Expert Analysis

• 4 Tips On Expert Gatekeeping From J&J Talc Deal

  

  Johnson & Johnson's successful campaign to exclude plaintiff-side oncologist testimony about whether its talcum powder caused ovarian cancer, which prompted the recent resolution of 70,000 claims, offers lessons on how product liability defendants can reshape risk calculation by rigorously applying expert admissibility rules, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

• Series

  Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

• Opinion

  Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

  

  California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

• How Cannabis Rescheduling Is Reshaping Bankruptcy

  

  As broader cannabis rescheduling awaits a recommended decision, cannabis companies continue to test the boundaries of the Bankruptcy Code, with the recent Cannabist Chapter 15 recognition order suggesting that governmental resistance may be reduced in future filings, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

• How Prediction Markets Could Be Used In Securities Litigation

  

  Assuming there is enough liquidity, and insider trading concerns are properly addressed, prediction market prices could provide a valuable assessment of market consensus that adjusts faster than existing analysts' forecasts, which could be useful evidence to support securities class action claims, say analysts at Compass Lexecon.

• How Boards, Lenders Can View ABC Bankruptcy Alternative

  

  The broader adoption of the Uniform Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors Act, including Delaware's recent statute, gives boards and lenders a clearer framework for a familiar middle-market problem: companies too small to justify Chapter 11 economics but too complex for an unmanaged shutdown, says Jon Labovitz at Sherwood.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Cultivating Good Judgment

  

  Law schools generally overlook the role that solid judgment skills play in real-world practice, but attorneys can bridge the gap by strengthening their abilities to assess a case’s strengths and weaknesses, develop and execute effective strategies, and provide clear recommendations to clients, says Manny Caixeiro at Venable.

• A Lender's Guide To Fraud: Safeguarding Collateral

  

  Recent bankruptcies illustrate that lenders should strengthen credit covenants, collateral field exams and third-party verification in order to detect double-pledging, fabricated assets and documentation fraud enabled by artificial intelligence before losses become unrecoverable, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

• Intersecting Investigation Risks Loom In Next Congress

  

  Taken together, two July D.C. Circuit decisions and a recent U.S. Department of Justice opinion on executive privilege may affect the procedural defenses and privilege protections available to targets of oversight in the upcoming Congress, and companies should begin preparing now, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• Lessons For Banks When A Fintech Partner Fails

  

  Recent fintech bankruptcies highlight best practices for how banks can strengthen third-party oversight, data-access rights, wind-down planning and customer communications to limit regulatory exposure and consumer harm when a fintech partner collapses, say attorneys at Barack Ferrazzano.

• Attorneys Using AI May Have Ethical Duty To Redact Docs

  

  The trajectory of legal ethics guidance in recent years strongly suggests that as redaction technology becomes more accessible, the failure to use it when uploading highly confidential materials into artificial intelligence tools will become increasingly difficult to defend as reasonable, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

• Voyager Ruling Maps Out Ch. 11 Exculpation Lessons

  

  Chapter 11 plan proponents drafting exculpation provisions may benefit from contrasting the exculpatory language recently invalidated by a New York federal court in the Voyager Digital Holdings case with successful recent use of these provisions in confirmed bankruptcy plans, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• Series

  Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

• SVB Parent's Claim Loss To FDIC Bears Bond Wording Lesson

  

  A North Carolina federal court’s recent ruling that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as receiver for the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, solely owns a $73 million fraud claim illustrates why parent financial institutions should scrutinize joint assured provisions in fidelity bonds to prevent a failed subsidiary's covered losses going to a receiver, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

• How Subchapter V Bill May Change Restructuring Analysis

  

  While a recently passed Senate bill would expand the pool of businesses eligible to use the streamlined Subchapter V process, its more significant influence may be on how distressed businesses and their lenders evaluate restructuring alternatives long before a bankruptcy petition is filed, says Robert Charbonneau at Agentis.