Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  Rules For Warrant Execution In Private Homes Need Reform

  

  It is time to amend the rules specifying when daytime search warrants can be executed, and limit the use of nighttime search warrants and nighttime arrest warrants in private homes to protect citizens against dangerous and abusive police tactics, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Rodriguez Reviews 'When Machines Can Be Judge'

  

  Katherine Forrest's new book, "When Machines Can Be Judge, Jury, and Executioner," raises valid transparency concerns about artificial intelligence tools used by judges when making bail and sentencing decisions, but her argument that such tools should be rejected outright is less than convincing, says U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez of the Western District of Texas.

• Opinion

  DOJ Seizure Of Reporters' Phone Records Raises Red Flags

  

  The recent revelation that the U.S. Department of Justice secretly obtained reporters' phone records during the Trump administration raises serious questions about whether the department failed to comply with its own rules — and about how the Biden DOJ will apply those rules going forward, says Matthew Leish at Miller Korzenik.

• COVID IP Waiver Doesn't Resolve Vaccine Production Barriers

  

  Given the lack of know-how and other legal and technical hurdles associated with producing COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries, and the potential harm to U.S. industry, the Biden administration's backing of a temporary waiver on intellectual property protections may be merely a gesture of goodwill, says William Bergmann at BakerHostetler.

• How 5-Year-Old Defend Trade Secrets Act Has Met Its Goals

  

  Case law and data reveal that, five years after its enactment, the Defend Trade Secrets Act has opened up federal courts to litigants and has proven effective against extraterritorial misappropriation, while concerns about inconsistency and overuse of ex parte seizures have not borne out, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• Cannabis Legalization's Effects On Insurance Industry

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Resolution of the legal uncertainty presented by the dueling federal and state approaches to cannabis will pave the way for legal cannabis businesses to access the insurance protections the industry needs for everything from workers' compensation to auto insurance to general liability, says Christy Thiems at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

• COVID's Int'l Trade Impact Holds Health Co. Legal Implications

  

  Pandemic-prompted changes to international trade are highlighting novel legal issues related to the health care industry's reliance on an international supply chain, the proliferation of counterfeit supplies, and risks associated with offshoring administrative support, say Brett Johnson and Claudia Stedman at Snell & Wilmer.

• Opinion

  Time To Replace FBI Interview Memos With Digital Recordings

  

  As part of his law enforcement reforms, President Joe Biden should retire the Federal Bureau of Investigation's often incomplete and unreliable Form 302 for memorializing agents' witness interview notes and instead mandate digital recording of interviews as a more trustworthy and efficient substitute, says cybersecurity consultant John Reed Stark.

• NY Birth Injury Rulings Show Medical Fund Is Working

  

  Recent New York rulings show that the state's Medical Indemnity Fund — intended to pay for the medical needs of children injured at birth and reduce malpractice exposure for medical providers — is working as intended after multiple legislative fixes, say Bradley Zimmerman and Christopher Nyberg at the Jacob Fuchsberg Law Firm.

• FDA Letters Suggest Scrutiny Of Virus And Vaping Products

  

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration stepped up its issuance of warning letters during the first quarter of 2021, and focused particularly on products for diagnosing, treating and preventing COVID-19, and on vaping products — so manufacturers and retailers in these sectors should intensify their marketing compliance efforts, says Katie Insogna at DLA Piper.

• A Call For Greater Clarity Around SEC Cooperation Credit

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision not to fine Gulfport Energy in a recent enforcement action over disclosure failures highlights the need for SEC guidance on the benefits a company will receive for cooperating with agency investigations, say Robert Cohen and Brook Jackling at Davis Polk.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Bibas Reviews Rakoff's 'Why The Innocent Plead Guilty'

  

  In "Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free,” U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff catalogues the many ways our criminal justice system is broken, and in doing so, gives the public an intimate look into the thoughts, reasoning and personal experiences of a renowned federal judge, says Third Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas.

• Key Insights From DOJ's 2020 Fraud Enforcement

  

  A look at 2020 U.S. Department of Justice Fraud Section efforts reveals a nearly threefold increase in monetary penalties, evidence of rising cooperation among international enforcement agencies, and vigorous pursuit of white collar crime despite the absence of newly installed independent compliance monitors, say Andrew Weissmann and Tali Leinwand at Jenner & Block.

• 3 Degrees Of Legalization Show True Prevalence Of Cannabis

  

  The three degrees of state marijuana legalization regimes throughout the U.S. show that cannabis is only fully illegal in three U.S. states and one territory — not 14 states as some counts indicate — and even in those places, there are stirrings of change, says Julie Werner-Simon at Drexel University's Thomas R. Kline School of Law.

• How Biden's Administration Will Affect The Insurance Industry

  

  President Joe Biden's administration has signaled interest in a range of key issues — consumer protections, regulation of the cannabis industry and health care reform — that will have outsize influence on the private insurance market, say Adrian Azer and Wes Dutton at Haynes and Boone.