Banking

Expert Analysis

• Series

  Judging A Book: Pryor Reviews 'Scalia Speaks'

  

  Christopher Scalia and Edward Whelan have published an indispensable collection of the late Justice Antonin Scalia's best speeches. "Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived" puts on full display Justice Scalia’s skilled writing, quick wit and uncommon wisdom on a wide range of topics — from law to turkey hunting, says Judge William Pryor of the Eleventh Circuit.

• Financial Crisis Anniversary

  The Inside Counsel Revolution

  

  The role of the general counsel has significantly grown in importance, with the GC now often replacing the senior partner in the outside law firm as the primary counselor for the CEO and the board. This inside counsel revolution was given great impetus by the financial crisis that started 10 years ago, says Ben Heineman Jr., former general counsel of General Electric Co.

• NY Commercial Division Rule Changes Promote ADR Use

  

  Recent rule changes in the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of New York are the latest of several efforts made to foster greater use of mediation and to institutionalize alternative dispute resolution, says Christopher Palermo, a litigation partner at Bleakley Platt & Schmidt LLP who serves on the Commercial Division Advisory Council.

• How Arbitrators Maintain Proportionality In Discovery

  

  There has been much discussion of discovery proportionality in federal litigation since the December 2015 changes to Civil Rule 26. But arbitrators have long used procedures to simplify the discovery process that courts have only recently begun to adopt, says attorney and arbitrator Richard Seymour.

• Revisiting The $50B Threshold For Stricter Bank Regs

  

  If the Dodd-Frank Act’s $50 billion asset threshold that triggers enhanced prudential standards for banks is revised, the federal banking agencies separately may feel compelled to revisit a range of other regulations and guidance that have used the $50 billion asset line, say attorneys with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.

• The Law Firm CFO’s Role In The Strategic Planning Process

  

  Today's law firm chief financial officer should be involved in many areas beyond traditional financial management, including operations, risk management and information technology. He or she can support strategic planning throughout the process, from development of the plan to its implementation, measurement and eventual evolution, say Tyler Quinn and Marc Feigelson of Kaufman Rossin PA.

• Law Firms Must Transition To An Industry Sector Approach

  

  Clients are beginning to expect and demand that their external lawyers provide advice tailored to the client's industry. Aside from this, law firms should want to move toward a sector approach because industry-focused groups are a natural place for cross-practice collaboration to flourish, say Heidi Gardner and Anusia Gillespie of Harvard Law School.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Kozinski Reviews 'The Judge'

  

  In their new book, "The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons," do Ronald Collins and David Skover prove their thesis that hypocrisy is the key to judicial greatness? Some of the examples they present are hard to dispute, says Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit.

• The Evolution Of Regulators’ Views On Bitcoin ETFs

  

  Bitcoin has taken two significant steps toward legitimacy since the Winklevoss and SolidX exchange-traded fund applications were rejected by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year. As bitcoin trading proliferates, it is likely that the SEC will change its stance and approve a bitcoin ETF, say attorneys with Morvillo LLP.

• Financial Crisis Anniversary

  New Post-Recession Metrics For BigLaw Partner Success

  

  After nearly a decade of recession-accelerated change in the legal industry, “merit-based” compensation has largely come to mean measuring attorney success using some combination of origination and working attorney hours metrics. However, there are signs that the real impact of the recession is still around the corner, and that building a book isn’t enough, says Peter Zeughauser of Zeughauser Group.