Expert Analysis

• Planning For M&A Complexity After New State 'Mini-HSR' Laws

  

  After the recent enactment of California's mini-HSR law, and with Indiana poised to pass its own, requiring the submission of Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notifications to state attorneys general, practitioners should expand their deal planning to include state-by-state reportability as more states adopt similar mandatory merger-notification requirements, say attorneys at McDermott.

• Series

  Playing Piano Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing piano and practicing law share many parallels relating to managing complexity: Just as hearing an entire musical passage in my head allows me to reliably deliver the message, thinking about the audience's impression helps me create a legal narrative that keeps the reader engaged, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

• AI Trade Secret Conviction Highlights Espionage Risks

  

  A California federal court's conviction last month of an ex-Google engineer who stole artificial intelligence trade secrets for the benefit of China is the latest in a series of foreign economic espionage cases and illustrates the urgent need for U.S. companies to implement robust security measures, says attorney Peter Toren.

• Considering The Prospects Of A Robinson-Patman Act Revival

  

  Following a flurry of activity under the Biden administration, Federal Trade Commission price-discrimination cases under the Robinson-Patman Act are at a crossroads, and state-level enforcement could become the next frontier in this area, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

• Rebuttal

  Substantial Legal Grounds Supported HPE-Juniper Challenge

  

  A recent Law360 guest article argued that the Hewlett Packard-Juniper Networks settlement was part of a trend of antitrust agencies reanchoring themselves in evidence by resisting ill-founded merger challenges, but the complaint against HPE-Juniper actually relied on substantial legal grounds and modern analytical frameworks, says attorney Richard Wolfram.

• How States Are Using Antitrust Principles In Climate Litigation

  

  While recent climate-related cases brought by state attorneys general in Michigan, Nebraska and Texas take different ideological positions, they are united by their embrace of classical antitrust principles and the traditional consumer welfare standard — but these cases deploy this framework in new ways, says Gwendolyn Lindsay Cooley at Lindsay Cooley Law.

• AI-Generated Doc Ruling Guides Attys On Privilege Risks

  

  A New York federal court's ruling, in U.S. v. Heppner, that documents created by a defendant using an artificial intelligence tool were not privileged, can serve as a guide to attorneys for retaining attorney-client or work-product privilege over client documents created with AI, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

• The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Leadership Strategy After Day 1

  

  For law firm leaders, ensuring a newly combined law firm lives up to its promise, both in its first days of operation and well after, includes tough decisions, clear and specific communication, and cheerleading, says Peter Michaud at Ballard Spahr.

• How New HSR Thresholds, Fees Could Affect Enforcement

  

  While the Federal Trade Commission's new thresholds and filing fees for the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act are not expected to materially affect the number of required HSR filings, or the percentage or focus of second requests, increased filing fees may give agencies dedicated resources to bring enforcement actions, say attorneys at Sidley.

• Calif.'s Civility Push Shows Why Professionalism Is Vital

  

  The California Bar’s campaign against discourteous behavior by attorneys, including a newly required annual civility oath, reflects a growing concern among states that professionalism in law needs shoring up — and recognizes that maintaining composure even when stressed is key to both succeeding professionally and maintaining faith in the legal system, says Lucy Wang at Hinshaw.

• Series

  Trivia Competition Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing trivia taught me to quickly absorb information and recognize when I've learned what I'm expected to know, training me in the crucial skills needed to be a good attorney, and reminding me to be gracious in defeat, says Jonah Knobler at Patterson Belknap.

• Ruling Puts Guardrails On FTC Merger Filing Rule Expansion

  

  A Texas federal court recently vacated the Federal Trade Commission's overhaul of the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification form, in a significant setback for the antitrust agencies, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

• Opinion

  Federal Preemption In AI And Robotics Is Essential

  

  Federal preemption offers a unified front at a decisive moment that is essential for safeguarding America's economic edge in artificial intelligence and robotics against global rivals, harnessing trillions of dollars in potential, securing high-skilled jobs through human augmentation, and defending technological sovereignty, says Steven Weisburd at Shook Hardy.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: What Cross-Selling Truly Takes

  

  Early-career attorneys may struggle to introduce clients to practitioners in other specialties, but cross-selling becomes easier once they know why it’s vital to their first years of practice, which mistakes to avoid and how to anticipate clients' needs, say attorneys at Moses & Singer.

• CFIUS Initiative May Smooth Way For Some Foreign Investors

  

  A new program that will allow certain foreign investors to be prevetted and admitted to fast-track approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will likely have tangible benefits for investors participating in competitive M&A, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.