Expert Analysis

• An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

  

  As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.

• Predicting The Lasting Changes CFPB May Face In 2025

  

  President-elect Donald Trump and the incoming Republican-controlled Congress' likely attempts to reshape the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could significantly alter its rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement abilities for years to come, says Jim Sandy at McGlinchey Stafford.

• 2025 Patent And TM Policy At USPTO: What We Know So Far

  

  This upcoming year at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office promises a continued focus on artificial intelligence-related policies, as well as initiatives to drive efficiency and modernize standard processes, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

• 5 Antitrust Issues For In-House Counsel In 2025

  

  Attorneys at Squire Patton evaluate the top areas where U.S. antitrust policy is likely to change in the next 12 months, including major challenges to the Federal Trade Commission's authority that could reshape enforcement.

• Reviewing 2024's Crucial Patent Law Developments

  

  As 2024 draws to a close, significant rulings and policies aimed at modernizing long-standing legal practices or addressing emerging challenges have reached patent law, says Michael Ellenberger at Rothwell Figg.

• Risk Management Takeaways From NIST's AI Symposium

  

  Based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology's September artificial intelligence innovation symposium, companies should anticipate that laws and regulations safeguarding AI could take new forms and approaches that break the current mold, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

• The Justices' Securities Rulings, Dismissals That Defined '24

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 securities rulings led to increased success for defendants' price impact arguments, but the justices' decisions not to weigh in on important issues relating to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act's pleading requirements may be just as significant, say attorneys at Skadden.

• 10 Noteworthy CFPB Developments From 2024

  

  In a banner year for consumer finance regulation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made significant strides in its efforts to rein in Big Tech and nonbank financial firms, including via rules regarding open banking, credit card late fees, and buy now, pay later products, say attorneys at Wiley.

• Series

  Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

• Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

  

  In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

• Musk Pay Fight Shows Investor Approval Isn't Universal Cure

  

  The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent denial of a motion revising its prior rescission of Elon Musk's nearly $56 billion compensation package is a reminder of the heightened standard corporate boards must meet in conflicted controller transactions and that stockholder approval doesn't automatically cure fiduciary wrongdoing, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

• 4 Trade Secret Pointers From 2024's Key IP Law Developments

  

  Four significant 2024 developments in trade secret law yield practical tips about defending trade secrets overseas, proving unjust enrichment claims, forcing compliance with posttrial orders and using restrictive covenants to prevent employee leaks of confidential intellectual property, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

• Data Privacy Landscape After Mass. Justices' Wiretap Ruling

  

  In Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital, Massachusetts’ highest court recently ruled that the state’s wiretap law doesn’t prohibit all tracking of website user activity, but major financial and reputational risks remain for businesses that aren't transparent about customer’s web data, says Seth Berman at Nutter.

• Compliance Lessons From Raytheon's FCPA Settlement

  

  A recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act action involving aerospace and defense company Raytheon underscores the importance of risk management related to retaining and overseeing third parties — especially in higher-risk jurisdictions — and the promotion of a companywide culture of compliance, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• Opinion

  Justices Rightly Corrected Course In Nvidia And Facebook

  

  By dismissing both the Nvidia and Facebook class actions, over investors' ability to hold corporations accountable for fraud, the U.S. Supreme Court was right in refusing to favor corporations over transparency, and reaffirmed its commitment to corporate accountability, investor protection and the rule of law, says Laura Posner at Cohen Milstein.