Expert Analysis

• Series

  Mentalism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Convincing strangers I can read their minds may seem like an unusual second career for a legal practitioner, but both disciplines share several important requirements, including trust and preparation, says Warren Biro at Manatt.

• Why And How To Build A Neurodiversity-Informed Practice

  

  By better understanding neurodiversity and implementing simple accommodations for clients with autism, ADHD or learning differences, attorneys can build stronger relationships with those who may otherwise struggle to obtain and benefit from legal services, while developing good habits that will benefit everyone they represent, says Ting Cheung at Sanford Heisler.

• AG Watch: Texas Takes A Lone State Stand Against Tech Cos.

  

  A look at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent actions against Meta Platforms and Amazon.com illustrates how Texas is distancing itself from multistate coordination, offering practitioners a crucial perspective on navigating individual state actions amid coordinated attorney general litigation, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

• Testing AI's Promise For Large-Scale Document Review

  

  Our document-review comparison of attorneys' responsiveness and issue coding decisions versus predictions generated by artificial intelligence across 1,600 documents suggests that these tools can offer a reasonable and reliable basis for improved discovery workflows, provided lawyers understand where guardrails are needed, say attorneys at Redgrave.

• What's Next For Prediction Markets If States Win At High Court

  

  While the Supreme Court hasn't taken up a prediction market case yet, a high court win for the states in their quest to regulate the exchanges would likely mean a wave of state legislature bills and regulatory guidance arriving on different timelines, rather than a single uniform transition, says Howard Herndon at Bradley Arant.

• AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

  

  The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

• Series

  Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

• Opinion

  Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

  

  California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

• The Preemption Gap In Prediction Market High Court Petitions

  

  The Supreme Court is considering three certiorari petitions following a split in prediction market litigation between the Third and Ninth circuits, but one of the petitions would not allow the court to reach the express preemption question, which would leave the dispute half-resolved, says Jordan Garman at Withers.

• 9th Circ. Ruling Marks New Chapter In Risk Factor Tug-Of-War

  

  The Ninth Circuit's recent dismissal of a securities fraud class action against SunPower is the latest in a growing line of cases addressing whether, if ever, a company's risk factor disclosures can give rise to potential liability, an area where the law remains unsettled, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Cultivating Good Judgment

  

  Law schools generally overlook the role that solid judgment skills play in real-world practice, but attorneys can bridge the gap by strengthening their abilities to assess a case’s strengths and weaknesses, develop and execute effective strategies, and provide clear recommendations to clients, says Manny Caixeiro at Venable.

• Attorneys Using AI May Have Ethical Duty To Redact Docs

  

  The trajectory of legal ethics guidance in recent years strongly suggests that as redaction technology becomes more accessible, the failure to use it when uploading highly confidential materials into artificial intelligence tools will become increasingly difficult to defend as reasonable, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

• Retailers Must Navigate State Innocent-Seller Law Patchwork

  

  States' innocent-seller statutes can shield nonmanufacturing retailers from product liability claims to varying degrees, and by building the evidentiary record strategically throughout discovery, companies can improve their chances of obtaining summary judgment — but it is essential to stay abreast of the rapidly evolving policy environment, say attorneys at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.

• Series

  Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

• Opinion

  NC Litigation Funding Ban Sets Model For Other States

  

  States worried about rising liability costs and the commercialization of their courts should treat North Carolina's recently enacted litigation funding ban as a model because a prohibition adequately addresses the distortion that disclosure only documents, say attorneys at McAngus Goudelock.