International Trade

The Current Fight Against Contraband Art And Antiquities

Federal and state authorities’ increased focus on the art and antiquities markets — seen this summer with Hobby Lobby’s much-publicized forfeiture of a large collection of ancient Mesopotamian tablets and cylinder seals — presents significant challenges for both legitimate and less scrupulous dealers and collectors, say Stephen Juris and Brian Remondino of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

How Arbitrators Maintain Proportionality In Discovery

There has been much discussion of discovery proportionality in federal litigation since the December 2015 changes to Civil Rule 26. But arbitrators have long used procedures to simplify the discovery process that courts have only recently begun to adopt, says attorney and arbitrator Richard Seymour.

The Law Firm CFO’s Role In The Strategic Planning Process

Today's law firm chief financial officer should be involved in many areas beyond traditional financial management, including operations, risk management and information technology. He or she can support strategic planning throughout the process, from development of the plan to its implementation, measurement and eventual evolution, say Tyler Quinn and Marc Feigelson of Kaufman Rossin PA.

6 Possible Iran Deal Scenarios

Last week, President Donald Trump refused to certify Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. This does not mean that the United States is abandoning the JCPOA, but it opens the door to a variety of possible outcomes, depending on what Congress and the White House do next, say attorneys with Husch Blackwell LLP.

Law Firms Must Transition To An Industry Sector Approach

Clients are beginning to expect and demand that their external lawyers provide advice tailored to the client's industry. Aside from this, law firms should want to move toward a sector approach because industry-focused groups are a natural place for cross-practice collaboration to flourish, say Heidi Gardner and Anusia Gillespie of Harvard Law School.

Human Rights Compliance: Best Practices For Energy Cos.

International human rights laws and norms are increasingly helping to shape how energy companies conduct business all over the world. Businesses in the energy sector need to undertake systematic human rights due diligence, starting from the senior leadership and working through all levels of the supply chain, say Viren Mascarenhas and Kayla Green of King & Spalding LLP.

Series

Judging A Book: Kozinski Reviews 'The Judge'

In their new book, "The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons," do Ronald Collins and David Skover prove their thesis that hypocrisy is the key to judicial greatness? Some of the examples they present are hard to dispute, says Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit.

Take Down Or Stay Down: Digital Piracy And Trade Negotiation

As NAFTA renegotiation reaches a critical juncture, an area of discussion that involves exceptionally difficult trade-offs concerns measures to combat digital piracy, says Dean Pinkert, a partner with Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP and former vice chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Financial Crisis Anniversary

New Post-Recession Metrics For BigLaw Partner Success

After nearly a decade of recession-accelerated change in the legal industry, “merit-based” compensation has largely come to mean measuring attorney success using some combination of origination and working attorney hours metrics. However, there are signs that the real impact of the recession is still around the corner, and that building a book isn’t enough, says Peter Zeughauser of Zeughauser Group.

Opinion

Time To Lift Student Loan Counseling Restrictions

While it lends more than $100 million each year to our nation’s college students — including law students — the U.S. Department of Education surprisingly limits loan counseling to one-time entrance counseling for first-time student borrowers. Is this rational? asks Christopher Chapman, president of AccessLex Institute, a nonprofit focused on access to legal education.