Transportation

Expert Analysis

• Avoiding Inadvertent Privilege Waivers In E-Communications

  

  Attorneys at WilmerHale highlight recent developments in privilege law, the significant challenges raised by nontraditional working arrangements popularized during the pandemic, and ways to avoid waiving attorney-client privilege when using electronic communications.

• 5 Tips For Drafting Effective Legal Billing Guidelines

  

  To properly manage outside counsel, it's imperative for a company's legal department to implement and maintain rules on what they will and won't pay for, on staffing cases and requesting rate increases, and on how matters will be handled, says Chris Seezen at Quovant.

• Opinion

  Keystone XL Ruling Paralyzes Infrastructure Permit Process

  

  A Montana federal judge's recent ruling revoking water permits for the Keystone XL pipeline and imposing a nationwide moratorium on dredging and filling operations by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seriously undermines a tried and true regulatory process, say Tom Magness at Grow America's Infrastructure Now and Patrice Douglas at Spencer Fane.

• Opinion

  Don't Cancel Your Summer Associate Programs

  

  While pulling off an effective summer associate program this year will be no easy feat, law firms' investments in their future attorneys should be considered necessary even during this difficult time, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.

• Tips For Spoliation Claims In Trade Secret Cases

  

  As businesses move toward the complete digitization of information, spoliation issues are increasingly arising in the context of trade secret litigation, and a recent California federal court's decision in WeRide v. Huang is a great example of how plaintiffs can use spoliation offensively to obtain a win, say attorneys at Arent Fox.

• Top 5 Wage And Hour Risks To Avoid As Businesses Reopen

  

  Employers should use extra caution to sidestep several key wage and hour mistakes as businesses prepare to reopen following the coronavirus crisis and worker classification and Fair Labor Standards Act compliance comes under increased scrutiny, say Kathleen Caminiti and Eric Baginski at Fisher Phillips.

• 5 Ways To Reduce Post-Pandemic Legal Malpractice Exposure

  

  History suggests that legal malpractice claims will rise following the current economic downturn, and while a certain percentage of the claims will be unavoidable, there are prophylactic steps that law firms can take, says John Johnson at Cozen O'Connor.

• NY Order Kicks Power Grid Modernization Into High Gear

  

  The New York Public Service Commission's recent order directing investor-owned utilities to rapidly review their distribution and local transmission infrastructure represents a turning point in the state's efforts to update its electric grid for green energy — so interested stakeholders must weigh in soon, says Kevin Blake at Phillips Lytle.

• Accelerating Regulatory Reform For Replica Vehicles

  

  Specialty Equipment Market Association v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration may have sped up the agency's delayed rulemaking on replica vehicles, but companies should stay involved by submitting comments before regulations are finalized, say Anne Marie Ellis and Taylor Brown at Buchalter.

• Preparing For A Deluge Of COVID-19 Whistleblower Claims

  

  Attorneys at Proskauer break down the kinds of COVID-19 whistleblower retaliation claims employers should anticipate, and explain key steps to minimize risks under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, National Labor Relations Act, Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and state laws.

• COVID-19, Contango And Energy's New Economic Reality

  Excerpt from Lexis Practice Advisor

  

  During the current pandemic, counsel for energy companies must be prepared for the market condition known as contango — where short-term and long-term energy prices operate differently — and with pressure from banks providing reserve-based lending facilities, says Cameron Kinvig at Lexis Practice Advisor.

• Opinion

  Credibility Concerns About Virtual Arbitration Are Unfounded

  

  Concerns that videoconferenced arbitration hearings compromise an arbitrator's ability to reliably resolve credibility contests are based on mistaken perceptions of how many cases actually turn on credibility, what credibility means in the legal world, and how arbitrators make credibility determinations, says Wayne Brazil at JAMS.

• Opinion

  COVID-19 Relief Should Include Federal Infrastructure Bill

  

  To create jobs and address the country's $4.5 trillion infrastructure backlog, the federal government should enact coronavirus relief directed at infrastructure investment, leveraged by the allocation of funds for public-private partnerships, say Andrej Micovic and Eric Singer at Bilzin Sumberg.

• A Lawyer's Guide To Client Service Continuity Planning

  

  Ensuring uninterrupted client service and compliance with ethical obligations in a time when attorneys are more likely to fall ill means taking six basic — yet often ignored — steps to build some redundancy and internal communication into legal practice, say attorneys at Axinn.

• Maximizing Defense Advantages In Jurisdictional Discovery

  

  When a court responds to a personal jurisdiction defense with a jurisdictional discovery order, defense lawyers should review what information is already public, draft clear and precise affidavits, and prepare a depository of documents that are only relevant to jurisdictional issues, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.