Expert Analysis

• Series

  Playing Magic: The Gathering Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  The competitive card game Magic: The Gathering offers me a training ground for the strategic thinking skills crucial to litigation, challenging me to adapt to oft-updated rules, analyze text as complicated as any statute and anticipate my opponent’s next moves, says Christopher Smith at Lash Goldberg.

• Improving Well-Being In Law, 10 Years After Landmark Study

  

  An important 2016 study revealed significant substance abuse and mental health issues among lawyers, and while the findings helped normalize the conversation around these topics, a decade later, structural change is still needed, says Denise Robinson at PLI.

• AG Watch: Texas Charts A Course On Investigative Authority

  

  The Texas Supreme Court's recent decision in Texas v. PFLAG affirmed, and arguably expanded, the Texas attorney general's civil investigative demand authority, providing a road map that other courts evaluating state attorney general CIDs may find instructive, amid a lack of precedent, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

• 8 Reasons To Consider Maryland As A 'DExit' Option

  

  While Nevada and Texas have garnered the most attention as alternative states of incorporation for companies considering leaving Delaware, Maryland offers considerable benefits too, including a predictable statutory framework, robust anti-takeover protections, sophisticated business courts with decades of experience, and more, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.

• Small And Midsize Business Finance Faces More State Regs

  

  Recent developments in state credit disclosure, consumer debt collection, and lender licensing and registration requirements suggest that companies extending financing to small and midsize businesses are likely to encounter a significantly more stringent legal climate moving forward, say attorneys at Manatt.

• How Courts Are Clashing Over FinCEN Real Estate Rule

  

  A Texas federal court's recent decision in Flowers v. Bessent has vacated the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's anti-money laundering rule for residential real estate transfers, but significant uncertainty remains due to the ruling's direct conflict with other recent federal court decisions, say attorneys at Katten.

• Opinion

  Exxon's Retail Voting Program Is A Trap For Retail Investors

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved Exxon Mobil's first-of-its-kind proxy voting program last September, but ahead of the company's annual shareholder meeting next month, it's clear that retail shareholders have delegated their voice to the entity their vote exists to check, says Christina Sautter at Southern Methodist University.

• Series

  Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

• Written Consent Ruling May Signal Change For Telemarketing

  

  The Fifth Circuit's ruling in Bradford v. Sovereign Pest Control is a takedown of the Federal Communications Commission's prior express written consent regulation, and because Loper Bright empowers courts to disregard agency interpretations, Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigants now have an opportunity to challenge previously settled FCC regulations, orders and interpretations, say attorneys at Manatt.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: How To Draft Pleadings

  

  Most law school graduates step into their first jobs without ever having drafted a complaint, answer, motion or other type of pleading, but that gap can be closed by understanding the strategy embedded in every filing, writing with clarity and purpose, and seeking feedback at every step, says Eric Yakaitis at Haug Barron.

• E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On ESI Control

  

  Several recent federal court decisions have perpetuated a split over what constitutes “control” of electronically stored information — with judges divided on whether the standard should turn on a party's legal right or practical ability to obtain the information, say attorneys at Sidley.

• 5 Welcome Changes To Texas' Summary Judgment Rule

  

  Following recent amendments to the Texas rule for summary judgment motions,​​​​​​ practitioners adjusting to the new framework will likely benefit from a more streamlined process that focuses attention on substantive legal arguments rather than procedural uncertainty, say attorneys at Hunton.

• 2 Discovery Rulings Break With Heppner On AI Privilege Issue

  

  While a New York federal court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner suggests that some litigants’ communications with AI tools are discoverable, two other recent federal court decisions demonstrate that such interactions generally qualify for work-product protection under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, says Joshua Dunn at Brown Rudnick.

• Series

  Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

• Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: April Lessons

  

  In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from three recent rulings involving allegations of racial discrimination in mortgage applications, health insurance networks and actual cash value losses.