White Collar

Expert Analysis

• Differences Between US And UK Data Sharing Legislation

  

  The recently effective cross-border data sharing agreement offers U.K. law enforcement easier access to data held by U.S. communications providers, and allows the U.S. scope to streamline its own processes, say Alison Geary and Joanna Howard at WilmerHale.

• Opinion

  ADA Protects Lawyers With Disabilities, But We Must Do More

  

  As an attorney with cerebral palsy, Danielle Liebl at Reed Smith says that while the 30-year-old Americans with Disabilities Act has protected her against discrimination, the legal industry must do more to accommodate lawyers with disabilities and make them more comfortable in self-identifying.

• Perspectives

  Legal Deserts Threaten Justice In Rural America

  

  Many small towns and rural counties have few lawyers or none at all, which threatens the notion of justice for all Americans and demands creative solutions from legislators, bar associations and law schools, says Patricia Refo, president of the American Bar Association.

• Analyzing Upward And Downward Trends In Legal Tech

  

  Advances in legal technology are often accompanied by bombastic overstatements, but it is important to separate the wheat from the chaff by looking at where various technologies stand on the hype curve, says Lance Eliot at Stanford Law School.

• Special Masters Can Ease COVID-19 Criminal Case Backlog

  

  As courts resume criminal jury trials amid the pandemic, there are several ways special masters can assist overtaxed federal judges in efficiently and expeditiously navigating pretrial issues, say former Third Circuit Judge Thomas Vanaskie and Geoffrey Johnson at Stevens & Lee.

• Health Providers Should Beware FCA Risks Of COVID-19 Aid

  

  Health care providers accepting pandemic aid from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund or Paycheck Protection Program should take steps to protect themselves from criminal and civil exposure under the False Claims Act, even if they receive the funds automatically, say attorneys at Orrick.

• Essentra Case Signals New Sanctions Risks For Non-US Cos.

  

  The recent settlement of an enforcement action against United Arab Emirates company Essentra FZE, for its dealings with North Korea, is a reminder that virtually any U.S. nexus — even the use of a U.S. bank's foreign branch — can serve as a predicate for trade sanctions, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

• Opinion

  ABA's New Guidance On Litigation Funding Misses The Mark

  

  The American Bar Association should revise its recently approved best practices on third-party litigation funding as they do not reflect how legal finance actually works and could create confusion among lawyers, says Andrew Cohen at Burford Capital.

• What Firms Should Ask Before Hiring Attorneys From Gov't

  

  In the final year of any presidential administration, there is an undeniable appetite on the part of large law firms for government-savvy legal talent, but firms need to first consider how they will actually utilize their new star hire, says Michael Ellenhorn at Decipher.

• The Ethics Of Using Chatbots For Legal Services

  

  Delegating legal work to robots involves several risks, including running afoul of statutes dictating unauthorized practice of law, but with the right precautions, law firms can lawfully employ artificially intelligent chatbots that can imitate human conversations, say attorneys at Haynes and Boone.

• FIFA Ruling Brings New Risks For Development Bank Projects

  

  After the Second Circuit's recent decision upholding FIFA officials' bribery convictions, foreign businesses with multilateral development bank-sponsored projects whose financing emanates from the U.S. must ensure they are not violating U.S. wire fraud statutes, even if commercial bribery is legal in the foreign country, says Joshua Ray at Rahman Ravelli.

• Opinion

  ABA Must Seize Opportunity To Respond To Bar Exam Chaos

  

  The challenges of administering bar exams this year have put the future of the profession in jeopardy, but the American Bar Association at its ongoing annual meeting can adopt a resolution that would urge jurisdictions to take emergency actions with respect to licensure of new attorneys, says Nicholas Allard, former president of Brooklyn Law School.

• When Judges Are Not Neutral

  

  The Sineneng-Smith case recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court and the ongoing Michael Flynn saga in D.C. federal court arguably demonstrate that all courts do not always act as neutral arbiters, says Douglas Lang at Dorsey & Whitney.

• Lessons From OIG Relief Funding Oversight Report

  

  Attorneys at Crowell & Moring distill best practices from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee's report on challenges offices of inspector general experienced in disbursing federal relief funds, to help recipients avoid missteps and prepare for future audits, investigations or litigation.

• How Pandemic Is Affecting The Pace Of Judicial Opinions

  

  The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way judges work, but how has it impacted the volume of work product they generate? Ben Strawn and Omeed Azmoudeh at Davis Graham investigate using data from the PACER federal courts registry.