Telecommunications

Expert Analysis

• How Arbitrators Maintain Proportionality In Discovery

  

  There has been much discussion of discovery proportionality in federal litigation since the December 2015 changes to Civil Rule 26. But arbitrators have long used procedures to simplify the discovery process that courts have only recently begun to adopt, says attorney and arbitrator Richard Seymour.

• The Law Firm CFO’s Role In The Strategic Planning Process

  

  Today's law firm chief financial officer should be involved in many areas beyond traditional financial management, including operations, risk management and information technology. He or she can support strategic planning throughout the process, from development of the plan to its implementation, measurement and eventual evolution, say Tyler Quinn and Marc Feigelson of Kaufman Rossin PA.

• Law Firms Must Transition To An Industry Sector Approach

  

  Clients are beginning to expect and demand that their external lawyers provide advice tailored to the client's industry. Aside from this, law firms should want to move toward a sector approach because industry-focused groups are a natural place for cross-practice collaboration to flourish, say Heidi Gardner and Anusia Gillespie of Harvard Law School.

• It Is Time To Refresh The FCC's 499-A/Q Forms

  

  While changing the Federal Communication Commission's 499-A/Q forms would not address challenges the Universal Service Fund is facing or answer Universal Service Administrative Company requests for guidance, a shift to fewer revenue buckets could streamline service providers' preparation of forms and USAC staff audits, says Douglas Jarrett of Keller and Heckman LLP.

• Navigating The Pitfalls Of Civil Investigative Demands

  

  In U.S. v. Dish Network, currently on appeal to the Tenth Circuit, the district court awarded statutory damages of $280 million in favor of the U.S. and the four plaintiff states. Buried among the thousands of pages of interlocutory orders issued by the district court is a warning that should be heeded by all parties that are the subjects of governmental investigations, say attorneys with Troutman Sanders LLP.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Kozinski Reviews 'The Judge'

  

  In their new book, "The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons," do Ronald Collins and David Skover prove their thesis that hypocrisy is the key to judicial greatness? Some of the examples they present are hard to dispute, says Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit.

• 5 Questions GCs Should Ask On Securing Internet Of Things

  

  Connected devices are creating new markets and new efficiencies for global businesses. But the internet of things also raises a wide range of cybersecurity and data privacy considerations for general counsel and their legal teams, say attorneys with Mayer Brown LLP.

• 2 Recent FCC Actions Target Business Communications

  

  The Federal Communications Commission is currently assessing whether to adopt new federal 911 rules for enterprise communication systems. It is also considering auctioning off desirable toll-free 800 numbers, which could make it more expensive for companies to obtain such numbers, says Michael Pryor of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP.

• Financial Crisis Anniversary

  New Post-Recession Metrics For BigLaw Partner Success

  

  After nearly a decade of recession-accelerated change in the legal industry, “merit-based” compensation has largely come to mean measuring attorney success using some combination of origination and working attorney hours metrics. However, there are signs that the real impact of the recession is still around the corner, and that building a book isn’t enough, says Peter Zeughauser of Zeughauser Group.

• Opinion

  Time To Lift Student Loan Counseling Restrictions

  

  While it lends more than $100 million each year to our nation’s college students — including law students — the U.S. Department of Education surprisingly limits loan counseling to one-time entrance counseling for first-time student borrowers. Is this rational? asks Christopher Chapman, president of AccessLex Institute, a nonprofit focused on access to legal education.