Expert Analysis

• Series

  Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

  

  Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

• Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

  

  An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

• Justices' Montgomery Ruling Doesn't Expand Shipper Liability

  

  Whether negligent hiring liability claims against shippers will increase after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II is anyone's guess, but the ruling itself will have no impact on shippers' actual liability in personal injury claims relating to trucking accidents, says Ronald Leibman at McCarter & English.

• 3rd Circ. Decision Sheds Light On BIPA Bank Exemption

  

  The Third Circuit's recent decision in McGoveran v. Amazon illuminates how courts are extending the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act's financial institution carveout beyond banks and insurers to technology vendors and other businesses handling biometric data, a defendant-friendly shift that still casts uncertainty around BIPA's enforcement, say attorneys at Dorsey & Whitney.

• Opinion

  State Courts Must Be Gatekeepers Of Expert Testimony

  

  Based on my experience in the state judiciary, emulating federal courts' role as gatekeepers of expert witness testimony would help state court judges maintain the appearance of impartiality and assist juries, thus enhancing the overall confidence people have in their justice system, says Lorie Gildea at Greenberg Traurig.

• Series

  Moshing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Entering a mosh pit is much like entering the practice of law — it is difficult, you have to know both the written and unwritten rules, and conduct yourself according to the expectations of each community, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

• Why Highly Specialized Experts May Risk Exclusion At Trial

  

  Expert witnesses with highly specific areas of focus may be vulnerable to exclusion in court, making it important for attorneys to check how potential witnesses' qualifications can be bolstered by their publications and other professional activities, say Evan Weisberg and Christopher Cunio at Hunton, and Kevin Cahill at FTI Consulting.

• Steps For Employers After 7th Circ. BIPA Retroactivity Ruling

  

  The Seventh Circuit's recent ruling in Clay v. Union Pacific sharply limits per-scan statutory damages theories in pending Biometric Information Privacy Act cases by retroactively applying a 2024 amendment, but employers should not mistake the holding for a broad safe harbor, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

• Drawing A Line Between Settlement Pressure And Extortion

  

  U.S. v. Luo, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, may force courts to address anew when settlement negotiations become criminal extortion, particularly in the age of easily fabricated digital evidence, says attorney Denis Kiely.

• A Lender's Guide To Fraud: Identifying Risks

  

  The evolving lending landscape, particularly the private credit boom, has heightened lenders' exposure to fraud, but recent bankruptcies demonstrate where fraud risks most commonly materialize and how banks can mitigate exposure at the outset, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

• Series

  Founding An Autism Academy Made Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Starting a nonprofit autism school with no building, no funding model and no guarantee that families would trust us taught me the importance of mission, patience and purpose — lessons that sharpened my practice and showed how meaningful work outside the office can make lawyers better, says Phillip Russell at Ogletree Deakins.

• When Do Murals Qualify For IP Protection?

  

  Artist Robert Wyland recently sued FIFA for painting over his 1999 "Ocean Life" mural to make room for a World Cup promotion in Dallas, spotlighting questions over the extent to which copyright law and the Visual Artists Rights Act protect different types of art, say attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale.

• Opinion

  Rule Of Law Requires Gov't Engagement With Bar, Not Retreat

  

  A federal agency's absence from national and local bar conferences, most recently illustrated by the U.S. Department of Justice's withdrawal from a New York City Bar Association white collar conference, disserves the bar, the government lawyers themselves and, ultimately, the administration of justice, says Muhammad Faridi at Linklaters.

• Fannie, Freddie AI Rules Raise Stakes For Mortgage Lenders

  

  Artificial intelligence governance frameworks recently released by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac impose monitoring and vendor oversight standards on mortgage lenders, potentially reshaping secondary-market eligibility, fair lending reviews and risk management as compliance deadlines approach, says Brendan Palfreyman at Harris Beach.

• The Paradoxical Duty To Adopt AI When You Can't Bill For It

  

  Both billing for hours saved using artificial intelligence and preserving billable time by not adopting AI may violate rules of professional conduct, but until bar associations' ethics rules catch up to this emerging economic dilemma, firms must decide how to adjust fee structures themselves, says Ines Lassalle at Peyrot & Associates.