Expert Analysis

• Series

  Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.

• Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations

  

  In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.

• Scope And Nature Of Judicial Relief Will Affect Loper's Impact

  

  The practical result of post-Loper Bright rulings against regulatory actions will depend on the relief courts grant — and there has been controversy in these types of cases over whether the ruling is applied just to the parties or nationwide, and whether the action can be left in place while it's corrected, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

• Trump's Day 1 Orders Augur Disruptions In Travel To US

  

  While the orders President Donald Trump issued his first day in office didn't impose immediate entry bans as some speculated, they authorized greatly increased scrutiny of foreign nationals at U.S. consulates and ports of entry, and laid the groundwork for future actions that could significantly disrupt international travel, says Jennifer Kim at Moore & Van Allen.

• Series

  Adventure Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Photographing nature everywhere from Siberia to Cuba and Iceland to Rwanda provides me with a constant reminder to refresh, refocus and rethink the legal issues that my clients face, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.

• How Views On Healthcare Price Transparency Are Changing

  

  Regulators' attitudes toward price transparency regulation have shifted over the past several years in ways that may seem contradictory, and research into detailed rate information published by hospitals and health plans has yielded mixed results, says Matthew List at Charles River Associates.

• What Vinyl Acetate's Prop 65 Listing Means For Cos.

  

  California's recent move to add vinyl acetate to the Proposition 65 list of carcinogens, with enforcement starting later this year, will have sweeping compliance and risk implications for businesses in the retail, food and beverage, paint, adhesive, industrial manufacturing, and personal care product industries, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

• 5 Ways To Create Effective Mock Assignments For Associates

  

  In order to effectively develop associates’ critical thinking skills, firms should design mock assignments that contain a few key ingredients, from messy fact patterns to actionable feedback, says Abdi Shayesteh at AltaClaro.

• Opinion

  Legal Personhood Can Give Natural Entities Their Day In Court

  

  Granting legal personhood to natural entities like the River Thames, or vulnerable species like the Pacific bearded seal and Arctic ringed seal, could protect them from ecological threats and the vagaries of politics, and help us transform our relationship with nature, says Sachin Nandha at the International Centre for Sustainability.

• Takeaways From DOJ Fraud Section's 2024 Year In Review

  

  Attorneys at Paul Weiss highlight notable developments in the U.S. Department of Justice Fraud Section’s recently released annual report, and discuss what the second Trump administration could mean for enforcement in the year to come.

• 8 Lessons Yellow Corp. Layoffs Can Teach Distressed Cos.

  

  A Delaware bankruptcy court’s recent decision, examining trucking company Yellow Corp.’s abrupt termination of roughly 25,500 employees, offers financially distressed businesses a road map for navigating layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2024

  

  Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2024, and explain how they may affect issues related to mass arbitration, consumer fraud, class certification and more.

• Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: Nov. And Dec. Lessons

  

  In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five federal court decisions and identifies practice tips from cases involving takings clause violations, breach of contract with banks, life insurance policies, employment and automobile defects.

• What's Next For Accounting Enforcement After SEC's Big 2024

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the Trump administration will likely continue to focus enforcement efforts on many of the same accounting and auditing issues that it pursued over the past year — but other areas, such as ESG, internal controls and cryptocurrency cases, may fall out of focus, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• Mentorship Resolutions For The New Year

  

  Attorneys tend to focus on personal achievements or career milestones when they set yearly goals, but one important area often gets overlooked in this process — mentoring relationships, which are some of the most effective tools for professional growth, say Kelly Galligan at Rutan & Tucker and Andra Greene at Phillips ADR.