Expert Analysis

• FTC Focus: Amazon's $2.5B Pact Broadens Regulatory Span

  

  Amazon's $2.5 billion deal with the Federal Trade Commission offers takeaways for counsel managing risk across both consumer protection and competition portfolios, including that design strategies once evaluated solely for conversion may now be scrutinized for their competitive effects, say attorneys at Proskauer.

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  Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Client-Led Litigation

  

  New litigators can better help their corporate clients achieve their overall objectives when they move beyond simply fighting for legal victory to a client-led approach that resolves the legal dispute while balancing the company's competing out-of-court priorities, says Chelsea Ireland at Cohen Ziffer.

• Meta Monopoly Ruling Highlights Limits Of Market Definition

  

  A D.C. federal court's recent ruling that Meta is not monopolizing social media raises questions, such as why market definition matters and whether we have the correct model of competition, which can aid in making a stronger case against tech companies, says Shubha Ghosh at the Syracuse University College of Law.

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  The Law Firm Merger Diaries: How To Build On Cultural Fit

  

  Law firm mergers should start with people, then move to strategy: A two-level screening that puts finding a cultural fit at the pinnacle of the process can unearth shared values that are instrumental to deciding to move forward with a combination, says Matthew Madsen at Harrison.

• The Future Of Digital Asset Oversight May Rest With OCC

  

  How the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency handles fintechs' growing interest in national trust bank charters, demonstrated by a jump in filings this year, will determine how far the federal banking system extends to digital assets, and whether the charter becomes a mainstream supervisory pathway, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

• Considerations When Invoking The Common-Interest Privilege

  

  To successfully leverage the common-interest doctrine in a multiparty transaction or complex litigation, practitioners should be able to demonstrate that the parties intended for it to apply, that an underlying privilege like attorney-client has attached, and guard against disclosures that could waive privilege and defeat its purpose, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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  The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Making The Case To Combine

  

  When making the decision to merge, law firm leaders must factor in strategic alignment, cultural compatibility and leadership commitment in order to build a compelling case for combining firms to achieve shared goals and long-term success, says Kevin McLaughlin at UB Greensfelder.

• 5 Bonus Plan Compliance Issues In Financial Services

  

  As several legal constraints — including a new California debt repayment law taking effect in January — tighten around employment practices in the fiercely competitive financial services sector, the importance of compliant, well-drafted bonus plans has never been greater, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

• Opinion

  Despite Deputy AG Remarks, DOJ Can't Sideline DC Bar

  

  Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent suggestion that the D.C. Bar would be prevented from reviewing misconduct complaints about U.S. Department of Justice attorneys runs contrary to federal statutes, local rules and decades of case law, and sends the troubling message that federal prosecutors are subject to different rules, say attorneys at HWG.

• From Bank Loans To Private Credit: Tips For Making The Shift

  

  The relationship between private credit and syndicated bank deals will evolve as the private market continues to grow, introducing new challenges for borrowers comparing financing options, particularly pertaining to loan documentation and working capital, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

• Rule Amendments Pave Path For A Privilege Claim 'Offensive'

  

  Litigators should consider leveraging forthcoming amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which will require early negotiations of privilege-related discovery claims, by taking an offensive posture toward privilege logs at the outset of discovery, says David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law.

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  My Miniature Livestock Farm Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Raising miniature livestock on my farm, where I am fully present with the animals, is an almost meditative time that allows me to return to work invigorated, ready to juggle numerous responsibilities and motivated to tackle hard issues in new ways, says Ted Kobus at BakerHostetler.

• Litigation Funding Could Create Ethics Issues For Attorneys

  

  A litigation investor’s recent complaint claiming a New York mass torts lawyer effectively ran a Ponzi scheme illustrates how litigation funding arrangements can subject attorneys to legal ethics dilemmas and potential liability, so engagement letters must have very clear terms, says Matthew Feinberg at Goldberg Segalla.

• E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

  

  Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

• How Litigating Antitrust Fix Helped GTCR Prevail In Court

  

  An Illinois federal judge's recent denial of the Federal Trade Commission's injunction request in the GTCR acquisition of Surmodics joins a developing series of cases in which deal parties have prevailed against government antitrust challenges by proposing a post-complaint fix and litigating the as-amended deal, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.