Expert Analysis

• Tariff Refunds May Reshape Loan Covenant Calculations

  

  Tariff refunds issued after the U.S. Supreme Court's Learning Resources decision may complicate borrowers' covenant calculations depending on accounting treatment, the timing of recognition, customer reimbursement obligations and credit agreement language, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

• 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.

• Managing Post-IEEPA Tariff Refunds, Replacements And Risks

  

  Companies and investors reeling from the rapid changes resulting from February's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn't authorize tariffs should focus on understanding the duty refund process, the likely replacement tariffs and the operational ways they can minimize their tariff exposure, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• 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.

• 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.

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  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.

• 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.

• Wire Fraud Ruling May Upend White Collar Enforcement

  

  A Texas federal court’s recent decision in U.S. v. Garza, dismissing wire fraud charges arising from an alleged $1 billion tax shelter scheme, advances a broader constitutional principle that could affect sentencing and reshape charging practices across white collar criminal cases involving specialized statutory regimes, say attorneys at Benesch.

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  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.

• 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.

• The Paradoxical Duty To Adopt AI When You Can't Bill For It

  

  Both billing for hours saved using artificial intelligence and preserving billable time by not adopting AI may violate rules of professional conduct, but until bar associations' ethics rules catch up to this emerging economic dilemma, firms must decide how to adjust fee structures themselves, says Ines Lassalle at Peyrot & Associates.

• Economic Questions To Ask Amid Tariff Refund Class Actions

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn't authorize the president to impose tariffs has sparked class actions, but determining whether a retailer received a windfall is complex, even if it passed tariff costs into consumer prices before receiving a refund, say economists at Ankura Consulting Group.

• USTR Forced Labor Tariff Plan Pushes Trade Recourse Limits

  

  Tariffs recently proposed by the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, which determined that 60 countries failed to implement adequate forced labor protections, expand the use of existing trade remedies to address global supply chain labor standards, potentially inviting both practical adjustments by businesses and careful legal scrutiny, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

• If Upheld, Wash. Millionaire Tax Could Upend State Law

  

  The Washington Supreme Court could open the door to broader income, rental and corporate taxes if it defies precedent and the historically established desires of voters by redefining the state constitution's concepts of “income” and “property” to uphold a new tax on wages over $1 million, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.