Expert Analysis

• Reel Justice: 'The Odyssey' And Making Tough Trial Choices

  

  In “The Odyssey,” Odysseus succeeds because he abandons the search for a perfect answer, highlighting for litigators why successful advocacy is about making thoughtful choices that circumvent cognitive biases and mental shortcuts, says Veronica Finkelstein at Widener-Delaware Law.

• Tips For Employers As Calif. Court Limits Harassment Liability

  

  Doe v. Wells Fargo appears to be the first published California appellate decision to determine that the harasser must have supervisory authority over the plaintiff to trigger strict liability, underscoring the value of accurately documenting job roles and reporting lines, says Ellen Connelly Cohen at Call & Jensen.

• Why Vaccine Court Inoculates Drugmakers Against Litigation

  

  Most claimants alleging injuries from routine childhood vaccines must complete an administrative compensation proceeding before they can sue in civil court — and recent legislative efforts aimed at weakening vaccine manufacturers' legal protections do not account for the important reasons the existing framework was put in place, say attorneys at Goldman Ismail.

• What Lawyers Should Know Before Accepting Crypto Payment

  

  As clients increasingly request to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds using cryptocurrency, lawyers should consider how only a handful of state bar authorities have addressed the issue with varying ethics opinions, as well as the related questions that no authority has yet answered, says attorney Felix Shipkevich.

• Cos. Face Growing Exposure To Unfair Trade Practice Suits

  

  Claims against companies that were traditionally governed by tort, products liability, nuisance or environmental law are increasingly being brought under state unfair and deceptive practices statutes — and defense practitioners and in-house counsel should note these laws often provide expanded remedies and procedural advantages to plaintiffs, say attorneys at Kean Miller.

• 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.

• Opinion

  Clancy Trial Shows Need For Juror Anonymity Reforms

  

  Doxing of the holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder mistrial in Massachusetts illustrates the increasing need to provide jurors with greater protection once service ends in high-profile cases, balancing concerns about transparency and independence, says Daniel Schneider at Offit Kurman.

• Calif. AV Notices Reshape Crash Data Preservation, Discovery

  

  California's new autonomous vehicle noncompliance notice process does not decide fault or establish that an AV is unsafe, but it can create a contemporaneous regulatory record and accelerate decisions about what crash-related data must be preserved, reviewed and potentially disclosed in litigation, says attorney Lem Garcia.

• 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.

• How ChatGPT Teen Version Raises Product Liability Questions

  

  OpenAI's recent rollout of ChatGPT for Teens offers younger users a purportedly safer version of the software — but it could also help plaintiffs who are questioning whether earlier versions were safe for minors, when the company identified risks and when safeguards became technically viable, says Michael McCready at McCready Law.

• 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.

• Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

  

  In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses six recent rulings involving pecuniary loss in false price comparison advertising, privity in an insurance fee class, antitrust standing, immigration class representatives, retirement beneficiary class commonality, and Rule 23(f) appeals in Fair Labor Standards Act claims.

• 8th Circ. Ruling Raises Bar For Seeking Disability Benefits

  

  The Eighth Circuit's recent ruling in Post v. Bisignano signals that claimants seeking Social Security disability benefits may need to offer convincing proof of functional restrictions beyond their treating doctors' opinions and illustrates that the court's proclaimant jurisprudence no longer prevails, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.