Expert Analysis

• 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.

• A Framework For Volume Dispute Damages In Oil, Gas M&A

  

  With every major upstream oil and gas consolidation in recent years having resulted in minimum volume commitment disputes, experts testifying in such litigation must use a five-step framework for calculating lost profits that accounts for the option structure embedded in the contract, says Robert Foss at Hinds Feat Advisors.

• 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.

• Series

  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.

• A Lender's Guide To Fraud: Identifying Risks

  

  The evolving lending landscape, particularly the private credit boom, has heightened lenders' exposure to fraud, but recent bankruptcies demonstrate where fraud risks most commonly materialize and how banks can mitigate exposure at the outset, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

• Series

  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.

• Brightline Debt Woes Highlight Risks In Private Rail Finance

  

  The reported creditor negotiations and mounting debt obligations of Florida railroad Brightline arrive at a moment when the assumptions underlying a decade of privately financed infrastructure investment are under pressure across multiple asset classes, says Robert Charbonneau at Agentis.

• 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.

• UCC Digital Asset Update Is Altering Lender, Obligor Diligence

  

  The rollout of the Uniform Commercial Code's Article 12 is transforming digital asset secured lending, forcing lenders and obligors to rethink diligence, control, custody, monitoring and contract terms, as well as collateral practices and financing structures, as jurisdictions continue to adopt the amendments, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

• How Federal PFAS Bill Would Expand Liability For Companies

  

  Recently proposed federal legislation governing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances would not only phase out nonessential uses of PFAS and prohibit detectable environmental releases, but would also expand liability in ways that will matter to companies with current or historical PFAS exposure, says Ayodeji Ayolola at Gordon Rees.

• Ch. 15 Ruling Is A Restructuring Blueprint For Cannabis Cos.

  

  The recent Cannabist Chapter 15 recognition order is arguably the most significant cannabis bankruptcy development in U.S. history, providing a concrete and tested road map by which such companies with foreign parent structures can access the protective machinery of U.S. bankruptcy law, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.