Expert Analysis

• Series

  Playing Piano Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing piano and practicing law share many parallels relating to managing complexity: Just as hearing an entire musical passage in my head allows me to reliably deliver the message, thinking about the audience's impression helps me create a legal narrative that keeps the reader engaged, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

• AI Trade Secret Conviction Highlights Espionage Risks

  

  A California federal court's conviction last month of an ex-Google engineer who stole artificial intelligence trade secrets for the benefit of China is the latest in a series of foreign economic espionage cases and illustrates the urgent need for U.S. companies to implement robust security measures, says attorney Peter Toren.

• How To Counter 7 Logical Fallacies In Legal Arguments

  

  Many legal arguments are riddled with reasoning flaws that can effectively distract or persuade the fact-finder, but these tactics lose much of their power when attorneys recognize and strategically shine a light on them, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

• AI-Generated Doc Ruling Guides Attys On Privilege Risks

  

  A New York federal court's ruling, in U.S. v. Heppner, that documents created by a defendant using an artificial intelligence tool were not privileged, can serve as a guide to attorneys for retaining attorney-client or work-product privilege over client documents created with AI, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

• How To Turn EU AI Act Disclosures Into Patent Assets

  

  As the Aug. 2 deadline approaches to comply with provisions of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act governing high-risk AI systems, intellectual property and AI leaders should consider steps to leverage documentation requirements to surface patentable subject matter, reinforce inventive-step narratives and align regulatory timelines with patent filing strategy, say Lestin Kenton, Roozbeh Gorgin and Ananth Josyula at Sterne Kessler.

• The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Leadership Strategy After Day 1

  

  For law firm leaders, ensuring a newly combined law firm lives up to its promise, both in its first days of operation and well after, includes tough decisions, clear and specific communication, and cheerleading, says Peter Michaud at Ballard Spahr.

• Fed. Circ. In Jan.: On The Validity Of Expert Testimony

  

  The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Barry v. DePuy, addressing whether expert testimony is admissible even if it does not strictly adhere to the court's claim construction, suggests that exclusion via a Daubert motion is appropriate only when the line to improper testimony is clearly crossed, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

• Reel Justice: 'Sentimental Value' And Witness Anxiety

  

  "Sentimental Value" reminds us that anxiety can interfere with performance, but unlike actors, witnesses cannot rehearse their lines or control the script, so a lawyer's role is not to eliminate stress, but to create conditions where the accuracy of a witness's testimony survives under pressure, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.

• Calif.'s Civility Push Shows Why Professionalism Is Vital

  

  The California Bar’s campaign against discourteous behavior by attorneys, including a newly required annual civility oath, reflects a growing concern among states that professionalism in law needs shoring up — and recognizes that maintaining composure even when stressed is key to both succeeding professionally and maintaining faith in the legal system, says Lucy Wang at Hinshaw.

• How The Fashion 'Dupe' Economy Is Redefining IP Strategies

  

  Fashion brands' recent experiments with unconventional trademark strategies highlight the growing impact that "dupe" versions of luxury items are having on the fashion market, as well as growing pressure points in trademark and trade dress law, say attorneys at Marshall Gerstein.

• Series

  Trivia Competition Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing trivia taught me to quickly absorb information and recognize when I've learned what I'm expected to know, training me in the crucial skills needed to be a good attorney, and reminding me to be gracious in defeat, says Jonah Knobler at Patterson Belknap.

• An Instructive Reminder On Appealing ITC Determinations

  

  A recent Federal Circuit decision, partially dismissing Crocs' appeal of a U.S. International Trade Commission verdict as untimely, offers a powerful reminder that the ITC is a creature of statute and that practitioners would do well to interpret those statutes conservatively, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

• Clarifying A Persistent Misconception About Settlement Talks

  

  An Indiana federal court’s recent Cloudbusters v. Tinsley ruling underscores the often-misunderstood principle that Rule 408 of the Federal Rules of Evidence does not bar parties from referencing prior settlement communications in their pleadings — a critical distinction when such demands further a fraudulent or bad faith scheme, say attorneys at Hanson Bridgett.

• Opinion

  Federal Preemption In AI And Robotics Is Essential

  

  Federal preemption offers a unified front at a decisive moment that is essential for safeguarding America's economic edge in artificial intelligence and robotics against global rivals, harnessing trillions of dollars in potential, securing high-skilled jobs through human augmentation, and defending technological sovereignty, says Steven Weisburd at Shook Hardy.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: What Cross-Selling Truly Takes

  

  Early-career attorneys may struggle to introduce clients to practitioners in other specialties, but cross-selling becomes easier once they know why it’s vital to their first years of practice, which mistakes to avoid and how to anticipate clients' needs, say attorneys at Moses & Singer.