Expert Analysis

• 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.

• 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.

• 3 Developments That May Usher In A Nuclear Energy Revival

  

  A recent advancement in nuclear energy technology, targeted provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act and a new G7 agreement on nuclear fuel supply chains may give nuclear power a seat at the table as a viable, zero-carbon energy source, say attorneys at Vinson & Elkins.

• Sanctions Compliance In Era Of Record Enforcement Action

  

  The recent record-breaking penalties in separate actions against British American Tobacco and Seagate amid a sanctions violation crackdown are a reminder to prioritize factors emphasized by the National Security Division and other enforcement agencies, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

• 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.

• What Tax-Exempt Orgs. Need From Energy Credit Guidance

  

  Guidance clarifying the Inflation Reduction Act’s credit regime, expected from the U.S. Department of the Treasury this summer, should help tax-exempt organizations determine the benefits of clean energy projects and integrate alternative energy investments into their activities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• 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.

• Would Congress' Proposed ITC Reforms Thwart NPEs?

  

  The recently reintroduced Advancing America's Interests Act intends to curb the growth of nonpracticing entity activity at the U.S. International Trade Commission, and a closer examination of three provisions shows where it may be successful and where pitfalls could exist, say attorneys at Axinn.

• Why Ericsson DPA Breach Is Precedent-Setting

  

  Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson recently faced several penalties for breaching a deferred prosecution agreement, revealing a sobering new precedent for when the U.S. Department of Justice will find an entity in noncompliance, so companies should be prepared to revisit pre-resolution disclosures, say James Koukios and Sarah Maneval at MoFo.

• A Deep Dive Into EU Unified Patent Court Policy

  

  Robert Sterne at Sterne Kessler offers a detailed analysis of the EU's Unified Patent Court and the unitary patent, which go live on June 1, discussing what U.S. practitioners need to know from an enforcement and freedom-to-operate perspective.

• US Security Exception Proposal May Undermine The WTO

  

  A U.S. proposal, floated earlier this month, to clarify that the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade's essential security exception is wholly self-judging would provide an unfettered ability for a country to avoid any of its World Trade Organization obligations, further destabilizing the WTO and international rule of law, say attorneys at Akin Gump.

• 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.