Expert Analysis

• Defending State Law Claims That Implicate National Security

  

  GRID Networks' recent voluntary dismissal of its suit against Quantum Leap, in which U.S. cabinet-level officials expressed concerns about the security risks of hearing the matter in state court, shows how classified information can shape litigation outcomes, say Stephen Preston and Andrew Shipley at WilmerHale.

• Tackling Judge-Shopping Concerns While Honoring Localism

  

  As the debate continues over judge-shopping and case assignments in federal court, policymakers should look to a hybrid model that preserves the benefits of localism for those cases that warrant it, while preventing the appearance of judge-shopping for cases of a more national or widespread character, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.

• No Easy Out For FCA Defendants After Justices' Ruling

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 1 decision in U.S. v. SuperValu puts an end to the defense that a federal contractor's belief and in-house debates about problematic conduct are irrelevant to False Claims Act liability, says R. Scott Oswald at The Employment Law Group.

• Perspectives

  How Attorneys Can Help Combat Anti-Asian Hate

  

  Amid an exponential increase in violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, unique obstacles stand in the way of accountability and justice — but lawyers can effect powerful change by raising awareness, offering legal representation, advocating for victims’ rights and more, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

• Opinion

  Congress Needs To Enact A Federal Anti-SLAPP Statute

  

  Although many states have passed statutes meant to prevent individuals or entities from filing strategic lawsuits against public participation, other states have not, so it's time for Congress to enact a federal statute to ensure that free speech and petitioning rights are uniformly protected nationwide in federal court, say attorneys at Skadden.

• 5 Insider-Threat Reminders After Recent DOJ Prosecutions

  

  Three recent U.S. Department of Justice actions may well lead to much greater scrutiny of companies in which insiders engage in a variety of corporate misconduct, including conducting or enabling cybercrimes, which will likely fall not just on government contractors, but across industries and geographies, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

• FCA Can Be An Effective Tool For Fighting Customs Fraud

  

  Appeals pending before the U.S. Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit may affect the scienter and jurisdictional aspects of False Claims Act cases alleging customs fraud, which can provide an avenue to alert U.S. Customs and Border Protection and potentially help clients to recover losses from unfair competitors, say Ellen London at London & Stout and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Li Yu.

• Some Client Speculations On AI And The Law Firm Biz Model

  

  Generative artificial intelligence technologies will put pressure on the business of law as it is structured currently, but clients may end up with more price certainty for legal services, and lawyers may spend more time being lawyers, says Jonathan Cole at Melody Capital.

• What's New In NIST Revised Sensitive Info Security Guidelines

  

  The National Institute of Standards and Technology's recently released draft of revised guidelines for government contractors and other entities handling sensitive unclassified federal information includes changes to enhance the specificity and user-friendliness of existing controls, but there is room for improvement, says Adam Briscoe at Bass Berry.

• A Lawyer's Guide To Approaching Digital Assets In Discovery

  

  The booming growth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens has made digital assets relevant in many legal disputes but also poses several challenges for discovery, so lawyers must garner an understanding of the technology behind these assets, the way they function, and how they're held, says Brett Sager at Ehrenstein Sager.

• Opinion

  High Court's Ethics Statement Places Justices Above The Law

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court justices' disappointing statement on the court's ethics principles and practices reveals that not only are they satisfied with a status quo in which they are bound by fewer ethics rules than other federal judges, but also that they've twisted the few rules that do apply to them, says David Janovsky at the Project on Government Oversight.

• G7 Russia Restrictions May Further Complicate Compliance

  

  New sanctions and export controls announced at the G7 summit targeting parties that help Russia circumvent existing restrictions signal continued multilateral commitment to intensifying economic pressure on Russia, and underscore the increasing compliance challenges for companies that pursue Russia-related opportunities, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Opinion

  Time For Law Schools To Rethink Unsung Role Of Adjuncts

  

  As law schools prepare for the fall 2023 semester, administrators should reevaluate the role of the underappreciated, indispensable adjunct, and consider 16 concrete actions to improve the adjuncts' teaching experience, overall happiness and feeling of belonging, say T. Markus Funk at Perkins Coie, Andrew Boutros at Dechert and Eugene Volokh at UCLA.

• What The Justices' Questions Signify For FCA Compliance

  

  Whatever the outcome of two False Claims Act cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices' questions during recent oral arguments indicate that government contractors should take certain steps to ensure their compliance programs are demonstrably active and adaptable, say Holly Butler and Rebecca Fallk at Miles & Stockbridge.

• Justices Curb Fraud Theories, But That May Not Deter Feds

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s opinions last week in Ciminelli v. U.S. and Percoco v. U.S. are the latest in a line of rulings aiming to limit the wire fraud statute’s application to state public corruption cases, but federal prosecutors will probably continue pursuing such cases using different charging language and other laws, says ​​​​​​​Alison Anderson at Boies Schiller.