Property

Expert Analysis

• Law Firm Penalties On Departing Partners Just Got Riskier

  

  A D.C. appeals court's recent decision in Jacobson Holman v. Gentner sharply limiting the ability of law firms to financially penalize departing partners continues a clear trend among court rulings and bar ethics opinions, and should encourage firms to review their partnership agreements for any ethical land mines, says Alan Kabat at Bernabei & Kabat.

• Tips For Protecting Privilege When Working With Outside PR

  

  As lawsuits stemming from companies' COVID-19 responses grow and businesses hire public relations firms to manage the fallout, companies and their counsel should consider strategies to best protect themselves in court — and in the court of public opinion — without stepping on a privilege land mine, say Daniella Main and Mia Falzarano at Alston & Bird.

• An OFAC Compliance Checklist For Ransomware Payments

  

  As the U.S. government heightens its scrutiny of ransomware payments, victims that pay extortion demands can follow 12 steps to help establish the requisite mitigation and due diligence to avoid penalties from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, says cybersecurity consultant John Reed Stark.

• Remote Bar Exams Pose New Learning Disability Challenges

  

  New bar exam formats necessitated by the COVID-19 crisis — going from paper to computer, in-person to remote, human to artificial intelligence proctoring — may exacerbate shortcomings in disability assessments for learning-disabled test takers seeking accommodations, says Rebecca Mannis at Ivy Prep.

• Don't Let Lies Infiltrate The Mediation Process

  

  The pandemic-era rise in mediation brings about the increased risk that participants will engage in dishonest behavior with the expectation that settlement negotiations will be kept confidential, but lawyers should beware that state confidentiality protections differ, and that courts have applied ethical rules in the mediation context, say Jennifer Gibbs and Amanda Rodriguez at Zelle.

• Judges On Race: Lack Of Data Deters Criminal Justice Reform

  

  Many state courts' failure to gather basic data on sentencing and other important criminal justice metrics frustrates efforts to keep checks on judges’ implicit biases and reduce racial disparities, say Justice Michael Donnelly at the Ohio Supreme Court and Judge Pierre Bergeron at the Ohio First District Court of Appeals.

• Law Firms Should Note GCs' Growing Focus On Biz Strategies

  

  Amid the challenges of the pandemic, a shifting digital landscape, and increasing calls for diversity and inclusion, general counsel responsibilities are expanding into six new areas, highlighting the need for both in-house and outside counsel to serve as strategic and empathetic business leaders, say Wendy King at FTI Consulting and David Horrigan at Relativity.

• Economic Loss Is Key To Pandemic Insurance Suits

  

  Decades of case law distinguishing between economic loss and property damage may support commercial property insurance policyholders in litigation with insurers who argue that COVID-19-related losses do not constitute physical damage, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes and Boone.

• 6 Changes The Legal Industry Should Prepare For

  

  As clients increasingly demand better efficiency, predictability and cost-effectiveness from their legal partners, especially during the pandemic, law firms and other legal service providers may need to explore new ways to bundle and deliver services — and move away from billing by time, says Joey Seeber at Level Legal.

• Arizona May Have Nudged US Law Firms Toward Future IPOs

  

  No U.S. law firm has its shares listed on a public stock exchange unlike some lucrative overseas counterparts, but by allowing nonattorneys to become stakeholders in law firms, Arizona may have paved the way for this to change should other U.S. states — particularly New York — follow suit, says Marc Lieberman at Kutak Rock.

• 4 Legal Industry Trends Litigation Financiers Are Watching

  

  Some recent litigation developments demonstrate efforts by law firms and their clients to search for opportunities in the COVID-19 economic fallout, while others — such as the rise of contingency fee arrangements — reflect acceleration of tendencies that were already underway, says William Weisman at Therium Capital.

• ABA Approves Remote Practice, But Questions Remain

  

  Lawyers working remotely during the pandemic while physically outside the jurisdictions in which they are licensed will find some comfort in a recent American Bar Association opinion sanctioning such practice, but there is ambiguity regarding the contours of what's allowed, say attorneys at Harris Wiltshire.

• Spa Virus Coverage Ruling Misses The Mark

  

  A Virginia federal court's recent decision in Elegant Massage v. State Farm held that an insurance policy's virus exclusion did not apply to a spa's COVID-19 business income claim, ignoring well-established contract interpretation principles and should be rejected by other courts, says George Reede at Zelle.