Native American

Expert Analysis

• How Lawyers Can Network Better, Virtually And In Person

  

  The current decrease in formality and increase in common ground due to the work-from-home environment can make it easier to have a networking conversation, says Megan Burke Roudebush at Keepwith.

• Practical Tips For Presenting Your Case To Litigation Funders

  

  One mistake that attorneys commonly make when presenting a case to a third-party funder is focusing almost exclusively on liability and giving short shrift to the damages analysis — resulting in an aspirational damages estimate that falls apart under scrutiny, say Cindy Ahn and Justin Maleson at Longford Capital and Casey Grabenstein at Saul Ewing.

• Avoiding Inadvertent Privilege Waivers In E-Communications

  

  Attorneys at WilmerHale highlight recent developments in privilege law, the significant challenges raised by nontraditional working arrangements popularized during the pandemic, and ways to avoid waiving attorney-client privilege when using electronic communications.

• 5 Tips For Drafting Effective Legal Billing Guidelines

  

  To properly manage outside counsel, it's imperative for a company's legal department to implement and maintain rules on what they will and won't pay for, on staffing cases and requesting rate increases, and on how matters will be handled, says Chris Seezen at Quovant.

• Opinion

  Keystone XL Ruling Paralyzes Infrastructure Permit Process

  

  A Montana federal judge's recent ruling revoking water permits for the Keystone XL pipeline and imposing a nationwide moratorium on dredging and filling operations by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seriously undermines a tried and true regulatory process, say Tom Magness at Grow America's Infrastructure Now and Patrice Douglas at Spencer Fane.

• Opinion

  Don't Cancel Your Summer Associate Programs

  

  While pulling off an effective summer associate program this year will be no easy feat, law firms' investments in their future attorneys should be considered necessary even during this difficult time, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.

• Aquaculture, Fishing Cos. Stand To Net Big Gains From Aid

  

  A recent Trump administration executive order and a plan to distribute CARES Act funding to aquaculture and fishing businesses represent ambitious new federal support for these industries, and stakeholders should engage proactively as spending plans and application processes are developed, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• 5 Ways To Reduce Post-Pandemic Legal Malpractice Exposure

  

  History suggests that legal malpractice claims will rise following the current economic downturn, and while a certain percentage of the claims will be unavoidable, there are prophylactic steps that law firms can take, says John Johnson at Cozen O'Connor.

• Opinion

  Credibility Concerns About Virtual Arbitration Are Unfounded

  

  Concerns that videoconferenced arbitration hearings compromise an arbitrator's ability to reliably resolve credibility contests are based on mistaken perceptions of how many cases actually turn on credibility, what credibility means in the legal world, and how arbitrators make credibility determinations, says Wayne Brazil at JAMS.

• A Lawyer's Guide To Client Service Continuity Planning

  

  Ensuring uninterrupted client service and compliance with ethical obligations in a time when attorneys are more likely to fall ill means taking six basic — yet often ignored — steps to build some redundancy and internal communication into legal practice, say attorneys at Axinn.

• Virtual Meetings Could Be Fertile Ground For Legal Discovery

  

  Many remote meeting technologies include recording features as default settings, raising three primary concerns from a legal discovery and data retention perspective, and possibly bringing unintended consequences for companies in future litigation, says Courtney Murphy at Clark Hill.

• The Role Of Remote Mediation After The Crisis Is Over

  

  When the dark cloud of COVID-19 has passed and resolution centers are once again peopled with warring parties and aspiring peacemakers, remote mediations will likely still be common, but they are not going to be a panacea for all that ails the dispute resolution industry, says Mitch Orpett at Tribler Orpett.

• 7 Steps To Romancing The Virtual Classroom

  Excerpt from Lexis Practice Advisor

  

  For professors, trainers, lawyers, students and businesses grappling with the unexpected challenges of distance learning, trial attorney and teacher James Wagstaffe offers best practices for real-time online instruction.

• Key Return-To-Work Considerations For Law Firms

  

  There may be precious little notice before the legal community ramps up, so it's important to have return-to-work plans that address the unique challenges law firms will face in bringing employees back to offices, say attorneys Daniel Gerber, Barbara O'Connell and Richard Tucker.

• A Creative Solution For Teaching Local Practice In Law School

  

  To help prepare my students to navigate local practice, I wrote a set of rules for the classroom that mimics those they might encounter from a local judge or court, says Michael Zuckerman at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.