Expert Analysis

• How To Avoid A Zombie Office Building Apocalypse

  

  With national office vacancy rates approaching 20%, policymakers, investors and developers will need to come together in order to prevent this troubling trend from sucking the life out of business districts or contaminating the broader real estate market, say Ryan Sommers and Robyn Minter Smyers at Thompson Hine.

• Legal Profession Must Do More For Lawyers With Disabilities

  

  At the start of Disability Pride month, Rosalyn Richter at Arnold & Porter looks at why lawyers with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in private practice, asserting that law firms and other employers must do more to conquer the implicit bias that deters attorneys from seeking accommodations.

• Insurance Considerations For State Biometric Privacy Claims

  

  As Connecticut and Colorado join the growing number of states that have enacted biometric data privacy acts auguring significant damages, in-house counsel thinking about insurance coverage for privacy liability should consider several key factors including clarity of exclusions, say Peter Halprin and Tae Andrews at Pasich.

• Case Law Is Mixed On D&O Coverage For Gov't Investigations

  

  As the Fourth Circuit’s recent decision in Brown Goldstein v. Federal Insurance Co. demonstrates, federal appeals courts take different approaches to determine whether government investigations are covered by directors and officers liability insurance, so companies and individuals must review their policy language, say Chloe Law, Jan Larson and Caroline Meneau at Jenner & Block.

• NBA Players Must Avoid Legal Fouls In CBD Deals

  

  The NBA’s recently ratified collective bargaining agreement allows athletes to promote CBD brands and products, but athletes and the companies they promote must be cautious of a complex patchwork of applicable state laws and federal regulators’ approach to advertising claims, says Airina Rodrigues at Brownstein Hyatt.

• How Attys Can Avoid Exposing Their Firms To Cyberattacks

  

  Attorneys are the weakest link in their firms' cyberdefenses because hackers often exploit the gap between individuals’ work and personal cybersecurity habits, but there are some steps lawyers can take to reduce the risks they create for their employers, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy & Protection.

• Virginia 'Rocket Docket' Slowdown Is Likely A Blip

  

  After being the fastest or second-fastest federal civil trial court for 14 straight years, the Eastern District of Virginia has slid to 18th place, but the rocket docket’s statistical tumble doesn't mean the district no longer maintains a speedy civil docket, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

• How Courts Are Treating SEC Disgorgement 3 Years After Liu

  

  Following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 Liu decision on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to seek equitable disgorgement of defendants' net profits, case law is veering significantly in the SEC's favor, and there are four key issues to follow, say Amy Jane Longo and Brooke Cohen at Ropes & Gray.

• Now Is The Time For State And Local Sales Tax Simplification

  

  In the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, state and local governments increasingly rely on sales tax, but simple changes are needed to make compliance more manageable for taxpayers, wherever located, without unduly burdening interstate commerce, says Charles Maniace at Sovos.

• 5 Management Tips To Keep Law Firm Merger Talks Moving

  

  Many law firm mergers that make solid business sense still fall apart due to the costs and frustrations of inefficient negotiations, but firm managers can increase the chance of success by effectively planning and executing merger discussions, say Lisa Smith and Kristin Stark at Fairfax Associates.

• Navigating The Evolving Consumer Data Privacy Landscape

  

  As more state legislatures implement data privacy laws, businesses must incorporate strategies to traverse these different legal standards, such as promoting privacy culture and documenting compliance efforts, say Jack Amaral and Jon Farnsworth at Spencer Fane.

• 2 Rulings Show How Electricity May Factor Into Bankruptcy

  

  Recent rulings from an Oregon federal court and a New York bankruptcy court have evened a split over whether electricity is a good or a service under the Bankruptcy Code, illustrating the importance of relying on dictionary definitions and prior rulings when arguing that electricity is a good, says Shane Ramsey at Nelson Mullins.

• 3 Abortion Enforcement Takeaways 1 Year After Dobbs

  

  A year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, confusion continues to abound amid the quagmire of state-level enforcement risks, federal efforts to protect reproductive health care, and fights over geolocation data, say Elena Quattrone and Sarah Hall at Epstein Becker.

• Pay Transparency Laws Complicate Foreign Labor Cert.

  

  State and local laws adopted to help close the gender pay gap pose challenges for U.S. companies recruiting foreign nationals, as they try to navigate a thicket of pay transparency laws without running afoul of federally regulated recruitment practices, say Stephanie Pimentel and Asha George at Berry Appleman.

• Rethinking In-Office Attendance For Associate Retention

  

  The hybrid office attendance model doesn't work for all employees, but it does for many — and balancing these two groups is important for associate retention and maintaining a BigLaw firm culture that supports all attorneys, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.