Expert Analysis

• Series

  Volunteering With Scouts Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Serving as an assistant scoutmaster for my son’s troop reaffirmed several skills and principles crucial to lawyering — from the importance of disconnecting to the value of morality, says Michael Warren at McManis Faulkner.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: In Court, It's About Storytelling

  

  Law school provides doctrine, cases and hypotheticals, but when lawyers step into the courtroom, they must learn the importance of clarity, credibility, memorability and preparation — in other words, how to tell simple, effective stories, say Nicholas Steverson and Danielle Trujillo at Wheeler Trigg, and Lisa DeCaro at Courtroom Performance.

• Where Ceding Control In Joint Ventures Ups Developer Risks

  

  With new data predicting liquidity will continue drying up in 2026, developers seeking relief via joint venture restructurings should understand how relinquishing an asset's control to a capital partner could have stark consequences, and where negotiations over governance and control triggers present the greatest legal and structural risks, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

• Aligning Microsoft Tools With NYC Bar AI Recording Guidance

  

  The New York City Bar Association’s recently issued formal opinion, providing ethical guidance on artificial intelligence-assisted recording, transcription and summarization, raises immediate questions about data governance and e-discovery for companies that use Microsoft 365 and Copilot, say Staci Kaliner, Martin Tully and John Collins at Redgrave.

• How SF Family Zoning Suit Could Stymie City, Builder Goals

  

  A recent suit asserting that San Francisco should further study the environmental impact before permitting taller buildings with more family residences could disrupt the work of project developers and local government — and give pause to other cities rezoning to add housing capacity, says Phillip Babich at Reed Smith.

• 5 Different AI Systems Raise Distinct Privilege Issues

  

  A New York federal court’s recent U.S. v. Heppner decision, holding that a defendant’s use of Claude was not privileged, only addressed one narrow artificial intelligence system, but lawyers must recognize that the spectrum of AI tools raises different confidentiality and privilege questions, says Heidi Nadel at HP.

• Opinion

  AI-Assisted Arbitration Needs Safeguards To Ensure Fairness

  

  As tribunals and arbitral institutions increasingly use artificial intelligence tools in their decision-making processes, ​​​​​​​clear disclosure standards and procedural safeguards are necessary to ensure that efficiency gains do not erode the fairness principles on which arbitration depends, says Alexander Lima at Wesco International.

• Series

  Playing Piano Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing piano and practicing law share many parallels relating to managing complexity: Just as hearing an entire musical passage in my head allows me to reliably deliver the message, thinking about the audience's impression helps me create a legal narrative that keeps the reader engaged, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

• NYC Energy Storage Guidance Clarifies Compliance Pathways

  

  The New York City Department of Buildings’ recently issued bulletin provides long-awaited clarity on how battery storage systems may generate greenhouse gas emissions deductions, materially expands compliance pathways for building owners and creates new opportunities for providers, say attorneys at Hodgson Russ.

• Takeaways From CFPB's Retreat On Immigrant Fair Lending

  

  Practices discouraged under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Justice Department's 2023 statement on the treatment of immigration status under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act may now be permissible following its recent withdrawal, making it crucial for lenders to follow unfolding fair lending developments in this area, say attorneys at Steptoe.

• How New Texas Law Streamlines Eviction Proceedings

  

  A recent legislative change to the Texas Property Code overhauls the state's eviction process and makes it more difficult for nonpaying tenants to challenge evictions, likely yielding a faster and cheaper procedure that will encourage timely rent payment and lease compliance, says Maddison Craig at Munsch Hardt.

• AI-Generated Doc Ruling Guides Attys On Privilege Risks

  

  A New York federal court's ruling, in U.S. v. Heppner, that documents created by a defendant using an artificial intelligence tool were not privileged, can serve as a guide to attorneys for retaining attorney-client or work-product privilege over client documents created with AI, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

• The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Leadership Strategy After Day 1

  

  For law firm leaders, ensuring a newly combined law firm lives up to its promise, both in its first days of operation and well after, includes tough decisions, clear and specific communication, and cheerleading, says Peter Michaud at Ballard Spahr.

• How Blockchain Could Streamline Real Estate Transactions

  

  As U.S. real estate markets face pressure to adopt digital frameworks, blockchain technology offers a credible solution for consolidating execution, payment and recording into a single record, with a unified ledger potentially replacing fragmented processes with digitally authenticated events, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Calif.'s Civility Push Shows Why Professionalism Is Vital

  

  The California Bar’s campaign against discourteous behavior by attorneys, including a newly required annual civility oath, reflects a growing concern among states that professionalism in law needs shoring up — and recognizes that maintaining composure even when stressed is key to both succeeding professionally and maintaining faith in the legal system, says Lucy Wang at Hinshaw.