Sports & Betting

Expert Analysis

• Law Firm Merger Predictions For 2021

  

  After a brief break in the multiyear streak of increasing law firm mergers, 2021 seems poised for a return to normal, with acquisitions involving small firms — those with under 400 lawyers — likely to dominate, says Peter Zeughauser at Zeughauser Group.

• The Most-Read Legal Industry Guests Of 2020

  

  Popular legal industry guest articles this year included commentary on white privilege in BigLaw, the pandemic's outsize impact on female lawyers, and business development in a socially distanced world.

• A Law Firm's Guide To Producing A Podcast

  

  Courtney Hudson and Megan Senese at Pillsbury offer tips on how law firms can utilize podcasts to deliver important legal insights to clients in a COVID-19 world, and how to make the process stress-free for participating lawyers and guests.

• 5 Important E-Discovery Trends And Developments In 2020

  

  The rapid adoption of varied remote communication and collaboration tools during the pandemic created new information preservation and privilege considerations this year, while courts and regulators offered some guidance on technology-assisted review and the movement of data across borders, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper and Boehringer Ingelheim.

• Perspectives

  Judges On Race: The Path To A More Diverse Bench

  

  To close the diversity gap between the judiciary and the litigants that regularly appear in criminal courts, institutions including police departments, prosecutor offices and defense law firms must be committed to advancing Black and Latino men, says New York Supreme Court Justice Erika Edwards.

• COVID-19 Has Broad Impact On Lost-Profit Determinations

  

  The COVID-19 pandemic is already adding new complexities to damages calculations used in lost-profit claims litigation, even in cases in which the coronavirus is not the direct cause of the breach, say Neil Ashton and Michael Yachnik at StoneTurn.

• Tips For Identifying A Culturally Competent Mediator

  

  Attorneys can pick open-minded neutrals by taking a client's race, gender, sexual orientation and nationality into account, and by ensuring the mediator is able to communicate effectively across cultures, says Anelise Codrington at Swift Currie.

• A Look At Spoliation Risk In The 11th Circ., By The Numbers

  

  Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland look at Eleventh Circuit opinions from the past five years to determine the odds of a spoliation finding, and how risks in the federal appeals court compare to those in the federal district and state courts of Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

• COVID-19 Spurs Associates To Think Bigger — Like Partners

  

  What is the firm's data on profit per partner? How do the rainmakers seal deals without pre-COVID-19 pricey dinners? Is the firm financially stable? These are the kinds of partner-level questions associates are now asking before choosing a new firm, which points to a major shift in the lateral landscape, say Kate Reder Sheikh and Rebecca Glatzer at Major Lindsey & Africa.

• Employer Vaccine Practices May Spur Bias, Consumer Claims

  

  While federal and state anti-discrimination laws may not expressly prohibit employers from exclusively recruiting workers vaccinated for COVID-19 or advertising a safe workforce, those who do could face equal employment opportunity and unfair consumer practice claims, says Jen Rubin at Mintz.

• Opinion

  GCs Are Uniquely Qualified To Lead Diversity Initiatives

  

  As guardians of their companies' codes of conduct and ethical standards, general counsel have the ability to endorse changes that will help their corporations create more diverse and equitable workplaces, says Deborah Marson at Iron Mountain.

• 3 Ways Defendants Can Nip Civil RICO Claims In The Bud

  

  Federal courts across the country have rejected civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claims at the pleading stage in several recent cases that illustrate how defendants can utilize specificity, distinct enterprise and proximate cause to head off allegations of racketeering, says Gopi Panchapakesan at Bird Marella.

• 2020's Top Pa. Employment Law Changes, And What's Ahead

  

  As Pennsylvania companies adjust to this year’s new sick leave laws, updated overtime standards and myriad COVID-19 regulations, they should keep an eye on issues like minimum wage requirements that were sidelined during the pandemic but may regain focus in 2021, says Stephanie Rawitt at Clark Hill.

• Perspectives

  Judges On Race: Reducing Implicit Bias In Courtrooms

  

  With unconscious biases deeply embedded in the court system, judges must take steps to guard against the power and influence of stereotypes during jury selection, evidence admissibility hearings, bail proceedings and other areas of judicial decision making, says U.S. Circuit Judge Bernice Donald.

• Navigating Atty Relationship Conflicts That May Imperil Cases

  

  In light of recent American Bar Association guidance on conflicts of interest posed by social or intimate relationships between opposing counsel, lawyers must carefully consider whether any personal ties could lead to ethics violations that may affect the outcome of a case, say Thomas Wilkinson and Douglas Fox at Cozen O'Connor.