Expert Analysis

• Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

  

  While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

• Expediting Psychedelics Approvals In The EU, UK, Australia

  

  Accelerated pathways for regulatory approvals for psychedelic drugs in the European Union, U.K. and Australia is indispensable to facilitate a seamless advancement of treatments from the research environment to the consumer, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, and Ana Dukic and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.

• Series

  ESG Around The World: Brazil

  

  Environmental, social and governance issues have increasingly translated into new legislation in Brazil since 2020, and in the wake of these recently enacted regulations, we are likely to see a growing number of legal disputes in the largest South American country related to ESG issues such as greenwashing if companies are not prepared to adequately adapt and comply, say attorneys at Mattos Filho.

• Opinion

  Gilead Ruling Signals That Innovating Can Lead To Liability

  

  A California appeals court's ruling last month in Gilead Life Sciences v. Superior Court of San Francisco that a drug manufacturer can be held liable for delaying the introduction of an improved version of its medication raises concerns about the chilling effects that expansive product liability claims may have on innovation, says Gary Myers at the University of Missouri School of Law.

• Vagueness In Calif. Climate Law Makes Compliance Tricky

  

  California's recently enacted Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act requires companies making claims of carbon neutrality, or significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions, to disclose information supporting those claims — but vague and conflicting language in the statute poses multiple problems for businesses, say John Rousakis and Chris Bowman at O'Melveny.

• Grant Compliance Takeaways From Ga. Tech's FCA Settlement

  

  Georgia Tech’s recent False Claims Act settlement over its failure to detect compliance shortcomings in a grant program was unique in that it involved a voluntary repayment of funds prior to the resolution, offering a few key lessons for universities receiving research funding from the government, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

• Series

  Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.

• Potential Defendant Strategies Amid Calif. Privacy Questions

  

  Although the current case law surrounding the California Consumer Privacy Act is in its infancy, courts have begun addressing important issues related to the notice-and-cure provisions of the statute, and these decisions show defendant-businesses would be wise to assert their notice rights early and repeatedly, say Viola Trebicka and Dan Humphrey at Quinn Emanuel.

• How Facilities Can Address Legal Risk Of Wandering Patients

  

  Wandering behavior in acute care facilities is a challenging healthcare issue rife with legal ramifications, so it's crucial for facilities to perform the correct risk assessments and appropriate interventions, says legal nurse consultant Marilyn McCullum.

• How Poor Governance, Weak Contracts Harm Cannabis Cos.

  

  Decades into cannabis decriminalization and legalization, many companies in the industry still operate on a handshake basis or fail to keep even minimally required records, which can have devastating effects and lead to costly, business-killing litigation, says Griffen Thorne at Harris Bricken.

• Del. Ruling Adds Momentum For Caremark Plaintiffs

  

  The Delaware Supreme Court's recent opinion in Lebanon County Employees' Retirement Fund v. Collis could be viewed as expanding plaintiffs' ability to viably plead a Caremark claim against directors, so Delaware companies should be on heightened alert and focus on creating a record of board oversight, say attorneys at V&E.

• How Biotech Cos. Can Utilize Synthetic Royalty Financing

  

  Synthetic royalty transactions have been on the rise as a funding structure for biotechnology companies, but questions have arisen surrounding how such transactions work, and structuring them correctly requires a nuanced understanding, say Todd Trattner and Ryan Murr at Gibson Dunn.

• 2 SEC Orders Illuminate Bribery Risks For US-China Cos.

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s foreign bribery-related resolutions with 3M and Clear Channel offer important takeaways on compliance risks for companies with operations in China, from the role of traditionally low-risk vendors to gaps in internal accounting controls, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

• The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

  

  As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

• Best Practices For Untangling Mass Tort Claimants' Liens

  

  Recent litigation over faulty earplugs produced by 3M is just one example of a mass tort where settlement payouts to claimants will likely be complicated by the number of liens and lienholders involved — but claimants' attorneys can speed up the lien resolution process by keeping a few key strategies in mind, says Mark Eveland at Verus.