Property

Expert Analysis

• Ethics Tips For Attorneys Telecommuting Across State Lines

  

  Attorneys working remotely from jurisdictions in which they are not admitted should take precautionary steps to avoid engaging in unauthorized practice of law, say John Schmidt and Michael Seaman at Phillips Lytle.

• 6 Ways Legal Employers Can Help Pandemic-Weary Parents

  

  Parenting during the pandemic has introduced a series of competing personal and professional obligations for attorneys and professional staff, and even organizations that are supportive of their parent employees can take steps to do better, says Meredith Kahan at Saul Ewing.

• COVID-19 Insurance Issues To Watch In Civil Law Countries

  

  A recent decision from a Spanish court of appeals shows that COVID-19 business interruption coverage disputes may not have outcomes that would be expected in common law countries, say Miguel Torres at Martínez-Echevarría & Rivera Abogados and José Umbert at Zelle.

• Remote Working Tips For Lawyer Trainees And Their Firms

  

  The prospect of joining a law firm during the pandemic can cause added pressure, but with a few good practices — and a little help from their firms and supervising attorneys — lawyer trainees can get ahead of the curve while working remotely, say William Morris and Ted Landray at King & Spalding.

• Punishing Bar Exam Policies On Menstrual Products Must Go

  

  Law graduates across the states are sitting for the grueling two-day bar exam this week despite menstruation-related barriers, such as inadequate menstrual product and bathroom access, which could be eradicated with simple policy tweaks, say law professors Elizabeth Cooper, Margaret Johnson and Marcy Karin.

• It's Time For Law Firms To Start Loving And Leveraging Data

  

  The volume and diversity of data managed by law firms today — from client files to internal financial records — may seem daunting, but when properly organized, good data can help practitioners stay competitive by providing sharper insight into firm resources and cost of work, say Jaron Luttich and Barry Wiggins at Element Standard.

• Biz Interruption Insurance Considerations After Texas Storms

  

  Businesses that have suffered losses from the snow and utility interruptions in Texas should consider the broad range of commercial property insurance policy triggers that may apply, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes and Boone.

• An In-House Counsel's Guide To Better Work Management

  

  Amid economic uncertainty and increasing pressure on corporate legal departments to do more with less, work management processes should be aimed at tracking legal teams' every contribution, including routine matters that can be reallocated to nonlegal staff, says Aaron Pierce at LexisNexis CounselLink.

• Building A Law Firm Knowledge Bank For Thought Leadership

  

  Marketing professionals often do not have firsthand knowledge of current legal trends and client issues, so law firms need to commit to an ongoing knowledge extraction process — a series of steps to draw out attorney insights that can help marketers create effective and frequent thought leadership content, says Michelle Calcote King at Reputation Ink.

• Let's Emerge From The Pandemic As Legal Innovators

  

  The pandemic forced a digital reckoning on the legal profession — which switched to remote workforces, paperless workflows and digital signatures seemingly overnight — and law firms and corporate legal departments can keep up the innovation momentum with three guiding principles, says Kevin Clem at HBR Consulting.

• This Black History Month, Law Firms Should Challenge Norms

  

  With so little progress made in the diversification of the legal industry, Black History Month is a good time for law firms to adjust their organizational cultures, ensuring that diversity and inclusion goals are transparent and measured in the same way billable hour and other core targets are — through written, enforceable policies, says Paulette Brown at Locke Lord.

• 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.