Property

Expert Analysis

• Lawyers Must Fight Voter Suppression This Election Season

  

  Lawyers should use their unique skill sets, knowledge and spheres of influence to fight burdensome ID requirements and other voter suppression tactics that may influence the 2020 elections, and to participate in potential post-election litigation, say CK Hoffler and Allyce Bailey at the National Bar Association.

• Why Online Mediation May Be Here To Stay

  

  Videoconferenced mediation offers several advantages and helps cases settle faster and more cordially, making it hard to imagine going back to logistically difficult in-person dispute resolution after COVID-19 restrictions are gone, says Sidney Kanazawa at ARC.

• Early Takeaways From SEC's FY 2020 Fraud Enforcement

  

  Ahead of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's annual enforcement data release later this fall, emerging enforcement themes include fraud related to COVID-19, as well as individual accountability, misuse of reserves, revenue recognition, disclosure malfeasance and data analytics, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

• CFTC Climate Change Report Highlights Costs Of Inaction

  

  The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent report on climate change and financial markets makes it clear that while government regulation of carbon dioxide pollution may have negative consequences, letting greenhouse gas emissions go unaddressed could harm investors, asset managers and financial institutions, says Nicholas Fox at Goldberg Segalla.

• Insurers Should Cover Small Businesses' COVID-19 Losses

  

  Insurers should help keep small businesses open by honoring their obligations to pay claims for pandemic-related losses, and if necessary, the federal government should guarantee bailouts for coverage, say Sean Andrade and Stephen Masterson at Andrade Gonzalez.

• What Hiring Law Firms Should Consider Instead Of Grades

  

  With law schools forgoing traditional grading due to the pandemic, hiring firms that have heavily weighted first-year grades during the on-campus interview process should turn to metrics that allow a more holistic view of a candidate, says Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.

• How To Navigate A Hardening D&O Insurance Market

  

  The directors and officers liability insurance market's shift toward favoring sellers, coupled with the potential surge of lawsuits against companies as a result of COVID-19's economic impact, increases the importance of mitigating risks by reexamining existing D&O coverage, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

• Pandemic-Era Civil Jury Trials Require Constitutional Scrutiny

  

  Courts should carefully consider the constitutional rights of litigants before restarting civil jury trials amid the pandemic, because inadequate remote voir dire procedures and evidentiary handicaps due to health safety measures could amount to the denial of a fair trial by an impartial jury, say attorneys at Rumberger Kirk.

• Trump Should Revisit Flawed Plan To Lower Drug Prices

  

  President Donald Trump has no legal authority to enact his proposed drug reform linking Medicare payments to prices paid in other countries, and should instead ease regulatory burdens on new drugs and demand that foreign governments pay their fair share for medicine, says Joel White at the Council for Affordable Health Coverage.

• Overcoming The Pandemic's Hurdles To Pro Bono Work

  

  Sarah McLean at Shearman & Sterling looks at how attorneys and law firms can partner with nonprofits to leverage their collective resources, sharpen their legal skills and beat the unique pandemic-induced challenges to providing free legal services to low-income individuals.

• The Rise Of Reps And Warranties Insurance In Upstream M&A

  

  The increase in bankruptcy-driven mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic means that the use of representations and warranties insurance to limit seller indemnification risk in energy transactions will likely continue to grow, say Robert Gray and Rebecca Seidl at Mayer Brown.

• How The Music Industry Can Weather COVID-19

  

  Although COVID-19 has devastated the music industry, certain contract provisions, insurance policies and federal support can help reduce or mitigate financial losses, say Carly Kessler and Lauran Birkenstock at Robins Kaplan.

• Best Practices For Presenting Exhibits In A Remote Deposition

  

  In this era of fully remote depositions, attorneys must carefully consider whether they want to deliver exhibits to opposing counsel in advance or on the day of the deposition, and think creatively about the technological resources available to them, say Helene Wasserman and Nathaniel Jenkins at Littler.