Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  Bar Score Is Best Hiring Metric Post-Affirmative Action

  

  After the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling striking down affirmative action admissions policies, law firms looking to foster diversity in hiring should view an applicant's Multistate Bar Examination score as the best metric of legal ability — over law school name or GPA, says attorney Alice Griffin.

• Joint Ventures Given More Edge In Set-Aside Contract Awards

  

  The recent Court of Federal Claims decision in SH Synergy prompted the General Services Administration to remold proposal evaluation schemes to favor mentor-protégé joint ventures, a business structure that has taken over the world of set-aside governmentwide acquisition contracts, say Roger Abbott and Stephen Ramaley at Miles & Stockbridge.

• Defense Counsel Sentencing Lessons From Holmes Case

  

  The recent imprisonment of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes highlights fundamental but sometimes overlooked sentencing practice points for white collar defense attorneys, from instilling a sense of narrative urgency in court submissions to researching potential prison facilities, says Jack Sharman at Lightfoot Franklin.

• Ghosting In BigLaw: How To Come Back From Lack Of Feedback

  

  Junior associates can feel powerless when senior colleagues cut off contact instead of providing useful feedback, but young attorneys can get back on track by focusing on practical professional development and reexamining their career priorities, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.

• EU Sustainability Initiatives Will Affect Emissions Trading

  

  The measures recently adopted by the EU in its "Fit for 55" legislative package to revise its emissions trading system and establish a carbon border adjustment mechanism have far-reaching implications for companies needing to implement changes to offset the potential effects of their business operations, say Melanie Bruneau, Giovanni Campi and Annette Mutschler-Siebert at K&L Gates.

• Steps To Success For Senior Associates

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.

• FARA Advisory Opinions Raise Questions For Digital Media

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice's latest advisory opinions on the Foreign Agents Registration Act indicate that the broad geographic reach of the internet and digital media could bring a wide variety of activities within the scope of FARA, but lawyers are left to try to discern nuggets of guidance from these heavily redacted letters, say attorneys at Covington.

• Legal Profession Must Do More For Lawyers With Disabilities

  

  At the start of Disability Pride month, Rosalyn Richter at Arnold & Porter looks at why lawyers with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in private practice, asserting that law firms and other employers must do more to conquer the implicit bias that deters attorneys from seeking accommodations.

• Perspectives

  Service Members Should Have Right To Unanimous Verdicts

  

  As several recent cases exemplify, service members can be convicted of crimes by nonunanimous juries in military courts and cannot appeal such verdicts, despite Supreme Court precedent from recent years — a glaring constitutional error that Congress should rectify expeditiously, says Kevin Carroll at Hughes Hubbard.

• DC Circ.'s Perchlorate Ruling Means Regulatory Restart

  

  The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling in National Resources Defense Council v. Regan, requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate perchlorate under the Safe Drinking Water Act, reopens a decadeslong regulatory debate and creates renewed uncertainty for companies, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

• Opinion

  Appellate Funding Disclosure: No Mandate Is Right Choice

  

  The Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules' recent decision, forgoing a mandatory disclosure rule for litigation funding in federal appeals, is prudent, as third-party funding is only involved in a minuscule number of federal cases, and courts have ample authority to obtain funding information if necessary, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

• Halkbank Ruling Gives Gov't Leverage But Erodes Comity

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Halkbank v. U.S., denying the Turkish state-owned bank immunity from prosecution, erodes the historic principle of comity in favor of imposing domestic law on foreign states, and could potentially usher in an era of mutually assured litigation between world powers, say Solomon Shinerock and Annika Conrad at Lewis Baach.

• Tips For Obtaining Removal From OFAC's Sanctions List

  

  To obtain interim relief or removal from the Office of Foreign Assets Control's specially designated nationals list, sanctioned individuals or entities must determine why they were designated and seek relief from OFAC, while demonstrating transparency and a willingness to remediate conduct, says Robert Seiden at Seiden Law.

• SuperValu's Lesson: Always Be Building An FCA Defense

  

  The recent U.S. v. SuperValu decision confirming that scienter is an essential element of False Claims Act liability should motivate government contractors to prepare for allegations of material misrepresentation by building a record of their honorable efforts toward regulatory compliance, say David Resnicoff and Andrew Patton at Riley Safer.

• How Attys Can Avoid Exposing Their Firms To Cyberattacks

  

  Attorneys are the weakest link in their firms' cyberdefenses because hackers often exploit the gap between individuals’ work and personal cybersecurity habits, but there are some steps lawyers can take to reduce the risks they create for their employers, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy & Protection.