Expert Analysis

• Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories

  

  The American Bar Association's recent research study into Native American women attorneys' experiences in the legal industry reveals the glacial pace of progress, and should inform efforts to amplify Native voices in the field, says Mary Smith, president of the ABA.

• A Breakdown Of The OCC's New Venture Lending Pointers

  

  In light of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent bulletin outlining venture lending risks for banks, Matt Schwartz and Jeffrey Hare at DLA Piper highlight key considerations for both lenders and venture-backed companies seeking or maintaining loans from OCC-regulated national banks and federal thrifts.

• Crypto, Audit Cases Dominate SEC's Enforcement Focus In '23

  

  Attorneys at Covington examine the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fiscal year 2023 enforcement results, which marked the SEC's third consecutive year of increasing enforcement activity since Chair Gary Gensler took over in 2021 — this time driven by a focus on combating cryptocurrency-related scams and enforcing recordkeeping compliance.

• New York Cybersecurity Amendments Raise Regulatory Bar

  

  Financial service providers both in and outside New York should study recent changes to the state financial regulator's cybersecurity requirements, which add governance controls, technical safeguards and incident response protocols to improve what is already becoming the national benchmark for robust cybersecurity compliance programs, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

• Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• 5 Steps To Meet CFTC Remediation Expectations

  

  After the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently updated its enforcement policies, organizations should implement elements of effective remediation — from root-cause analyses to design effectiveness tests — to mitigate the risk of penalties and third-party oversight, say Jonny Frank and Chris Hoyle at StoneTurn Group.

• Asserting 'Presence-Of-Counsel' Defense In Securities Trials

  

  As illustrated by the fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, defense attorneys in securities trials might consider arguing that counsel had some involvement in the conduct at issue — if the more formal advice-of-counsel defense is unavailable and circumstances allow for a privilege waiver, say Joseph Dever and Matthew Elkin at Cozen O'Connor.

• Forecasting The Impact Of High Court Debit Card Rule Case

  

  John Delionado and Aidan Gross at Hunton consider how the U.S. Supreme Court's forthcoming ruling in a retailer's suit challenging a Federal Reserve rule on debit card swipe fees could affect agency regulations both new and old, as well as the businesses that might seek to challenge them.

• Series

  ESG Around The World: Mexico

  

  ESG has yet to become part of the DNA of the Mexican business model, but huge strides are being made in that direction, as more stakeholders demand that companies adopt, at the least, a modicum of sustainability commitments and demonstrate how they will meet them, says Carlos Escoto at Galicia Abogados.

• Crypto Has Democratized Trading In Bankruptcy Claims

  

  Following the pandemic, there has been a wave of cryptocurrency bankruptcies and a related increase in access to information, allowing nontraditional bankruptcy investors to purchase claims and democratizing a once closed segment of alternative investing, says Joseph Sarachek at Strategic Liquidity.

• The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

  

  In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

• What SEC Retreat In Ripple Case Means For Crypto Regulation

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has chosen a regulation-by-enforcement approach to cryptocurrency policy rather than through rulemaking, but the agency's recently aborted enforcement action against two Ripple Labs executives for alleged securities law violations demonstrates the limits of this piecemeal tactic, says Keith Blackman at Bracewell.

• Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

  

  The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

• When Courts Engage In Fact-Finding At The Pleading Stage

  

  It remains to be seen whether the Ninth Circuit's pleading-stage factual determination in a securities class action against Nvidia was sui generis or part of a trend, but the court has created a template for district courts to follow, says Jared Kopel at Alto Litigation.

• A Deep Dive Into FSOC's Expansion Of Nonbank Oversight

  

  The Financial Stability Oversight Council's new nonbank guidance, designed to provide the council with added flexibility in risk response, not only modifies the process for designating nonbanks as systemically important institutions, but also sends a clear signal that the FSOC may assume a more active role in addressing financial stability risks across the economy, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.