Expert Analysis

• Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines

  

  KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.

• DC Circ. Cellphone Ruling Upends Law Enforcement Protocol

  

  The D.C. Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Brown decision, holding that forcibly requiring a defendant to unlock his cellphone with his fingerprint violated the Fifth Amendment, has significant implications for law enforcement, and may provide an opportunity for defense lawyers to suppress electronic evidence, says Sarah Sulkowski at Gelber & Santillo.

• How High Court May Rule In First Step Act Resentencing Case

  

  U.S. Supreme Court justices grappled with verb tenses and statutory intent in recent oral arguments in Hewitt v. U.S., a case involving an anomalous resentencing issue under the First Step Act, and though they may hold that the statute is unambiguous, they could also decide the case on narrow, practical grounds, say attorneys at Bracewell.

• Felon Juror Exclusion Rationales Don't Hold Up To Scrutiny

  

  After his felony conviction, President Donald Trump became one of 20 million-plus Americans who are banished from serving in our federal jury system, but the proffered justifications for excluding those with convictions from jury service are not supported by research, says James Binnall at California State University, Long Beach.

• Open Courtrooms Are Vital For Transparency And Public Trust

  

  Too often, public access to courtrooms is restricted without sufficient legal justification, and attorneys, judges and judicial oversight bodies must ensure courtrooms remain open to promote accountability and uphold constitutional principles, say Fordham Law graduate Olesya Lek and Parisa Djavaheri at Riza Realty.

• Why The Public Distrusts The Legal System, And How To Fix It

  

  Recent data shows that the public's attitudes toward the justice system and institutions in general are declining, but several reforms and practices could help restore public confidence, say Richard Gabriel and Michelle Rey LaRocca at the Trust in Justice Project.

• Responsible Use Of AI Could Bridge The Justice Gap

  

  The access to justice crisis continues to worsen in the U.S., but artificial intelligence has the potential to reverse this trend and close the justice gap if legal aid, court, pro bono, technology and law firm leaders work together, say Margaret Hagan at Stanford and Amy Groff at K&L Gates.

• 2 Ways To Boost Court Flexibility, Improve Appearance Rates

  

  Millions of people miss their court dates every year, leading to arrest warrants and snowballing consequences, but allowing for flexible scheduling and offering grace periods can promote appearance rates, improve court efficiency, and increase access to justice, say Shannon McAuliffe and Cameron French at ideas42.

• Courts Must Reduce Impact Of Parental Incarceration On Kids

  

  Research consistently shows that when a parent is incarcerated, the children left behind suffer myriad negative and long-lasting consequences, and courts must do more to guard against causing these additional harms, say Fulton County, Georgia, Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney and Yolanda Lewis at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.

• How Attorneys Can Support The ERA's Implementation

  

  After the American Bar Association’s recent resolution affirming that the Equal Rights Amendment has met the constitutional standard for ratification, attorneys should consider ways to support the ERA’s implementation to ensure that gender equality is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, says Kate Kelly at the Center for American Progress.

• Protecting Survivor Privacy In High-Profile Sex Assault Cases

  

  Multiple civil lawsuits filed against Sean "Diddy" Combs, with claims ranging from sexual assault and trafficking to violent physical beatings, provide important lessons for attorneys to take proactive measures to protect the survivor's anonymity and privacy, says Andrea Lewis at Searcy Denney.

• 20 Years On, It's Time To Fix The Crime Victims' Rights Act

  

  The Crime Victims’ Rights Act, enacted 20 years ago this month, was a good start toward helping survivors of crime, but it has fallen short in several key ways, and amendments are needed to ensure the legal system empowers and protects victims, says Bridgette Stumpf at Network for Victim Recovery.

• The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

  

  Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

• DC Circ. Seizure Ruling Deepens 4th Amendment Circuit Split

  

  The D.C. Circuit’s recent Asinor v. District of Columbia decision, holding that the government’s continued possession of seized property must be reasonable, furthers a split among circuit courts and portends how the text, history and tradition method might influence Fourth Amendment cases, say Ty Howard and Wayne Beckermann at Bradley Arant.

• How To Use Geofence Warrants In A Constitutional Manner

  

  Ensuring that court-issued geofence search warrants minimize infringements on innocent individuals' rights, and uphold the principles underlying the Fourth Amendment, involves striking a balance that includes treating digital information as property, says Robert Frommer at Institute for Justice.