Expert Analysis

• 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

  

  Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

• Kousisis Concurrence Maps FCA Defense To Anti-DEI Suits

  

  Justice Clarence Thomas' recent concurrence in Kousisis v. U.S. lays out how federal funding recipients could use the high standard for materiality in government fraud cases to fight the U.S. Justice Department’s threatened False Claims Act suits against payees deviating from the administration’s anti-DEI policies, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

• Assessing New Changes To Texas Officer Exculpation Law

  

  Consistent with Texas' recent modernization of its corporate law, the recently passed S.B. 2411 allows officer exculpation, streamlines certificate of formation amendments, authorizes representatives to act on shareholders' behalf in mergers and makes other changes aimed toward companies seeking a more codified, statutory model of corporate governance, say attorneys at Bracewell.

• Google Damages Ruling Offers Lessons For Testifying Experts

  

  The Federal Circuit's recent decision in EcoFactor v. Google represents a shift in how courts evaluate expert testimony in patent cases, offering a practical guide for how litigators and testifying experts can refine their work, says Adam Rhoten at Secretariat.

• Is SEC Moving Away From Parallel Insider Trading Cases?

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's apparent lack of follow-up in four recent criminal cases of insider trading brought by the Justice Department suggests the SEC may be reconsidering the expense and effort of bringing parallel civil charges for insider trading, say attorneys at Dentons.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

  

  Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

• 3 Judicial Approaches To Applying Loper Bright, 1 Year Later

  

  In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in its Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, a few patterns have emerged in lower courts’ application of the precedent to determine whether agency actions are lawful, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

• Navigating Antitrust Risks When Responding To Tariffs

  

  Companies should assess competitive perils, implement compliance safeguards and document independent decision-making as they consider their responses to recent tariff pressures, say attorneys at White & Case.

• 8 Insurer Takeaways From Sweeping Georgia Tort Reform

  

  Insurers should take note of several critical components of Georgia's tort litigation overhaul — including limitations on damages anchoring, procedural rules governing dismissals, and liability standards in negligent security cases — and adapt claims-handling strategies to reduce litigation risk, says Lucy Aquino at Cozen O'Connor.

• Bill Leaves Renewable Cos. In Dark On Farmland Reporting

  

  A U.S. Senate bill to update disclosure requirements for foreign control of U.S. farmland does not provide much-needed guidance on how to report renewable energy development on agricultural property, leaving significant compliance risks for project developers, say attorneys at Hodgson Russ.

• What Businesses Need To Know To Avoid VPPA Class Actions

  

  Divergent rulings by the Second, Sixth and Seventh Circuits about the scope of the Video Privacy Protection Act have highlighted the difficulty of applying a statute conceived to regulate the now-obsolete brick-and-mortar video store sector in today's internet economy, say attorneys at DTO Law.

• Prepping For SEC's Changing Life Sciences Enforcement

  

  By proactively addressing several risk areas, companies in the life sciences sector can position themselves to minimize potential exposure under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's return to back-to-basics enforcement focused on insider trading and fraud, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• Series

  Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm

  

  My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.

• Opinion

  FCPA Shift Is A Good Start, But There's More DOJ Should Do

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice’s new Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guidelines bring a needed course correction amid overexpansive enforcement, but there’s more the DOJ can do to provide additional clarity and predictability for global companies, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

• Del. Ruling May Redefine Consideration In Noncompetes

  

  The Delaware Court of Chancery's conclusion in North American Fire v. Doorly, that restrictive covenants tied to a forfeited equity award were unenforceable for lack of consideration, will surprise many employment practitioners, who should consider this new development when structuring equity-based agreements, say attorneys at Morrison Foerster.