Expert Analysis

• Series

  Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

  

  Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

• Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

  

  An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

• Justices' Montgomery Ruling Doesn't Expand Shipper Liability

  

  Whether negligent hiring liability claims against shippers will increase after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II is anyone's guess, but the ruling itself will have no impact on shippers' actual liability in personal injury claims relating to trucking accidents, says Ronald Leibman at McCarter & English.

• Opinion

  State Courts Must Be Gatekeepers Of Expert Testimony

  

  Based on my experience in the state judiciary, emulating federal courts' role as gatekeepers of expert witness testimony would help state court judges maintain the appearance of impartiality and assist juries, thus enhancing the overall confidence people have in their justice system, says Lorie Gildea at Greenberg Traurig.

• Series

  Moshing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Entering a mosh pit is much like entering the practice of law — it is difficult, you have to know both the written and unwritten rules, and conduct yourself according to the expectations of each community, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

• Why Highly Specialized Experts May Risk Exclusion At Trial

  

  Expert witnesses with highly specific areas of focus may be vulnerable to exclusion in court, making it important for attorneys to check how potential witnesses' qualifications can be bolstered by their publications and other professional activities, say Evan Weisberg and Christopher Cunio at Hunton, and Kevin Cahill at FTI Consulting.

• A Midyear Look At Antiterrorism Act Jurisprudence And Policy

  

  Plaintiffs have filed comparably fewer new actions under the Antiterrorism Act this year, though a handful of key decisions further defined the statute’s aiding-and-abetting standard and highlighted continuing risks for financial services companies, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Texas Rule Change Could Speed Trucking Case Dismissals

  

  The Texas Supreme Court's recent comprehensive amendments to Rule 166a, governing summary judgment procedure and standards in Texas state courts, will fundamentally reshape dispositive motion practice, permitting defendants in trucking cases to weaponize the rule against unwitting plaintiffs, and requiring more aggressive early discovery efforts, say attorneys at Hamilton Wingo.

• Drawing A Line Between Settlement Pressure And Extortion

  

  U.S. v. Luo, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, may force courts to address anew when settlement negotiations become criminal extortion, particularly in the age of easily fabricated digital evidence, says attorney Denis Kiely.

• Colorado's New Chatbot Law May Be Defined By Its Carveouts

  

  What makes Colorado's conversational artificial intelligence service law worth close attention is what it leaves out, so a thorough scoping analysis may be as important as compliance planning for companies that develop, license or deploy conversational AI, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

• Series

  Founding An Autism Academy Made Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Starting a nonprofit autism school with no building, no funding model and no guarantee that families would trust us taught me the importance of mission, patience and purpose — lessons that sharpened my practice and showed how meaningful work outside the office can make lawyers better, says Phillip Russell at Ogletree Deakins.

• Using NY Lawsuit Loan Law, Ruling Against Shady Injury Suits

  

  The combination of a New York state appellate ruling that exposes litigation lenders in potentially fraudulent personal injury cases to discovery and a new law limiting predatory loans to plaintiffs provides defense counsel a powerful new toolkit for confronting suspicious claims, say attorneys at Stradley Ronon.

• The Banking Issue Hiding In Justices' Freight Broker Ruling

  

  While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent liability preemption ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport was front-page news for the transportation industry, the banking industry seems to have missed that the decision exposes freight broker lenders to credit, documentation and litigation issues, say attorneys at Barack Ferrazzano.

• Opinion

  Rule Of Law Requires Gov't Engagement With Bar, Not Retreat

  

  A federal agency's absence from national and local bar conferences, most recently illustrated by the U.S. Department of Justice's withdrawal from a New York City Bar Association white collar conference, disserves the bar, the government lawyers themselves and, ultimately, the administration of justice, says Muhammad Faridi at Linklaters.

• Aviation Watch: Product Safety Lessons From The UPS Crash

  

  The National Transportation Safety Board's recent hearing concerning the crash of a UPS jet late last year highlighted the importance of maintaining records documenting analysis of design defects, adequately warning users of defects and related safety issues, and requiring use of improved designs, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.