Expert Analysis

• Rulings Offer Lessons On Credible Workplace Investigations

  

  Three recent rulings illustrate that while internal investigations are a critical tool for managing workplace risk, the process itself must be able to withstand scrutiny, so employers should take steps to ensure that they're conducted with independence, credibility and trust to better defend their case, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

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  Playing Magic: The Gathering Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  The competitive card game Magic: The Gathering offers me a training ground for the strategic thinking skills crucial to litigation, challenging me to adapt to oft-updated rules, analyze text as complicated as any statute and anticipate my opponent’s next moves, says Christopher Smith at Lash Goldberg.

• What's At Stake For Employers In Fight Over Visa Pause

  

  For employers that rely on foreign talent, the Trump administration’s suspension of immigrant visa issuance for the nationals of 75 countries is creating practical problems, and a recently filed lawsuit challenging the pause could determine whether consular processing, for some, ceases to be an individualized process, says attorney Lisa Eisenberg.

• Improving Well-Being In Law, 10 Years After Landmark Study

  

  An important 2016 study revealed significant substance abuse and mental health issues among lawyers, and while the findings helped normalize the conversation around these topics, a decade later, structural change is still needed, says Denise Robinson at PLI.

• Managing Tort Risk After Justices' War Zone Immunity Ruling

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Hencely v. Fluor changes the tort landscape for battlefield contractors, whose liability for employee injury will now turn on compliance with battlefield directives — a question that will require discovery into highly sensitive details of combat operations and military decision-making, says Warren Bianchi at Fluet.

• Mapping Bank Exec Clawback Risk Ahead Of Revived Bill

  

  The reintroduction of the Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act would allow recovery of executive compensation after bank failures, making it important for executives and counsel to take steps such as mapping compensation, reviewing employment agreements, documenting decisions, and confirming D&O insurance, says Drew Jones at Diamond McCarthy.

• What Mass. Ruling Clarifies About Whistleblower Protections

  

  A Massachusetts appellate court's recent decision in Galvin v. Roxbury Community College, finding that an employee retained whistleblower protections despite his reporting responsibilities and possible contribution to the compliance failure, requires employers to distinguish between performance-based decisions and their response to protected reporting, say attorneys at Smith Kane.

• Federal 401(k) Plan Would Create Fiduciary Litigation Risks

  

  President Donald Trump recently previewed an initiative to make a public 401(k)-style plan option available to all American workers who lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, raising novel and complex litigation issues that merit careful attention, say attorneys at Willkie.

• Initial Virginia AG Actions Signal Focus On Multistate Efforts

  

  Now that Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones has reached the 100-day mark in office, his first set of actions reveals a clear preference for coalition with regional and national counterparts, which means the primary risk for businesses is no longer just the fact of enforcement, but the speed at which investigations can escalate, says Lauren Cooper at Hogan Lovells.

• Reel Justice: 'No Other Choice' And Moral Rationalization

  

  In the satirical thriller "No Other Choice," the main character rationalizes his decision to kill business competitors by creating a narrative of necessity, illustrating for attorneys the dangers of treating strategic litigation decisions as inevitabilities rather than choices, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.

• 5 Trial Lessons You Learn By Losing

  

  Exploring insights that are usually gained only after trial loss can expose the gaps between what we intend to communicate and what lands with the fact-finder, including why being right isn't always a win and how winning a cross‑examination can help you lose your case, says Allison Rocker at Baker & McKenzie.

• What We Did And Didn't Learn From DOJ's 1st Illegal DEI Deal

  

  IBM's recent $17 million deal with the U.S. Department of Justice marks the first resolved False Claims Act enforcement action under the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, and while it validates the core of the government's FCA antidiscrimination enforcement road map, it leaves its most aggressive theories untested, say attorneys at Nutter.

• New DEI Clauses Will Reshape FCA Exposure For Contractors

  

  As federal agencies mandate new procurement language aimed at curbing contractors' DEI practices and embedding False Claims Act materiality concepts into antidiscrimination obligations, contractors should account for both compliance and litigation risks before signing, and understand the legal constraints that govern FCA materiality, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

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  Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

• How College Sports EO Raises Stakes, Casts Uncertainty

  

  The effectiveness of President Donald Trump's recent executive order urging national action to "save" college sports depends on NCAA implementation and judicial tolerance, neither of which is certain, so college athletics will remain governed by an unstable balance between executive pressure and judicial authority until Congress acts, say attorneys at Manatt.