publicized the initiation of six new cases that include references to both trade secrets and China. These shed some light on DOJ and U.S. business priorities, says Sara O’Connell at Pillsbury.

• Answers To Key Legal Finance Ethics Questions

  

  While there is discussion in some quarters about new regulations on commercial legal finance, the hands-off approach taken by the majority of courts and legislatures is an implicit recognition that it is already sufficiently regulated, says Danielle Cutrona of Burford Capital.

• Federal Agencies Need A Uniform Record-Keeping Process

  

  The administrative record is very important to federal agency litigation — as showcased in last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census — yet there is no set of consistent principles to guide agencies in compiling these official records, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• The Role Of Dictionaries In Last Term's High Court Decisions

  

  Since 32 of the 67 decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court during its October term cite dictionaries, it’s worth reviewing the opinions to learn which dictionaries the justices consulted and how they used them, say Bruce Wessel and Brian Weissenberg of Irell & Manella.

• How To Evaluate The Rise In Legal Employment

  

  Although the rate of employment for law school graduates — which had been falling steadily — saw a small increase over the last year, other factors, such as fewer graduates overall and potential future job growth stagnation, temper the good news for those pursuing law degrees, say Tiffane Cochran and Tyler Grimm of AccessLex Institute.

• Prosecuting SEPs For Driverless-Car Communications Tech

  

  Effective prosecution of standard-essential patents for autonomous vehicle communication requires familiarity with the technical standards for this nascent technology and experience addressing subject matter eligibility and means-plus-function claim limitation issues, says Todd Baker of Oblon McClelland.

• When FCPA Violations Turn Into Private Securities Cases

  

  In recent cases like Doshi v. General Cable Corp., plaintiffs attorneys have tried to use company disclosures of government investigations or settlement agreements with regulators to craft private claims for corporate bribery. There are a few things companies might consider to limit their exposure to such claims, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• Opinion

  The Business Case For Championing Diverse Legal Teams

  

  Leveraging the collective strengths of a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do, it’s a strategic imperative for any successful firm or business, says Louise Pentland, executive vice president and chief business affairs and legal officer of PayPal.

• PE Leaders' Many Hats Complicate D&O Policies

  

  Divergent outcomes in two recent Delaware Superior Court cases came down to the wording of insurance policies, highlighting coverage issues for private equity directors and officers serving in multiple capacities, say insurance practitioners from Hiscox and Bailey Cavalieri.

• FDIC Action Suggests New Focus On Bank TCPA Violations

  

  Recently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced its first public enforcement decision and order against a bank for alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, signaling that primary banking regulators are joining the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission in ramping up TCPA enforcement, say attorneys at Hunton.

• Rethinking The Tech-First Approach To Law Firm Solutions

  

  When a lawyer complains about some workflow inefficiency they are having, the knee-jerk reaction of many firms is to look for a technology-based workaround. This overlooks the importance of human psychology and behavior, which may be the root of the problem, says Ryan Steadman of Zero.

• Top 10 Techniques For Crafting A Dazzling Brief

  

  Legal writing often falls flat not because it’s unorganized, but because it’s technically unsound and riddled with gaffes that cheapen and degrade it. Avoiding the most common mistakes will keep judges interested and, most importantly, make them trust you, says Daniel Karon of Karon LLC.

• M&A Checklists Should Include State-Level Antitrust Review

  

  In light of recent lawsuits, every M&A attorney in the country should be aware that state attorneys general can and will use state antitrust laws to block the anti-competitive effects of nationwide mergers when local-market effects warrant action, say Seth Belzley and David Kully of Holland & Knight.