Environmental

Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  Time To Reclaim Wellness For All Lawyers

  

  The decision last month by Baker McKenzie’s global chairman to step down due to exhaustion indicates that the legal profession needs to mount a broader wellness effort to address long hours, high stress, frequent travel and the daily demands of practice, says Leesa Klepper, director of Thrivewell Coaching.

• How Blockchain Can Certify Global Supply Chains

  

  Companies in mining and other industries are seeking to demonstrate the sustainability and ethical integrity of their products and supply chains. Because of its ability to improve transparency and accountability through incorruptible data sharing, blockchain may be ideal for this purpose, say attorneys with White & Case LLP.

• Opinion

  Courtroom Doors Open To Legal Assaults On Manufacturers

  

  By denying certiorari in the lead cleanup case ConAgra Grocery v. California, the U.S. Supreme Court missed an opportunity to impose rational limits on what could become an unbounded catch-all tort, says Linda Kelly, general counsel of the National Association of Manufacturers.

• Roundup Verdict Points To Jury Realities In Product Cases

  

  A California jury was recently asked to determine whether the popular herbicide Roundup causes cancer. The case demonstrates how jurors often must draw conclusions on unresolved scientific issues, and how manufacturers that ignore complaints about product risks will struggle to overcome the image of corporate irresponsibility at trial, say attorneys with Eversheds Sutherland LLP.

• Next Steps For Oil And Gas Owners If Colo. Passes Prop 112

  

  On Tuesday, Colorado voters will decide whether to enact a ballot initiative that significantly restricts oil and gas development. If Proposition 112 passes, owners of oil and gas mineral interests will likely seek redress for the loss of their valuable property rights, says Brent Owen of Squire Patton Boggs LLP.

• Protecting Law Firm Talent At Both Ends

  

  By 2030, it is possible that 75 percent of lawyers practicing in the U.S. will be millennials. A broadened focus on retention and advancement of all young lawyers is therefore a logical step forward but it fails to address another major retention issue that law firms should explore, says Susan Smith Blakely of LegalPerspectives LLC.

• Q&A

  Wendy Olson Talks Twin Falls, Tribes, Private Practice

  

  Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho Wendy Olson discusses her decades of experience prosecuting white collar crimes and civil rights violations, her work and challenges as U.S. attorney, and her move to private practice.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Brown Reviews 'Dangerous Leaders'

  

  Anthony Thompson’s "Dangerous Leaders: How and Why Lawyers Must Be Taught to Lead" explores the conflict many lawyers face when charged with the responsibility of leadership. The book is an excellent read for all lawyers, says U.S. District Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

• Breaking The Rules: 3 Ways To 'Lead' A Direct Examination

  

  Trial lawyers are frequently taught that they should appear invisible during direct examination — that their job is merely to prompt the witness to start speaking. But the most powerful direct examinations are the ones in which the examiner, not the witness, is controlling the pace, say attorneys with Kobre & Kim LLP.

• 4 Years Of WIFIA: What Works, What Doesn’t And P3 Potential

  

  Enacted in 2014 to promote financing and development of water projects, the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act was initially intended as a five-year pilot program. Four years later, it is now a promising vehicle for water project development, says Roger Rosendahl of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.