Expert Analysis

• 5 Years In, COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Landscape Is Shifting

  

  As the government moves pandemic fraud enforcement from small-dollar individual prosecutions to high-value corporate cases, and billions of dollars remain unaccounted for, companies and defense attorneys must take steps now to prepare for the next five years of scrutiny, says attorney David Tarras.

• Analyzing AI's Evolving Role In Class Action Claims Admin

  

  Artificial intelligence is becoming a strategic asset in the hands of skilled litigators, reshaping everything from class certification strategy to claims analysis — and now, the nuts and bolts of settlement administration, with synthetic fraud, algorithmic review and ethical tension emerging as central concerns, says Dominique Fite at CPT Group.

• IPO Suit Reinforces Strict Section 11 Tracing Requirement

  

  A California federal court's recent dismissal of an investor class action against Allbirds in connection with the company's initial public offering cites the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Slack v. Pirani decision, reinforcing the firm tracing requirement for Section 11 plaintiffs — even at the pleading stage, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Mastering Time Management

  

  Law students typically have weeks or months to prepare for any given deadline, but the unpredictability of practicing in the real world means that lawyers must become time-management pros, ready to adapt to scheduling conflicts and unexpected assignments at any given moment, says David Thomas at Honigman.

• Privacy Policy Lessons After Google App Data Verdict

  

  In Rodriguez v. Google, a California federal jury recently found that Google unlawfully invaded app users' privacy by collecting, using and disclosing pseudonymized data, highlighting the complex interplay between nonpersonalized data and customers' understanding of privacy policy choices, says Beth Waller at Woods Rogers.

• Rare Del. Oversight Ruling Sends Governance Wake-Up Call

  

  An unusual ruling from the Delaware Court of Chancery recently allowed Caremark oversight claims to proceed against former executives of a company previously known as Teligent, sending a clear reminder that boards and officers must actively monitor and document oversight efforts when addressing mission-critical risks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• How Hyperlinks Are Changing E-Discovery Responsibilities

  

  A recent e-discovery dispute over hyperlinked data in Hubbard v. Crow shows how courts have increasingly broadened the definition of control to account for cloud-based evidence, and why organizations must rethink preservation practices to avoid spoliation risks, says Bree Murphy at Exterro.

• More NJ Case Law On LLCs Would Aid Attys, Litigants, Biz

  

  More New Jersey court opinions would facilitate the understanding of the nuances of the state's Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, including on breach of the duty of loyalty, oppression, piercing the corporate veil and derivative actions, says Gianfranco Pietrafesa at Archer & Greiner.

• State False Claims Acts Can Help Curb Opioid Fund Fraud

  

  State versions of the federal False Claims Act can play an important role in policing the misuse of opioid settlement funds, taking a cue from the U.S. Department of Justice’s handling of federal fraud cases involving pandemic relief funds, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.

• Pemex Bribery Charges Provide Glimpse Into FCPA Evolution

  

  A recently unsealed indictment against two Mexican nationals for allegedly bribing officials at Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil company, reveals that Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement is adapting to new priorities, but still remains active, and compliance programs should continue apace, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• CFPB Proposal Defining Consumer Risk May Add Uncertainty

  

  Though a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposal would codify when risks to consumers justify supervisory intervention against nonbanks, furthering Trump administration plans to curtail CFPB authority, firms may still struggle to identify what could attract supervisory designation under the new rule, say attorneys at Steptoe.

• Targeting Execs Could Hurt SEC's Probusiness Goals

  

  While many enforcement changes under the Trump administration’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have been touted by commission leadership as proinnovation and probusiness, a planned focus on holding individual directors and officers responsible for wrongdoing may have the opposite effect, say attorneys at MoFo.

• Preserving Refunds As Tariffs Await Supreme Court Weigh-In

  

  In the event that the U.S. Supreme Court decides in V.O.S. Selections v. Trump that the president doesn't have authority to levy tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, importers should keep records of imports on which they have paid such tariffs and carefully monitor the liquidation dates, say attorneys at Butzel.

• Atkins-Led SEC Continues Focus On Private Funds

  

  Since the change in administration, there has overall been a more accommodative regulatory stance toward private funds, but a recent enforcement action suggests that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is not backing off from enforcement in the space completely, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• 9th Circ. Ruling Leaves SEC Gag Rule Open To Future Attacks

  

  Though the Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Powell v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission leaves the SEC's no-admit, no-deny rule intact, it could provide some fodder for litigants who wish to criticize the commission's activities either before or after settling with the commission, says Jonathan Richman at Brown Rudnick.