Deals & Corporate Governance

Expert Analysis

• 4 Ways State Oversight May Change Nationwide Health Deals

  

  With California soon to become the most recent state to increase its oversight of health care mergers, acquisitions and investments, attorneys should consider how these updated state regulations may increase the costs, timelines and disclosure requirements for national deals, say John Saran and Jaclyn Freshman at Ropes & Gray.

• Could The Supreme Court Legalize Marijuana Federally?

  

  Amid slow legislative and executive movement on cannabis reform, it’s worth examining whether the U.S. Supreme Court could provide a pathway to federal cannabis legalization — a decision that would surely require strange bedfellows given the court’s current ideological makeup, say Whitt Steineker and Mason Kruse at Bradley Arant.

• Establishing A Record Of Good Faith In Mediation

  

  Viacom v. U.S. Specialty Insurance, and other recent cases, highlight the developing criteria for determining good faith participation in mediation, as well as several practical tips to establish such a record, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

• ABA Opinion Should Help Clarify Which Ethics Rules Apply

  

  A recent American Bar Association opinion provides key guidance on interpreting ABA Model Rule 8.5's notoriously complex choice-of-law analysis — and should help lawyers authorized to practice in multiple jurisdictions determine which jurisdiction's ethics rules govern their conduct, say attorneys at HWG.

• How Cannabis Cos. Can Keep Up With Privacy Compliance

  

  With the cannabis industry's rapid growth and access to sensitive consumer information, and the ever-changing patchwork of state data privacy laws, it is becoming increasingly important for marijuana businesses to treat cybersecurity as a significant risk and management priority, say attorneys at Goodwin.

• 4 Ways To Reboot Your Firm's Stalled Diversity Program

  

  Law firms that have failed to see real progress despite years of diversity initiatives can move forward by committing to tackle four often-taboo obstacles that hinder diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, says Steph Maher at Jaffe.

• DOJ's Google Sanctions Motion Shows Risks Of Auto-Deletion

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice recently hit Google with a sanctions motion over its alleged failure to preserve relevant instant-messaging communications, a predicament that should be a wake-up call for counsel concerning the danger associated with automatic-deletion features and how it's been handled by the courts, say Oscar Shine and Emma Ashe at Selendy Gay.

• What To Expect From A Litigation Finance Industry Recession

  

  There's little data on how litigation finance would fare in a recession, but a look at stakeholders' incentives suggests corporate demand for litigation finance would increase in a recessionary environment, while the number of funders could shrink, says Matthew Oxman at LexShares.

• J&J Unit Ch. 11 Case Shows Texas 2-Step May Be Wrong Move

  

  The Third Circuit's recent ruling in the Chapter 11 case of Johnson & Johnson's talc-related damages unit raises new questions about the viability of divisional merger transactions as a means to manage mass tort liabilities through bankruptcy, especially when there is a robust funding arrangement, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

• Del. Ruling Could Affect D&O Claims Beyond SPACs

  

  A Delaware state court recently held in Clover Health v. Berkley Insurance that directors and officers of a post-merger entity were insured persons under a special-purpose acquisition company's D&O policy, a ruling that could have potential ramifications for future D&O claims in Delaware outside of SPAC deals, say Geoffrey Fehling and Janine Hanrahan at Hunton.

• Breaking Down Maryland's Adult-Use Cannabis Bill

  

  Maryland voters approved adult-use cannabis in November and state lawmakers have recently introduced a bill to create a regulatory framework for its cultivation, production and sale, but questions remain on blackout periods for licensees, vertical integration, a lack of protection for off-the-job marijuana use and more, say attorneys at Fox Rothschild.

• The Limits Of Arbitration Provisions In The ERISA Context

  

  Although courts have viewed the Federal Arbitration Act as strongly favoring the enforcement of arbitration provisions, two recent decisions from the District of Delaware and the Tenth Circuit demonstrate that arbitration provisions that expressly forbid planwide relief are not likely to be enforced in ERISA cases seeking such relief, says Elizabeth Hopkins at Kantor & Kantor.

• Justices Leave Questions Open On Dual-Purpose Atty Advice

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury on grounds that certiorari was improvidently granted leaves unresolved a circuit split over the proper test for deciding when attorney-client privilege protects a lawyer's advice that has multiple purposes, say Susan Combs and Richard Kiely at Holland & Hart.