Delaware

Expert Analysis

• Mask-Wearing Prosecution Witnesses May Face Roadblocks

  

  When in-person criminal jury trials resume, witnesses wearing masks as protection against the coronavirus will almost certainly lead to a new line of cases weighing public health against a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront prosecution witnesses, says Scott Grubman at Chilivis Grubman.

• 6 Considerations When Shopping For Legal Tech Software

  

  When evaluating the vast range of legal technology options available today, law firms will want to make sure that firm intellectual property and client data stored in the software are encrypted, isolated, protected through backups and in compliance with the ever-growing list of data regulations, say Eric Tucker and Dorna Moini at Documate.

• Law Firm Strategies For Publicizing Laterals Amid Lockdowns

  

  With business development dinners and social events no longer viable for new lateral hires, law firms need a refreshed game plan — one that fully exploits the digital landscape, say Andrew Longstreth and Jesse Dungan at Infinite Global and Michael Coston at Coston Consulting.

• Are Your Slack Communications Primed For E-Discovery?

  

  With the increasing use of channel-based platforms such as Slack, Messenger and Teams in the work-from-home era, companies should assume they may be compelled to produce channel-based data in litigation and take proactive steps to protect sensitive information, say Jessica Brown and Collin James Vierra at Gibson Dunn.

• 6 Dispute Prevention Steps As Lawsuits Rise Amid Pandemic

  

  With the inundation of lawsuits resulting from the pandemic, now is an opportune time for companies and their advisers to implement prevention measures explicitly designed to break the dispute cycle early and to de-escalate possible legal actions as they form, says arbitrator and mediator Janice Sperow.

• Opinion

  Time To Consider Percentage Rental Agreements For Lawyers

  

  It has long been the law that attorneys cannot use percentage rental agreements because doing so would constitute an impermissible sharing of fees with nonlawyers, but such arrangements can help lawyers match expenses with revenues in lean times like now, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Thompson at Holland & Knight.

• How Discovery Is Evolving In ERISA Benefits Litigation

  

  While courts have been reluctant to grant discovery in Employee Retirement Income Security Act benefits cases in the past, textual-minded judges questioning the legitimacy of judicially created doctrines are increasingly allowing more discovery, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Sherman.

• What You Say In Online Mediation May Be Discoverable

  

  Mediation conducted online with participants in different states makes it harder to determine where communications were made, increasing the risk that courts will apply laws of a state that does not protect mediation confidentiality, say mediators Jeff Kichaven and Teresa Frisbie and law student Tyler Codina.

• How COVID-19 Impact Analysis May Shape MAE Disputes

  

  Emerging disputes over whether the COVID-19 crisis has triggered a merger transaction’s material adverse effect clause shine a spotlight on the importance of showing whether the pandemic has disproportionately impacted particular industries and companies, say David Tabak and Edward Flores at NERA.

• EPA Limits On States' Project Reviews Likely To Face Lawsuits

  

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently announced rule limiting the scope of states' reviews of planned energy infrastructure projects will likely mean more litigation between states and the federal government — and more uncertainty for businesses and other stakeholders, says Philip Sholtz at Goldberg Segalla.

• 10 Tips For A Successful Remote Arbitration Hearing

  

  As I learned after completing a recent international arbitration remotely, with advance planning a video hearing can replicate the in-person experience surprisingly well, and may actually be superior in certain respects, says Kate Shih at Quinn Emanuel.

• Opinion

  To Achieve Diversity, Law Firms Must Reinvent Hiring Process

  

  If law firms are truly serious about making meaningful change in terms of diversity, they must adopt a demographically neutral, unbiased hiring equation that looks at personality traits with greater import than grades and class rank, says Thomas Latino at Florida State University College of Law.

• Virus, Regs Highlight Need For Model State Whistleblower Law

  

  The North American Securities Administrators Association's recently proposed model state whistleblower law could be a timely weapon against securities misconduct in light of the new and unique opportunities COVID-19 presents for fraudsters, and certain federal registration exemptions that may soon be relaxed, says attorney Patrick McCloskey.

• Cybersecurity Steps For Law Firms Amid Heightened Risks

  

  With large swaths of the population indoors and primarily online, cybercriminals will be able to exploit law firms more easily now than ever before, but some basic precautions can help, says Joel Wallenstrom at Wickr.

• A Strategy To Address Uncertainty In Life Sciences Contracts

  

  Understanding how to draft diligence clauses that require parties to use commercially reasonable efforts in life sciences contracts is more important than ever before, with COVID-19 likely redefining what is reasonable, say Gregory Litt and Resa Schlossberg at Skadden.