Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  Humanism Should Replace Formalism In The Courts

  

  The worrying tendency for judges to say "it's just the law talking, not me" in American decision writing has coincided with an historic decline in respect for the courts, but this trend can be reversed if courts develop understandable legal standards and justify them in human terms, says Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.

• Don't Let Client Demands Erode Law Firm Autonomy

  

  As clients increasingly impose requirements for attorney hiring and retention related to diversity and secondment, law firms must remember their ethical duties, as well as broader issues of lawyer development, culture and firm integrity, to maintain their independence while meaningfully responding to social changes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

• Opinion

  Federal Judge's Amici Invitation Is A Good Idea, With Caveats

  

  An Arkansas federal judge’s recent order — inviting amicus briefs in every civil case before him — has merit, but its implementation may raise practical questions about the role of junior attorneys, economic considerations and other issues, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.

• 5 Pointers For Game Cos. Facing Calif. Kids Privacy Law

  

  The recently enacted California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act will have far-reaching implications for video game companies, and organizations will need to take steps accordingly to protect children’s privacy — from allocating compliance to implementing age assurance mechanisms, say Emma Smizer and Rick Borden at Frankfurt Kurnit.

• Recent Rulings Affirm Tribal Sovereign Immunity And Joinder

  

  Two recent rulings from the Ninth Circuit and one from the Western District of Washington attest to the strength of tribal sovereign immunity — even in cases where there is no named tribal party — and strongly suggest that tribes themselves are best positioned to represent their own interests, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• Fox Ex-Producer Case Is A Lesson In Joint Representation

  

  A former Fox News producer's allegations that the network's lawyers pressured her to give misleading testimony in Fox's defamation battle with Dominion Voting Systems should remind lawyers representing a nonparty witness that the rules of joint representation apply, says Jared Marx at HWG.

• Beware The Rocket Ship: How SEC Is Scrutinizing Emoji Use

  

  Recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cases illustrate how emojis may be weaponized to allege the existence of a security in litigation — the rocket ship emoji has received particular attention — and offer helpful insight into how the agency may use emojis as evidence of a statement, act or intent going forward, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

• And Now A Word From The Panel: Baseball And MDLs

  

  With the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation meeting on MLB opening day, Alan Rothman at Sidley explores connections between the national pastime and MDL, including sports-related proceedings in the areas of antitrust, personal injury, and marketing and sales.

• Opinion

  Stanford Law Protest Highlights Rise Of Incivility In Discourse

  

  The recent Stanford Law School incident, where students disrupted a speech by U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, should be a reminder to teach law students how to be effective advocates without endangering physical and mental health, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada.

• Opinion

  Proposed Broadcast Ban On Sports Betting Ads Is Overbroad

  

  The Betting on our Future Act, which proposes a total broadcast ban of advertising for sports betting, would violate commercial speech rights due to the heightened protection of advertising speech since the tobacco ban, and is unlikely to pass constitutional muster under a key U.S. Supreme Court test, says Mark Conrad at Fordham University.

• Dispute Prevention Strategies To Halt Strife Before It Starts

  

  With geopolitical turbulence presenting increased risks of business disputes amid court backlogs and ballooning costs, companies should consider building mechanisms for dispute prevention into newly established partnerships to constructively resolve conflicts before they do costly damage, say Ellen Waldman and Allen Waxman at the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.

• What Esports Ruling Means For College Title IX Compliance

  

  A Florida federal court's recent ruling in Navarro v. Florida Institute of Technology, that esports are not subject to Title IX scrutiny, could guide internal audits but might also permit unchecked loopholes — so colleges should watch for case law that may alter or qualify the determination, say Christina Stylianou and Gregg Clifton at Lewis Brisbois.

• Defamation Alternatives For Suing Hoax Social Media Users

  

  A recent proliferation of false or hoax social media content has targeted public figures and corporate accounts, and for plaintiffs seeking redress there are three types of claims that may be less-risky alternatives to defamation and libel litigation, say Charles Schafer and Ross Kloeber at Sidley.

• Practical Skills Young Attorneys Must Master To Be Happier

  

  For young lawyers, finding happiness on the job — with its competitive nature and high expectations for billable hours — is complicated, but three skills can help them gain confidence, reduce stress and demonstrate their professional value in ways they never imagined, says career counselor Susan Smith Blakely.

• Pending NCAA Ruling Could Spell Change For Unpaid Interns

  

  The Third Circuit's upcoming Johnson v. NCAA decision, over whether student-athletes can be considered university employees, could reverberate beyond college sports and force employers with unpaid student interns to add these workers to their payrolls, say Babak Yousefzadeh and Skyler Hicks at Sheppard Mullin.