Trials

Expert Analysis

• Guest Feature

  5 Ways Firms Can Avoid Female Atty Exodus During Pandemic

  

  The pandemic's disproportionate impact on women presents law firms with a unique opportunity to devise innovative policies that will address the increasing home life demands female lawyers face and help retain them long after COVID-19 is over, say Roberta Liebenberg at Fine Kaplan and Stephanie Scharf at Scharf Banks.

• Highlights From 'SEC Speaks' 2020

  

  At its recent virtual SEC Speaks conference, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission emphasized efforts to adapt enforcement to emerging risks amid the pandemic, and warned companies not to use COVID-19 to cover up past mistakes or newly discovered ones, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

• ITC Vs. Court Remedies For Trade Secret Theft Abroad

  

  Recent cases illustrate that companies facing misappropriation of their trade secrets outside the U.S. should carefully choose between obtaining significant damages in district courts and timely exclusion orders in the U.S. International Trade Commission, say Charles Sanders and Nathanial McPherson at Latham.

• California Judicial Reference Can Benefit Litigants Right Now

  

  Judicial reference proceedings as an alternative to litigating in California state court offer several advantages to parties, including the ability to get a case moving amid pandemic-induced backlogs and the right to appeal a judgment in court, say Charles Correll and George Morris at King & Spalding.

• Opinion

  Lawyers Must Fight Voter Suppression This Election Season

  

  Lawyers should use their unique skill sets, knowledge and spheres of influence to fight burdensome ID requirements and other voter suppression tactics that may influence the 2020 elections, and to participate in potential post-election litigation, say CK Hoffler and Allyce Bailey at the National Bar Association.

• Why Online Mediation May Be Here To Stay

  

  Videoconferenced mediation offers several advantages and helps cases settle faster and more cordially, making it hard to imagine going back to logistically difficult in-person dispute resolution after COVID-19 restrictions are gone, says Sidney Kanazawa at ARC.

• The Constitutional Risks In Pandemic-Era Criminal Jury Trials

  

  Virtual voir dire and other pandemic-prompted modifications to jury selection risk curtailing the Sixth Amendment's guarantee that juries represent a fair cross-section of the community, making criminal convictions vulnerable to constitutional attack, say Karin Portlock and Vinay Limbachia at Gibson Dunn.

• Clients Have The Power To Promote Wellness At Law Firms

  

  Law firm clients can play a role in lowering mental distress in the legal profession by seeking lawyer wellness data from firms and factoring those responses into outside counsel hiring decisions, says Jonathan Prokup at Cigna.

• Rebuttal

  Size Premia Are Alive And Kicking In Small-Co. Stock Pricing

  

  Contrary to a recent Law360 guest article that claimed it's time to let go of size premia when valuing small firms, new research demonstrates the market does consider company size when pricing stocks, and that pricing is related to the quality of the firm, say Roger Grabowski and Anas Aboulamer at Duff & Phelps.

• Opinion

  Appellate Courts Should Welcome Well-Crafted Amicus Briefs

  

  A Seventh Circuit judge's recent order granting leave for three organizations to file amicus curiae briefs in Prairie Rivers Network v. Dynegy Midwest Generation is a reminder that relevant, nonduplicative amicus briefs can provide courts with helpful perspective, important facts and legal arguments, says Lawrence Ebner at Capital Appellate Advocacy.

• Key Takeaways From Groundbreaking Virtual Civil Jury Trial

  

  The nation's first online jury trial with a binding verdict — Griffin v. Albanese Enterprise in Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit Court — recently provided crucial insights into how to better prepare for virtual voir dire and trial, says Kevin-Khristián Cosgriff Hernández at Delphi Litigation.

• What Hiring Law Firms Should Consider Instead Of Grades

  

  With law schools forgoing traditional grading due to the pandemic, hiring firms that have heavily weighted first-year grades during the on-campus interview process should turn to metrics that allow a more holistic view of a candidate, says Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.

• Evidence Ruling Highlights Spoliation Claim Concerns

  

  A Colorado federal court recently denied the plaintiff’s motion for spoliation of evidence in Bragg v. Southwest Health, reminding counsel of their duty to discuss with clients the specifics of what information they allege is missing from the provided discovery, says Deena Duffy at Spencer Fane.

• Pandemic-Era Civil Jury Trials Require Constitutional Scrutiny

  

  Courts should carefully consider the constitutional rights of litigants before restarting civil jury trials amid the pandemic, because inadequate remote voir dire procedures and evidentiary handicaps due to health safety measures could amount to the denial of a fair trial by an impartial jury, say attorneys at Rumberger Kirk.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Schroeder Reviews 'Collegiality'

  

  Mark Barringer's new book, "Collegiality and the Constitution," is an engaging, vibrant work of judicial history in Texas' Eastern District, and reveals an atmosphere of civility and respect among all those involved in the business of the court, says U.S. District Judge Robert W. Schroeder III.