International Arbitration

Expert Analysis

• Law Firms Must Beware Risks In Nontraditional Financing

  

  Law firms in today's financial crisis may be looking at nontraditional arrangements such as portfolio funding or factoring to provide liquidity and cash support, but firms must first consider lawsuits brought against Pierce Bainbridge and other recent developments, says Katherine Toomey at Lewis Baach.

• Dismissal Of Amazon Seizure Case May Limit Title III's Reach

  

  A Florida federal judge's recent order dismissing allegations that Amazon trafficked in property previously confiscated by the Cuban government in violation of the Helms-Burton Act reiterates a plain-language limitation of the act's Title III, say Pedro Freyre and Lolita Sosa at Akerman.

• 2 Tested Alternatives To Unavoidable Court Delays

  

  Those seeking resolution in commercial disputes that are stuck in an unavoidable but lengthy court backlog due to the pandemic must consider the advantages of arbitration and mediation over court proceedings, says former U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin now at Stroock.

• Opinion

  Minn. Ruling Represents Sensible Stance On Legal Finance

  

  The Minnesota Supreme Court's Maslowski v. Prospect Funding Partners decision this week reaffirms that the doctrine of champerty is archaic, impedes important litigation finance activity, and should be abolished in the handful of states where it remains alive, says Andrew Cohen at Burford Capital.

• Best Practices For A Paperless Law Practice

  

  A significant challenge in practicing law remotely is the use and handling of documents without paper, because common digital tools such as email or even secure file transfer applications are problematic, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

• In GE, Supreme Court Extends Reach Of Int'l Arbitration In US

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in GE Energy v. Outokumpu Stainless broadens the reach of international arbitration as a viable dispute resolution mechanism under U.S. law, but leaves unanswered a number of important questions regarding the application of the nonsignatory doctrine, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

• Opinion

  Lawyers Must Address Racial Injustice With Radical Candor

  

  The legal industry is uniquely positioned, and indeed obligated, to respond to the racial disparities made clear by the recent killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, but lawyers must be willing to be uncomfortable, says Tiffani Lee at Holland & Knight.

• How Lawyers Can Network Better, Virtually And In Person

  

  The current decrease in formality and increase in common ground due to the work-from-home environment can make it easier to have a networking conversation, says Megan Burke Roudebush at Keepwith.

• Practical Tips For Presenting Your Case To Litigation Funders

  

  One mistake that attorneys commonly make when presenting a case to a third-party funder is focusing almost exclusively on liability and giving short shrift to the damages analysis — resulting in an aspirational damages estimate that falls apart under scrutiny, say Cindy Ahn and Justin Maleson at Longford Capital and Casey Grabenstein at Saul Ewing.

• Avoiding Inadvertent Privilege Waivers In E-Communications

  

  Attorneys at WilmerHale highlight recent developments in privilege law, the significant challenges raised by nontraditional working arrangements popularized during the pandemic, and ways to avoid waiving attorney-client privilege when using electronic communications.

• Opinion

  Don't Cancel Your Summer Associate Programs

  

  While pulling off an effective summer associate program this year will be no easy feat, law firms' investments in their future attorneys should be considered necessary even during this difficult time, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.

• New Trade Appeals Venue Won't Permanently Fix WTO Issues

  

  The Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement allows participating countries to appeal trade disputes during the effective freeze of the World Trade Organization Appellate Body caused by the U.S. blockade of judicial appointments to the body, but the limited membership of the arrangement means countries still require a long-term resolution to the WTO's judicial crisis, says Bashar Malkawi at the Dubai Rulers Court.

• 5 Ways To Reduce Post-Pandemic Legal Malpractice Exposure

  

  History suggests that legal malpractice claims will rise following the current economic downturn, and while a certain percentage of the claims will be unavoidable, there are prophylactic steps that law firms can take, says John Johnson at Cozen O'Connor.

• Opinion

  Credibility Concerns About Virtual Arbitration Are Unfounded

  

  Concerns that videoconferenced arbitration hearings compromise an arbitrator's ability to reliably resolve credibility contests are based on mistaken perceptions of how many cases actually turn on credibility, what credibility means in the legal world, and how arbitrators make credibility determinations, says Wayne Brazil at JAMS.

• Human Rights Are Becoming A Compliance Issue

  

  A recent commitment from the European Union's commissioner for justice to introduce rules for mandatory corporate human rights due diligence next year may signal the arrival of this issue as a global business imperative, making it as fundamental as anti-corruption diligence, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.