Expert Analysis

• How To Recognize And Recover From Lawyer Loneliness

  

  Law can be one of the loneliest professions, but there are practical steps that attorneys and their managers can take to help themselves and their peers improve their emotional health, strengthen their social bonds and protect their performance, says psychologist and attorney Traci Cipriano.

• Opinion

  Litigation Funding Disclosure Should Be Mandatory

  

  Despite the Appellate Rules Committee's recent deferral of the issue of requiring third-party litigation funding disclosure, such a mandate is necessary to ensure the even-handed administration of justice across all cases, says David Levitt at Hinshaw.

• Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid

  

  As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.

• ComEd Case Shows Wide Reach Of FCPA Accounting Clauses

  

  The recent conviction of former Commonwealth Edison executives and associates, paired with broader civil enforcement actions, demonstrates the government’s willingness to enforce the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act’s accounting provisions, even in domestic cases without a predicate violation of the statute’s anti-bribery provisions, say James Koukios and Nathan Lowry at MoFo.

• Who Owns Crypto Assets? Know The Bankruptcy Risks

  

  Amid a wave of recent crypto custodian Chapter 11 filings, the legal character of customer deposits give rise to a deluge of questions, because in the absence of a concrete regulatory regime, the terms and conditions are likely going to be how the court determines legal rights, says Heidi Hockberger at Levenfeld Pearlstein.

• Opinion

  Guardrails Needed Against Politically Motivated Atty Discipline

  

  As illustrated by revelations about disbarred attorney Tom Girardi’s influence, there is a need to revamp attorney discipline to protect the public, but any reforms to misconduct rules must also consider how bar-directed disciplinary hearings are increasingly used as a political weapon, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

• Operant Conditioning: Techniques To Prepare Your Witness

  

  Attorneys can apply operant conditioning principles, such as positive and negative reinforcement, during witness preparation sessions to enhance the quality of witnesses’ deposition and trial testimony and counter the potential influence of opposing counsel, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

• Investors With ESG Aims Should Heed Antitrust Reporting Rules

  

  As investors globally are embracing environmental, social and governance investing, regulatory agencies have made clear that ESG initiatives are not immune from antitrust scrutiny, and investors cannot count on receiving special exemptions from the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act reporting requirements, say Jonathan Gleklen and Francesca Pisano at Arnold & Porter.

• IRS Criminal Probe Spells Uncertainty For Malta Pension Plans

  

  The IRS’ recent scrutiny of Malta pension plan arrangements — and its unusual issuance of criminal administrative summonses — confirms that it views many of these plans as illegal tax evasion schemes, and the road ahead will not be smooth and steady for anyone involved, say attorneys at Kostelanetz.

• Operant Conditioning: Tactics That Can Derail Your Witness

  

  There are many ways opposing counsel may use operant conditioning principles, including rewards and punishments, to obtain damaging testimony from your witnesses, so understanding this psychological theory is key, say Steve Wood and Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.

• Perspectives

  Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice

  

  Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.

• CRA Plays Role In DOJ Fight Against Redlining

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent consent order with ESSA Bank & Trust is a reminder that although the Community Reinvestment Act lacks a civil enforcement provision, financial institutions' CRA compliance efforts may have ramifications under various anti-discrimination statutes, say Collin Grier and Levi Swank at Goodwin.

• Why Justices' SuperValu Ruling Wasn't Quite A 'Seismic Shift'

  

  Notwithstanding an early victory lap by the relators' bar, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. SuperValu Inc. was a win for both whistleblowers and sophisticated companies, but unfortunately left “subjective belief” to be interpreted by lower courts and future litigants, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

• Durham Hearing Shows Common Cross-Examination Errors

  

  Trial attorneys can glean several key cross-examination lessons from the mistakes made by several members of the U.S. House of Representatives during a recent hearing on special counsel John Durham’s FBI probe, say Luke Andrews and Asha Laskar at Poole Huffman.

• Opinion

  When Corporate Self-Disclosure Threatens Individuals' Rights

  

  The prosecution of former Cognizant executives in New Jersey federal court demonstrates how the U.S. Department of Justice’s corporate enforcement policy can contravene the constitutional rights of individual defendants who are employed by cooperating companies, says Gideon Mark at the University of Maryland.