Expert Analysis

• Learning From This Year's Legal Industry Discrimination Suits

  

  To limit the risk of lawsuits and make the workplace a more welcoming environment for female attorneys, it is important to reflect on lawyers' recent discrimination and sexual harassment claims against law firms and public employers, says Hope Comisky at Griesing Law.

• Series

  The Future Of Legal Ops: AI Has Important Role To Play

  

  Though the debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT has prompted some fears about negative impact on lawyers, artificial intelligence technology can be a powerful tool for legal operations professionals if used effectively to augment their work, say Justin Ben-Asher and Gwendolyn Renigar at Steptoe, and Elizabeth Matthews at TotalEnergies.

• 4 Proactive Strategies For 'Rocket Docket' Discovery In SDNY

  

  With more than half of Southern District of New York judges now allowing four or fewer months for fact discovery, civil litigators in this aspiring "rocket docket" jurisdiction should prioritize case management methods that make the most of this compressed timeline, say Jaclyn Grodin and Nicholas Cutaia at Goulston & Storrs.

• Opinion

  Increasing Law Firm Polarization Will Degrade Rule Of Law

  

  As evidenced in recent instances of law firms separating from attorneys who represented certain industries or espoused certain views, firms and the legal practice itself have grown troublingly polarized and intolerant of dissent, says Rebecca Roiphe at New York Law School.

• How To Deal With Difficult Clients, Practically And Ethically

  

  Meredith Stoma at Lewis Brisbois discusses common obstacles for counsel working with difficult clients and provides guidance on ethically managing or terminating these challenging relationships — as, for example, counsel for Ye have recently done.

• Opinion

  Federal Courts Should Adopt Supreme Court's Amicus Stance

  

  The federal courts of appeals should adopt the U.S. Supreme Court's new approach to amicus curiae briefs, which allows the friend-of-the-court submissions to be filed without consent from the court or the parties, says Lawrence Ebner at Atlantic Legal Foundation.

• Why NIL Policy Isn't A Game Changer For Int'l Students

  

  While it's been over a year since the NCAA's groundbreaking policy change allowing paid sponsorships, most international student-athletes will be unable to benefit until U.S. government agencies clarify the immigration consequences, says Gabriel Castro at BAL.

• 3 Pricing Trends In Law Firm Use Of Litigation Funding

  

  As BigLaw firms increasingly include litigation funding as a financing option for clients, internal pricing groups are taking the lead on standardizing and centralizing firm processes, and aggregating risk budgets, says Brendan Dyer at Woodsford Group.

• Safeguarding Attorneys' Greatest Asset: Our Mental Health

  

  Attorneys who understand that mental fitness is their most valuable characteristic should prioritize mental health care accordingly, including with certain activities they may not realize qualify as self-care, says Wendy Robbins at Holland & Knight.

• Digital Nomads: Key Considerations For Global Businesses

  

  As employers and employees embrace remote, location-independent work arrangements enabled by technology, they must be mindful of the employment law and tax consequences such arrangements may trigger, say Hannah Wilkins and Audrey Elliott at Eversheds Sutherland.

• Top 10 Labor And Employment Issues In M&A Transactions

  

  In order to ensure that M&A transactions come to fruition in the current uncertain environment, companies should keep several labor and employment issues in mind during the due diligence process to minimize risk, says Cassidy Mara at Akerman.

• Opinion

  Law Schools Are Right To Steer Clear Of US News Rankings

  

  By opting out of participating in the U.S. News & World Report annual rankings, law schools abandon a profoundly flawed system and free up their resources to adapt to the tsunami of changes overtaking the profession, says Nicholas Allard at Jacksonville University College of Law.

• Opinion

  Litigation Funders Seek Transparency In Disclosure Debate

  

  Litigation funders want to correct the record on calls for funding disclosure in the name of transparency, as this purported justification obscures the disclosure's adverse effects — prejudicing plaintiffs' cases and discouraging the assertion of meritorious legal claims, say Dai Wai Chin Feman and William Weisman at Parabellum Capital.

• Employee Immigration Considerations For M&A Due Diligence

  

  For a company going through a merger or acquisition, an immediate review of immigration issues, including compliance and impediments to employee retention, can remove several stumbling blocks known to trip up otherwise viable deals, say Elizabeth Gibbes and Miguel Manna at Parker Poe.

• 5 Principles For Better Professional Development Programs

  

  The pandemic and ensuing "great resignation" have resulted in a more transient legal work force, but law firms can use effective professional development programs to bridge a cultural gap with new associates and stem associate attrition, says Matthew Woods at Robins Kaplan.