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Expert Analysis

• The Role Legal Finance Can Play In Firm Year-End Collections

  

  Payment collection delays have caused law firms to seek new options, one of which is litigation finance. In this context, litigation finance can offer alternative avenues to firms as they approach the end of a fiscal year or partnership distribution dates, says Travis Lenkner of Burford Capital LLC.

• 'Per-Doc' Pricing Can Improve Document Review

  

  Imagine going to a restaurant and ordering your steak medium-rare. The steak arrives burned. You expect the kitchen to bring you another one properly done, right? And you don’t expect to pay for two steaks, do you? Paying a vendor for document review should be no different, says Lisa Prowse, an attorney and vice president at e-discovery firm BIA Inc.

• Are Opioids The New Tobacco?

  

  Is the rising spate of opioid litigation comparable to the litigation that led to the mega-billion dollar settlement with Big Tobacco? According to ex-trial lawyer Richard Scruggs, who helped engineer the $248 billion tobacco settlement in the 1990s, the answer is "sort of."

• A Guide To The Executive Branch Official Nomination Process

  

  Although the Trump administration has completed the vetting and confirmation of a cabinet and White House staff, thousands of senior positions remain unfilled throughout the executive branch. More than ever, people selected for those posts find themselves under close scrutiny, say Adam Raviv and Reginald Brown of WilmerHale.

• How Collaboration Is Changing Inside Some Law Firms

  

  In our recent survey of business of law professionals, nearly half of respondents said that who they collaborate with, inside their law firm, is different from five years ago, says Chris Cartrett of legal software provider Aderant.

• Opinion

  Dealing With Difficult Lawyers

  

  Some lawyers tend to be overly aggressive, regarding law practice as a zero-sum game in which there are only winners and losers. The best response is to act professionally — separating the matter at hand from the personalities. But it is also important to show resolve and not be vulnerable to intimidation, says Alan Hoffman of Husch Blackwell LLP.

• The Psychology Of Hourly Fee Arrangements

  

  The range of possible and better fee agreements is wide. But such alternatives will become popular only if litigants confront the psychological tendencies shaping their existing fee arrangements, says J.B. Heaton, a partner at Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP.

• Opinion

  Patchak V. Zinke Stresses Need For Separation Of Powers

  

  Patchak v. Zinke may be one of the most important cases that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear in the coming term, as it will address whether Congress has the right to retroactively declare that what was illegal can be "made legal" by legislative dispensation, rendering the Administrative Procedure Act's protections essentially vapid and illusory, says James Marino.

• Self-Collection In E-Discovery — Risks Vs. Rewards

  

  As judges become better educated about the complexities of collecting electronically stored information, in particular the inefficacy of keyword searching, they are increasingly skeptical of self-collection. And yet, for many good reasons (and a few bad ones), custodian self-collection is still prevalent in cases of all sizes and in all jurisdictions, says Alex Khoury of Balch & Bingham LLP.

• 6 Common Lateral Partner Myths Debunked

  

  It’s safe to say that while demand ebbs and flows for legal services, there will never be a shortage of opinions about lateral partner hiring, which is positive for the industry, as anything with such vital importance to careers should attract significant attention. However, there is a unique mythology that travels with the discussions, says Dan Hatch of Major Lindsey & Africa.