Expert Analysis

• Series

  Competing At Poker Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing poker in male-dominated rooms taught me to treat skepticism as background noise when my opponents seem to underestimate me, to apply pressure when it matters and to adapt without losing strategic discipline — skills that are all indispensable in restructuring and insolvency matters, says Alexis Gambale at Pashman Stein.

• Private Lender Verification Lessons From Recent Fraud Cases

  

  Recent fraud allegations involving private credit borrowers raise compliance red flags for lenders, who must recognize that financial and collateral verification is an essential safeguard as failures in underwriting and monitoring infect the broader market, say Michael Bresnick at Venable and Brian Mich at Control Risks Group.

• 5 Things Associates Must Ask About Their Firm's Merger Plan

  

  The associates who navigate law firm mergers best ask the right questions early, such as inquiring about partners' plans, to assess how the merger could affect their workflow and career path, says Jackie Bokser-LeFebvre at Major Lindsey.

• CFTC Trading Rule Can't Police Prediction Markets Yet

  

  The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s recent efforts to police insider trading in prediction markets through a post-Dodd-Frank anti-fraud rule exposes doctrinal gaps around misappropriation theory, leaving platforms to fill the void with win-rate-based surveillance, says attorney Tamara de Silva.

• FinCEN World Cup Warning Raises Trafficking Risks For Cos.

  

  The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent warning of human trafficking risks during the World Cup games signals heightened scrutiny ahead of the upcoming tournament, and suggests regulators increasingly expect businesses beyond financial institutions to maintain effective trafficking-risk controls, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• 2 'Rocket Dockets' And The Rules That Propel Them

  

  The fastest civil trial courts in the country are currently in the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Florida, and their chief judges provide insights into the court rules that keep them ahead, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

• Operational AI Washing: Dismantling Claims Before Discovery

  

  Operational AI washing claims can be rebuffed before discovery extracts their true costs by turning the documentary record established in earnings calls and public disclosures into a layered defense, which can exploit the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act’s heightened pleading standards, say attorneys at Akerman.

• Opinion

  SEC Must Clarify Crypto Guidance For Investment Advisers

  

  Until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission clarifies a conundrum created by recently issued guidance that classifies crypto tokens as digital commodities rather than securities, every registered investment adviser managing a digital commodity portfolio will be simultaneously compliant and exposed, says Nicole Trudeau at Wave Digital Assets.

• Opinion

  Attys Should Aid Clients' AI Use While Safeguarding Privilege

  

  Until legislatures enact laws expressly extending privilege to artificial intelligence queries, lawyers should try to shield their clients' case-related use of AI tools by offering them dedicated access on firms' enterprise accounts and utilizing a long-standing privilege precedent, says Joseph Rillotta at Meadows Collier.

• What End Of SEC Settlement Gag Rule Means For Defendants

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent rescinding of its gag rule prohibiting defendants from publicly denying allegations in settled SEC enforcement actions actually heightens the need to think strategically when negotiating resolutions and pursuing public denials of wrongdoing, say attorneys at Cleary.

• Opinion

  Regulators Should Use Existing Tools To Jump-Start Crypto

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Commodity Futures Trade Commission should use existing authority to quickly enable crypto trading, custody, clearing and settlement to reduce uncertainty and lay the groundwork for permanent crypto rules, says Lee Schneider at Ava Labs.

• Recent Actions Signal Increased NYDFS Health Cyber Focus

  

  The New York Department of Financial Services' recent $2.25 million settlement with Delta Dental indicates that it views cybersecurity enforcement in the healthcare and insurance sectors as an ongoing priority, and serves as a road map for the compliance gaps regulators are most likely to target, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• Your Next Litigation Hold Should Cover AI Chat Logs

  

  The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision in Fortis Advisors v. Krafton to treat a CEO’s artificial intelligence chats as substantive evidence is being read as a discovery warning to litigators, but there is a second duty-to-preserve lesson that is especially pertinent to in-house counsel, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

• 'Operation Hard Money' Marks New Phase In Synthetic ID Fraud

  

  A recent California mortgage fraud case dubbed "Operation Hard Money" shows synthetic identities are increasingly key to mortgage and money laundering schemes, so lenders would be wise to integrate verification and behavioral monitoring as fraud powered by artificial intelligence creates larger losses and recovery challenges, says Neal Levin at Rimon.

• Visa's Agentic Payment Rules Expose Compliance Tensions

  

  Visa's recently released framework clarifying how payments driven by artificial intelligence can occur without consumer-merchant interaction exposes compliance risks under disclosure and fee transparency laws that may require merchants and payment providers to rethink consumer protection as agentic commerce expands, say attorneys at Stinson.