Trials

Expert Analysis

• NY Contract Litigation Indicates Limits Of COVID-19 Defenses

  

  Although there has not yet been a decision on the merits, a wave of COVID-19 litigation concerning force majeure, impossibility and frustration of purpose in New York indicates that using pandemic-related excuses to avoid contractual obligations may be limited, says Seth Kruglak at Norton Rose.

• Ethics Reminders As Employees Move To Or From Gov't

  

  Many organizations are making plans for executives to go into government jobs, or for government officials to join a private sector team, but they must understand the many ethics rules that can put a damper on just how valuable the former employee or new hire can be, say Scott Thomas and Jennifer Carrier at Blank Rome.

• A Key To Helping Clients Make Better Decisions During Crisis

  

  As the pandemic brings a variety of legal stresses for businesses, lawyers must understand the emotional dynamic of a crisis and the particular energy it produces to effectively fulfill their role as advisers, say Meredith Parfet and Aaron Solomon at Ravenyard Group.

• Avoiding Copyright Liability For Tattoo Depiction In Media

  

  Two recent diverging copyright decisions concerning Take-Two video games' depiction of professional athletes' tattoos provide guidance on strategically using the implied license and fair use defenses when digital reproductions may infringe copyrighted tattoos, says Rowley Rice at Munger Tolles.

• Ethics Considerations For Law Firms Implementing AI

  

  Richard Finkelman and Yihua Astle at Berkeley Research Group discuss the ethical and bias concerns law firms must address when implementing artificial intelligence-powered applications for recruiting, conflict identification and client counseling.

• Picking The Right Location And Tools For Virtual Courtrooms

  

  Attorneys should consider the pros and cons of participating in virtual court proceedings from home versus their law firm offices, and whether they have the right audio, video and team communication tools for their particular setup, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

• Remedial Measure Evidence Use In IP Cases Needs Clarity

  

  A tension in federal district and circuit courts over whether Federal Rule of Evidence 407, which prohibits post-injury remediation evidence, applies in the intellectual property context creates great uncertainty that courts should resolve with a bright-line rule, say Sharad Bijanki and Patrick Muffo at Seyfarth.

• Beware Atty Ethics Rules When Reporting COVID-19 Fraud

  

  Attorneys considering blowing the whistle on False Claims Act violations by recipients of COVID-19 relief may face a number of ethical constraints on their ability to disclose client information and file qui tam actions, say Breon Peace and Jennifer Kennedy Park at Cleary.

• Looking For Judicial Activists? Check The Footnotes

  

  U.S. Supreme Court nominees typically face intense questioning over potential judicial activism, but a better way to gauge judges' activist tendencies may be to look at the footnotes in their opinions, say Christopher Collier at Hawkins Parnell and Michael Arndt at Rohan Law.

• Using Prior Art In Patentability Args Amid Fed. Circ. Confusion

  

  While waiting for the Federal Circuit to resolve its recent inconsistent treatment of prior-art-based arguments during a Section 101 patent eligibility analysis, practitioners should draft patent specifications to show improvements over prior art and then leverage them in litigation, say Michael Kiklis and Matthew Zapadka at Bass Berry.

• Best Practices For Legal Technology Adoption

  

  The pandemic has accelerated the need to improve the practice of law through technology, but law firms and in-house legal departments must first ensure they have employee buy-in and well-defined processes for new digital tools, say Dan Broderick at BlackBoiler and Daryl Shetterly at Orrick.

• The Pandemic's Long-Term Impact On Law Firm Operations

  

  Brian Burlant at Major Lindsey looks at how pandemic-era remote work has changed the way law firms operate — from shifts in secretarial functions to associate professional development — and explains why some alterations may be here to stay.

• Opinion

  Lack Of Access To Remote Court Proceedings Is Inexcusable

  

  Blanket rules that bar recording or dissemination of remote public court proceedings impede presumptive common law and First Amendment right of access, greatly expand courts' powers over nonparties, and likely run afoul of U.S. Supreme Court precedent, says Matthew Schafer at ViacomCBS.

• Opinion

  Why Attacks On Trump's Election Lawyers Are Problematic

  

  The vilification of Jones Day and Porter Wright for their involvement in President Donald Trump's election lawsuits is an attack on lawyers' duty to advocate for their clients' causes fearlessly and zealously within the bounds of the law, says Pierce O'Donnell at Greenberg Glusker.

• Avoiding 6 Common E-Discovery Production Pitfalls

  

  Vanessa Barsanti and Sarah Mahoney at Redgrave explore how attorneys can prevent collateral discovery disputes by efficiently overseeing the electronic document review process and ensuring the integrity of the information provided to opposing counsel.