Business of Law

Ethics Considerations For Law Firms Implementing AI

Richard Finkelman and Yihua Astle at Berkeley Research Group discuss the ethical and bias concerns law firms must address when implementing artificial intelligence-powered applications for recruiting, conflict identification and client counseling.

Picking The Right Location And Tools For Virtual Courtrooms

Attorneys should consider the pros and cons of participating in virtual court proceedings from home versus their law firm offices, and whether they have the right audio, video and team communication tools for their particular setup, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

Beware Atty Ethics Rules When Reporting COVID-19 Fraud

Attorneys considering blowing the whistle on False Claims Act violations by recipients of COVID-19 relief may face a number of ethical constraints on their ability to disclose client information and file qui tam actions, say Breon Peace and Jennifer Kennedy Park at Cleary.

Looking For Judicial Activists? Check The Footnotes

U.S. Supreme Court nominees typically face intense questioning over potential judicial activism, but a better way to gauge judges' activist tendencies may be to look at the footnotes in their opinions, say Christopher Collier at Hawkins Parnell and Michael Arndt at Rohan Law.

Best Practices For Legal Technology Adoption

The pandemic has accelerated the need to improve the practice of law through technology, but law firms and in-house legal departments must first ensure they have employee buy-in and well-defined processes for new digital tools, say Dan Broderick at BlackBoiler and Daryl Shetterly at Orrick.

The Pandemic's Long-Term Impact On Law Firm Operations

Brian Burlant at Major Lindsey looks at how pandemic-era remote work has changed the way law firms operate — from shifts in secretarial functions to associate professional development — and explains why some alterations may be here to stay.

Opinion

Lack Of Access To Remote Court Proceedings Is Inexcusable

Blanket rules that bar recording or dissemination of remote public court proceedings impede presumptive common law and First Amendment right of access, greatly expand courts' powers over nonparties, and likely run afoul of U.S. Supreme Court precedent, says Matthew Schafer at ViacomCBS.

Opinion

Why Attacks On Trump's Election Lawyers Are Problematic

The vilification of Jones Day and Porter Wright for their involvement in President Donald Trump's election lawsuits is an attack on lawyers' duty to advocate for their clients' causes fearlessly and zealously within the bounds of the law, says Pierce O'Donnell at Greenberg Glusker.

Avoiding 6 Common E-Discovery Production Pitfalls

Vanessa Barsanti and Sarah Mahoney at Redgrave explore how attorneys can prevent collateral discovery disputes by efficiently overseeing the electronic document review process and ensuring the integrity of the information provided to opposing counsel.

Justices May Not Alter Religious Freedom Precedent In Fulton

One issue the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia was whether to overturn the 30-year-old precedent for scrutinizing laws alleged to violate religious freedoms, but the discussion during oral argument suggests the court’s decision may sidestep the issue, say Austin Nimocks and Cory Liu at Ashcroft Law Firm.

Series

AGs In A Pandemic: Weiser Talks Colo. Health Orders

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser explains how his office collaborated with local governments to enforce COVID-19 public health orders, and how moral suasion and education have limited the need for civil and criminal penalties against businesses.

Law Firm Biz Development Tips For The Pandemic Era

Jessica Starr and Monica Ulzheimer at Alston & Bird look at four areas where business development and other law firm administrative teams can take a leadership role in driving practice growth at a time when attorney interactions with clients and peers are limited.

Rulings Show Limits Of Federal Agency Vacancy Law

Recent court decisions applying the Federal Vacancies Reform Act to invalidate improper presidential appointments of acting federal agency heads have had little evident impact, highlighting shortcomings in the law that could become more acute if the presidency and Senate are controlled by different parties, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

Professor's 'Self-Defamation' Suit Unlikely To Succeed

Hay v. New York Media, a Harvard professor's suit asserting that a New York Magazine article defamed him, is likely dead on arrival because he was the primary source and consented to the article's publication, say Daniel Novack at Penguin Random House and Dakshïna Chetti at Columbia Law School.

Opinion

BigLaw Must Drop The Billable Hour To Improve Diversity

Implementing pay structures that compensate attorneys for achieving clients' goals rather than measuring success based on hours billed is a necessary first step to keeping underrepresented attorneys in BigLaw, says Elizabeth Korchin at Therium Capital.