Expert Analysis

• The Flaws In The Traditional Approach To Hiring A Law Firm

  

  Trevor Faure at Smarter Law Solutions and Gregory Richter at Major Lindsey offer an inside look at Teva Pharmaceuticals' recent overhaul of its law firm relationships through anonymous grading, and discuss how the company’s surprising findings on the correlation between quality and cost reveal shortcomings in traditional business development.

• Bankruptcy Blocking: What Wind Power Cos. Must Know

  

  Winter brings the risk of severe weather events that could force some wind energy companies to seek restructuring, but this can be difficult when key parties are able to block bankruptcy filings — so companies, lenders and other industry players should monitor courts' rulings on this issue and proactively address any conflicts, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• Fight Real Estate Defaults With Proactive Bankruptcy Filings

  

  Borrower-debtors facing default should consider wielding tactical filings under the Bankruptcy Code as a sword to fight off overzealous lenders seeking accelerated payments, cure their defaults and move forward without risk in the wake of COVID-19 disruptions, say Joseph Pack and Jessey Krehl at Pack Law.

• Keys To Keeping Law Firm Talent Amid The Great Resignation

  

  With employees leaving their jobs at an unprecedented pace during the "Great Resignation," law firm leaders looking to retain associates and professional staff need to operate with emotional intelligence, talk about failures openly and take the time to offer frequent feedback, says Dorianna Phillips at Lane Powell.

• Ch. 11 Ruling Highlights When Reasonableness Backfires

  

  A Hawaii bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in the Minesen case, holding up an assignment of a contract despite federal law to the contrary, is reason to rethink the advisability of agreeing, in writing, to be reasonable, says Lisa Tancredi at Womble Bond.

• Strategies For Coping With Stress In The Legal Profession

  

  Attorneys should explore certain fast, accessible strategies for stress management, as unexpected stressors from work obligations increase at the beginning of the year and are only heightened by improvements in technology and an accelerated flow of communication, says David Kouba at Arnold & Porter.

• How AI Can Transform Crisis Management In Litigation

  

  Attorneys should understand how to use rapidly advancing artificial intelligence technology to help clients prepare for potential catastrophic events and the inevitable litigation arising from them, from predicting crises before they occur to testing legal theories once they arise, say Stratton Horres at Wilson Elser and David Steiger.

• Takeaways From 6th Circ.'s RE Tax Foreclosure Ruling

  

  The Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Lowry v. Southfield sheds light on when exactly real estate tax foreclosures can be avoided as fraudulent transfers, and could potentially impede municipalities' ability to collect unpaid property taxes through tax sales, says Scott Bernstein at Skolnick Legal Group.

• Supervisor Relationships Are Key To Beating Atty Burnout

  

  In order to combat record attorney turnover and high levels of burnout, law firm partners and leaders must build engaging relationships with supervisees, fostering autonomy and control, enabling expression of values, and building a sense of community and belonging, says Anne Brafford at the Institute for Well-Being in Law.

• Make-Whole Claim Lessons From Hertz Bankruptcy Ruling

  

  After the Delaware bankruptcy court's recent decision in Wells Fargo v. Hertz, courts may continue to hear the assertion that early payoff premiums constitute unmatured interest, which could shape best practices in formulating make-whole clauses to avoid such arguments, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

• The Rising Demand For Commercial Litigators In 2022

  

  Amid broken supply chains, pandemic-induced bankruptcies and a rise in regulation by litigation, strong commercial litigators — strategists who are adept in trying a range of tortious and contractual disputes — are becoming a must-have for many law firms, making this year an opportune moment to make the career switch, say Michael Ascher and Kimberly Donlon at Major Lindsey.

• Evaluating Director Protections After Del. Bankruptcy Ruling

  

  The Delaware Bankruptcy Court's recent decision in Friedman v. Wellspring Capital, outlining the conditions under which an alleged duty of loyalty breach can survive a motion to dismiss, may undermine corporate decision makers' ability to negotiate for what are customary and necessary protections as they manage distressed entity transactions, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Exculpation Ruling Shows Danger Of Overbroad Clauses

  

  A New Jersey bankruptcy court’s recent decision in BAK Advisors v. Sax, holding that an accounting firm’s exculpation clause was too broad and contrary to public policy, should urge accountants and advisers to narrow and specify liability limitation language in agreements, and to carefully consider the timing of dismissal motions, says Kenneth Rosen at Lowenstein Sandler.

• How In-House Counsel Can Make The Case For Settling Early

  

  Following the recent settlement in McDonald's v. Easterbrook, in-house counsel should consider decision-tree analyses and values-driven communications plans to secure effective, early resolutions in litigation, saving time and money and moving the company mission forward, say Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein and Richard Torrenzano at The Torrenzano Group.

• To Retain Talent, GCs Should Prioritize Mission Statements

  

  With greater legal demands and an increasing number of workers resigning during the pandemic, general counsel should take steps to articulate their teams' values in departmental mission statements, which will help them better prioritize corporate values and attract and retain talent, says Catherine Kemnitz at Axiom.