Residential

Expert Analysis

• Property Claim Ruling Rightly Backs Texas Removal Policy

  

  The Fifth Circuit’s recent decision in Advanced Indicator v. Acadia Insurance, allowing the insurer to remove a property damage suit to federal court, ensures that abusive practices related to weather claims will continue to be thwarted per an important chapter of the Texas Insurance Code, says Karl Schulz at Cozen.

• My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned To Put Law Into Practice

  

  Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins looks back at how Judge Charles Spurlock's trial advocacy class at Northeastern University School of Law challenged her to apply what she had already learned about civil and criminal procedure, evidence and criminal law to solving real-world problems.

• The Thorny Road Ahead For Fractional Home Ownership

  

  The rise of fractional home ownership services threatens to disrupt the real estate industry, but even if these services survive the volume of opposition against them, they will likely be heavily regulated, says attorney Paul Weinberg.

• Coverage Ruling Confirms Policy Ambiguities Favor Insureds

  

  A recent Georgia federal court decision, Penn-America Insurance v. VE Shadowood, finding for the insured on a policy containing conflicting endorsements, underscores that coverage cannot be defeated by contradictory terms when policies include coverage extensions, say Shaun Crosner and Tae Andrews at Pasich.

• What To Consider When Leaving BigLaw To Go Solo

  

  Attorneys contemplating leaving their once-ideal job in BigLaw to start their own business should take certain concrete steps before they depart, such as saving money and drafting a business plan, and prepare for some common challenges, says Claudia Springer at Novo Advisors.

• Prepping For Fair Lending Exams Amid NY Enforcement Trend

  

  The New York Department of Financial Services has made clear that it is focused on fair lending compliance — in its recent consent order to resolve violation allegations in a state-chartered bank's indirect auto lending program — so both banks and nonbank lenders must be prepared for detailed, data-driven reviews of their lending programs, says Brian Montgomery at Pillsbury.

• My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned Education Never Ends

  

  D.C. Circuit Judge David Tatel reflects on what made Bernard Meltzer a brilliant teacher and one of his favorite professors at the University of Chicago Law School, and how Meltzer’s teachings extended well past graduation and guided Judge Tatel through some complicated opinions.

• New-Parent Attorneys Need Automatic Litigation Stays

  

  To facilitate parental leave for solo practitioners and small-firm attorneys excluded from the Family and Medical Leave Act's protections, the American Bar Association should amend its rules to implement automatic litigation stays for attorneys welcoming a new child, says attorney Gabriel Levy.

• Associate Skills That Impress Firms In A Cooling Job Market

  

  With the lateral hiring market calming down and law firms no longer overlooking resume deficiencies when evaluating candidates, associates at all levels should be cognizant of the skills and attributes that make them marketable to prospective employers, says J.B. Pullias at VOYlegal.

• Certificate Of Merit Considerations In Designer Error Suits

  

  Daniel Miktus at Akerman ​offers tips for bringing error and omission claims against design professionals, unpacking several state statutes that require third-party certification of the designer's failure to meet applicable standards of care.

• Judicial Minority Would Alter Jurisdiction For Foreign Cos.

  

  While the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits recently reaffirmed that a foreign corporation may not be held liable for foreign conduct in U.S. federal court, if the U.S. Supreme Court were to adopt an emerging minority view, it could reshape the personal jurisdiction landscape established by the court's seminal International Shoe v. Washington ruling, says Andrew Rhys Davies at Allen & Overy.

• High Court Could Resolve Thorny Atty-Client Privilege Issue

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted review in a federal grand jury proceeding that presents a rare opportunity to clarify — and possibly significantly expand — the scope of the attorney-client privilege for complex mixed-purpose communications with counsel, says David Greenwald at Jenner & Block.

• Refining Info Governance As E-Discovery Gets More Complex

  

  Courts are increasingly requiring litigants to produce chats and other conversations recorded on business collaboration platforms as evidence, so companies should develop strategies for preserving and organizing such data to timely comply with e-discovery requests and to protect sensitive information, say attorneys at Akerman.