Trials

Expert Analysis

• How To Hire Lateral Partners More Effectively

  

  Although lateral partner hiring is the preferred method of inorganic growth among law firms, the traditional approach to vetting does not employ sufficient due diligence by the hiring firm, says Michael Ellenhorn at executive search firm Decipher Competitive Intelligence.

• Using Multiple-Attorney Depositions After Finjan Ruling

  

  The recent patent case, Finjan v. Cisco Systems, in which a California federal court prohibited two-attorney questioning in a deposition where the parties failed to agree to it in advance, indicates that it may be better to ask permission than forgiveness when employing this deposition strategy, say attorneys at Finnegan.

• MGA Ruling Guides On Time Limits For Trade Secret Claims

  

  A California state appeals court recently upheld a trial court’s dismissal of MGA Entertainment’s Bratz doll trade secret claims against Mattel, demonstrating that new claims uncovered during discovery can trigger the statute of limitations under California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act, says Stephen Moses of Ferber Law.

• Key Takeaways From Ex-Alstom Exec's FCPA Conviction

  

  In U.S. v. Hoskins, a Connecticut federal court last week convicted a foreigner who did not work for a U.S. company of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, presenting valuable lessons about the scope of FCPA liability and how to effectively withdraw from a bribery scheme, say Sunil Shenoi and Kim Nemirow at Kirkland.

• Opinion

  Proposal To Reform NY Court System Is Not Affordable

  

  New York Chief Judge Janet DiFiore's proposed reform of the state's courts is flawed because it will dramatically increase judges' salaries and retirement benefits even though New York already has the most expensive court system per capita in the United States, says Michael Friedman, former president of the Albany County Bar Association.

• Texas Could Take Page From Mass.'s Judicial Selection Book

  

  As Texas and other states review their judicial election processes, they would be well served by taking guidance from Massachusetts' Governor’s Council system, which protects the judiciary from the hazards of campaigning, says Richard Baker of New England Intellectual Property.

• Revised USPTO Trial Practice Guide Leans Pro-Patent Owners

  

  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently released its updated Trial Practice Guide, which includes several policy changes that tip the scales toward patent owners and make the PTAB less attractive than district courts for litigating patent validity, says Brian Berliner of O’Melveny.

• Opinion

  What Headlines Missed About ‘Cartel’ Traders’ Trial 1 Year Ago

  

  In U.S. v. Usher, a Manhattan federal jury acquitted three British forex traders known as "the cartel" of antitrust allegations one year ago, but some common myths about the case, perpetuated by flashy headlines, still need to be debunked, say White & Case's Samuel Feldman and Mark Gidley, who represented one of the defendants.

• Series

  Judging A Book: McKeown Reviews 'Conversations With RBG'

  

  Reading Jeffrey Rosen’s "Conversations With RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law" is like eavesdropping on the author and his subject while they discuss how the restrained judicial minimalist became the fiery leader of the opposition, says Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown.

• A Better Specific Jurisdiction Test For Cross-Border Discovery

  

  The Second Circuit's nonparty jurisdictional criteria for Section 1782 discovery purposes in a foreign proceeding — laid out in its recent Application of Antonio Del Valle Ruiz decision — is murky, difficult to apply and inequitable; I propose a simpler, fairer test, says Gilbert Samberg of Mintz.

• Teaching Witnesses To Avoid Cross-Examination Traps

  

  It’s common for inexperienced witnesses to become ensnared in their own responses during cross-examination, so they should be coached in advance on how to break down each question-and-answer scenario into three distinct phases, says Jeff Dougherty of Litigation IQ.

• Opportunities Abound In Patent Litigation Funding At The ITC

  

  The recent funding of a patent infringement claim brought by the University of California Santa Barbara demonstrates the advantages of the U.S. International Trade Commission as a venue, where creative intellectual property owners and litigation financers may find lucrative opportunities, despite a few hurdles, say Matt Rizzolo and Hyun-Joong (Daniel) Kim of Ropes & Gray.

• Opinion

  Flat-Fee Legal Billing Can Liberate Attorneys

  

  Replacing hourly billing with flat-fee arrangements, especially for appellate work, will leave attorneys feeling free to spend as much time as necessary to produce their highest quality work, says Lawrence Ebner of Capital Appellate Advocacy.

• Perspectives

  Acquitted Conduct Should Not Be Considered At Sentencing

  

  Congress should advance the Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act, which seeks to explicitly preclude federal judges from a practice that effectively eliminates the democratic role of the jury in the criminal justice system, says Robert Ehrlich, former governor of Maryland.

• Spoliation Rule Remains Ambiguous Despite Amendments

  

  Although the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended to provide a uniform standard of culpability for spoliation, cases with similar facts are still reaching differing results because the rule does not specify how a court should evaluate a party's intent, say attorneys at Pepper Hamilton.