Expert Analysis

• How Proposed BOEM Regs Will Boost Offshore Wind Projects

  

  Newly proposed offshore wind project regulations from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management represent a substantial regulatory shift that will improve transparency around the timing of lease auctions, streamline approval and oversight for projects in development, and provide needed guidance for future projects, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• Strategies For Cos. Navigating NY Digital Fair Repair Act

  

  New York's recently enacted Digital Fair Repair Act requires original equipment manufacturers for electronic devices to provide diagnostic and repair information to both consumers and independent repair shops, so companies should prepare strategies to overcome compliance challenges regarding copyright and end user license agreements, say attorneys at Carter Ledyard.

• 5 Ways Attorneys Can Use Emotion In Client Pitches

  

  Lawyers are skilled at using their high emotional intelligence to build rapport with clients, so when planning your next pitch, consider how you can create some emotional peaks, personal connections and moments of magic that might help you stick in prospective clients' minds and seal the deal, says consultant Diana Kander.

• 5 Keys To A Productive Mediation

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Cortney Young at ADR Partners discusses factors that can help to foster success in mediation, including scheduling, preparation, managing client expectations and more.

• And Now A Word From The Panel: 2022 MDLs By The Numbers

  

  A highlight of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's practice during 2022 was the significant percentage increase of new MDL petitions granted — and given how many actions and plaintiffs may be involved in a single MDL, the true impact of this increase may be even greater than it appears, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

• Evaluating The Legal Ethics Of A ChatGPT-Authored Motion

  

  Aimee Furness and Sam Mallick at Haynes Boone asked ChatGPT to draft a motion to dismiss, and then scrutinized the resulting work product in light of attorneys' ethical and professional responsibility obligations.

• 7 Tips To Increase Your Law Firm's DEI Efforts In 2023

  

  Law firms looking to advance their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts should consider implementing new practices and initiatives this year, including some that require nominal additional effort or expense, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Gina Rubel at Furia Rubel.

• Series

  Keys To A 9-0 High Court Win: Get Back To Home Base

  

  When I argued for the petitioner in Morgan v. Sundance before the U.S. Supreme Court last year, I made the idea of consistency the cornerstone of my case and built a road map for my argument to ensure I could always return to that home-base theme, says Karla Gilbride at Public Justice.

• What's At Stake In High Court's Tribal Bankruptcy Ruling

  

  By accepting Lac du Flambeau v. Coughlin, the U.S. Supreme Court has an opportunity to revisit tribal sovereign immunity by way of interpreting the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, with significant repercussions when tribes are eligible to file as debtors, says Wilda Wahpepah at Sheppard Mullin.

• Policyholder Lessons From 1st Circ. Duty To Defend Ruling

  

  In Lionbridge Technologies v. Valley Forge Insurance, the First Circuit recently held that the obligation to defend an insured is not limited to the specific causes of action expressly stated in a complaint, providing policyholders with persuasive arguments in support of the duty to defend, say Catherine Doyle and Caroline Meneau at Jenner & Block.

• Atty-Client Privilege Arguments Give Justices A Moving Target

  

  Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the scope of the attorney-client privilege appeared to raise more questions about multipurpose counsel communications than they answered, as the parties presented shifting iterations of a predictable, easily applied test for evaluating the communications' purpose, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.

• 5 Gen X Characteristics That Can Boost Legal Leadership

  

  As Generation X attorneys rise to fill top roles in law firms and corporations left by retiring baby boomers, they should embrace generational characteristics that will allow them to become better legal leaders, says Meredith Kahan at Whiteford Taylor.

• 6 Questions For Boutique Firms Considering Mergers

  

  To prepare for discussions with potential merger partners, boutique law firms should first consider the challenges they hope to address with a merger and the qualities they prioritize in possible partner firms, say Howard Cohl and Ron Nye at Major Lindsey.

• Place-Of-Origin Class Actions, FTC Scrutiny May Rise In 2023

  

  Companies should conduct internal reviews and analyses of unqualified "Made in the USA" claims on their products because a trend of increased class actions and Federal Trade Commission enforcement over deceptive advertising under the 2021 U.S. origin rule is expected to continue this year, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• What Cos. Can Expect From FTC's Green Guides Updates

  

  The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comments on revisions to its Green Guides that would broaden what the agency considers deceptive green marketing practices — so companies should focus on types of claims the FTC is likely to scrutinize, and on recent court cases that affect how the guides are applied, say attorneys at Kirkland.