Business of Law

Weekly Column

Innovating For Wise Juries: Juror-Posed Questions

One way to combat juror confusion and boredom is to allow jurors to ask witnesses questions. No federal evidentiary or court rule prohibits it, and every federal circuit court to address the practice has held it permissible, say Stephen Susman, Richard Lorren Jolly and Dr. Roy Futterman of the NYU School of Law Civil Jury Project.

Tips For Complying With ABA’s New Encryption Guidance

Last month, the American Bar Association published revised guidance regarding an attorney’s duty to protect sensitive client material in light of recent high-profile hacks. The first step in compliance is understanding how your data is being stored and accessed. There are three key questions you should ask your firm’s information technology staff and/or external solution vendors, says Nick Holda of PreVeil.

Series

My Strangest Day In Court: When I Did Nothing And Won

After looking at all of the factual nuances associated with proving a constructive trust, I hit upon a strategy that I had never used before — namely, do nothing, say nothing and hope the IRS fails in its proof, recalls Mark Morris of Snell & Wilmer LLP.

Weekly Column

Innovating For Wise Juries: Preliminary Instructions

One of the easiest ways to improve civil jury trials is to give juries substantive instructions on the law at the beginning of the trial rather than at its conclusion. It is also one of the most popular proposals we are recommending, say Stephen Susman, Richard Lorren Jolly and Dr. Roy Futterman of the NYU School of Law Civil Jury Project.

Due Diligence From The Lateral Partner’s Perspective

Lateral candidates looking to make the last — or perhaps only — move of their career cannot afford to just stand by and let a law firm’s vetting process unfold on its own, says Howard Flack, a partner at Volta Talent Strategies who previously led lateral partner recruiting and integration at Hogan Lovells.

Lateral Partner Due Diligence: Where Should A Firm Begin?

One frequently hears from leading malpractice insurers that one of the highest risk categories for law firms is that of lateral partners not sufficiently vetted during the recruitment process, says Howard Flack, a partner at Volta Talent Strategies Inc. who previously led lateral partner recruiting and integration at Hogan Lovells.

Weekly Column

Innovating For Wise Juries: Setting Trial Time Limits

This is the second in a series of articles discussing ideas proposed by the NYU School of Law Civil Jury Project to resuscitate the American jury trial. In this article, Stephen Susman, Richard Lorren Jolly and Dr. Roy Futterman argue for setting early and strict time limits in civil jury trials.

Opinion

Big Business Lobby Tries To Hobble Litigation Finance, Again

In its most recent petition advocating mandatory disclosure of litigation finance, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce simply rehashes the same arguments from its previous failed efforts to convince the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the dire implications of undisclosed funding relationships, say members of IMF Bentham Ltd.

Tribute

The Legacy Of Larry Popofsky, An Antitrust Titan And Friend

In his magnificent career, Larry Popofsky, who passed away last month, not only earned the well-deserved respect and devotion of innumerable clients, lawyers, colleagues and judges — he fundamentally changed the course of American antitrust law. That came when the U.S. Supreme Court confessed error in Schwinn, 10 years after he gave me my first legal research assignment, says Stephen Bomse of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

Series

The Return Of Attorney-Conducted Voir Dire

If we truly believe in providing litigants with a jury of one’s peers, we must adopt strategies to ensure that parties and their representatives have a say in selecting their jury. When only judges participate, the result is a less representative and less fair cross section of the community, say Stephen Susman, Richard Jolly and Roy Futterman of NYU School of Law's Civil Jury Project.