Expert Analysis

• Series

  The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

  

  A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

• Border Czar Bribery Probe Spotlights 'Public Official' Scope

  

  Reports that border czar Tom Homan allegedly accepted cash from a federal agent prior to his appointment raise important questions for government contractors about when a private citizen can be prosecuted as a public official under federal bribery laws, say Gregory Rosen at Rogers Joseph and Jason Manning at Levy Firestone.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

  

  Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

• Shifting Crypto Landscape Complicates Tornado Cash Verdict

  

  Amid shifts in the decentralized finance regulatory landscape, the mixed verdict in the prosecution of Tornado Cash’s founder may represent the high-water mark in a cryptocurrency enforcement strategy from which the U.S. Department of Justice has begun to retreat, say attorneys at Venable.

• 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

  

  As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

• Opinion

  It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

  

  After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

• Who Will Regulate Insider Trading In Prediction Markets?

  

  The possibilities for insider trading have greatly expanded in the brave new world of prediction markets, and both the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and U.S. Department of Justice could bring enforcement actions in the space, so businesses should revisit their insider trading and confidential information policies, say attorneys at Fenwick.

• Identifying The Sources And Impacts Of Juror Contamination

  

  Jury contamination can be pervasive, so it is important that trial teams be able to spot its sources and take specific mitigation steps, says consultant Clint Townson.

• Key NY State Grand Jury Rules Can Shape Defense Strategy

  

  As illustrated by recent cases, New York state's grand jury rules are more favorable than their federal counterparts, offering a genuine opportunity in some cases for a white collar criminal defendant to defeat or meaningfully reduce charges that a prosecutor seeks to bring, says Ethan Greenberg at Anderson Kill.

• Federal Debanking Scrutiny Prompts Compliance Questions

  

  Recent U.S. Small Business Administration guidance sets forth requirements for preventing so-called politicized debanking and specific additional instructions for small lenders, but falls short on clarity for larger institutions, leaving lenders of all sizes with questions as they navigate this unique compliance challenge, say attorneys at Cooley.

• Series

  Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

• SEC's No-Action Relief Could Dramatically Alter Retail Voting

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently cleared the way for ExxonMobil to institute a novel change in retail shareholder voting that could greatly increase voter turnout, granting no-action relief that represents an effective and meaningful step toward modernizing the shareholder voting process and the much-needed democratization of retail investors, say attorneys at Cozen.

• SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

  

  The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

• 4 Strategies To Ensure Courts Calculate Restitution Correctly

  

  Recent reversals of restitution orders across the federal appeals courts indicate that some lower courts are misapplying fundamental restitution principles, so defense attorneys should consider a few ways to vigilantly press these issues with the sentencing judge, says Wesley Gorman at Comber Miller.

• How Calif. Law Cracks Down On Algorithmic Price-Fixing

  

  Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws this month significantly expanding state antitrust enforcement and civil and criminal penalties for the use or distribution of shared pricing algorithms, as the U.S. Department of Justice has recently wielded the Sherman Act to challenge algorithmic pricing, say attorneys at Pillsbury.