Expert Analysis

• A Difficult Year For CRE, But Future May Be Brighter

  

  2023 was a challenging year for the commercial real estate industry, marked by significant uncertainty, but market pressure and signs of rising interest rates provide some reasons to be cautiously optimistic for the year ahead as pandemic headwinds and gridlock fade away, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023

  

  Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.

• Strategies For Wire Fraud Prevention As Risk Is On The Rise

  

  Wire transfer fraud is increasingly affecting investment managers, nonbank fintech companies and their clients, but there are steps financial institutions can take to mitigate this increasing risk, like testing cybersecurity effectiveness and sending fake phishing emails, says Casey Jennings at Seward & Kissel.

• Volume-Based Transaction Pricing Proposal Raises Questions

  

  A rule recently proposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which would prohibit securities exchanges from offering volume-based transaction pricing for agency or riskless principal orders in certain stocks, is meant to address competitive concerns — but there are reasons to question the logic behind this proposal, say attorneys at Sidley.

• SEC, NY Cybersecurity Rules Create Complexity For Insurers

  

  Two separate cybersecurity rules recently adopted by the New York Department of Financial Services and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pose distinct challenges for insurance industry participants, with important interactions, and potential tensions, for those required to comply with both frameworks, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season

  

  Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

• Top 10 Whistleblowing And Retaliation Events Of 2023

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and federal and state courts made 2023 another groundbreaking year for whistleblower litigation and retaliation developments, including the SEC’s massive whistleblower awards, which are likely to continue into 2024 and further incentivize individuals to submit tips, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• Understanding Advance Notice Bylaws Is Key For All Parties

  

  Recent developments in Delaware case law show that advance notice bylaws will be strictly construed and that Delaware courts will generally uphold clear, unambiguous bylaws adopted and applied reasonably, a lesson for both companies and stockholders alike as the number of companies rejecting director nominations by dissident stockholders has increased, say attorneys at MoFo.

• Series

  Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.

• A Review Of 2023's Most Notable Securities Litigation

  

  There is much to be learned from the most prominent private securities cases of 2023, specifically the Tesla trial, the U.S. Supreme Court's Slack decision and the resolution of Goldman Sachs litigation, but one lesson running through all of them is that there can be rewards at the end of the line for defendants willing to go the distance, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

• ESG Investing Caught In Culture War Crosshairs In 2023

  

  As 2023 draws to a close, ESG investing remains a raging battleground in the U.S. culture wars, as illustrated by the array of legislative efforts across the country aimed variously at restricting or promoting the use of ESG investing — but it remains to be seen what practical impact, if any, these laws will have, say Amy Roy and Robert Skinner at Ropes & Gray.

• 4 Key Ways CFIUS Affected Private Equity In 2023

  

  Sponsors and investment professionals should note how escalated enforcement by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in 2023 affected private equity deal making and evaluate their CFIUS-related procedures in preparation for the regulator's reach to expand further next year, say attorneys at Kirkland.

• DOJ Officials' Remarks Signal New Trends In FARA Activity

  

  Three U.S. Justice Department officials' remarks at a recent forum reinforce the department's renewed focus on aggressively enforcing the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which has been transformed into a significant national security and criminal enforcement tool, and its efforts to tightly regulate the activities of foreign agents in the U.S., say attorneys at Covington.

• How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

• 8 Ways To Negotiate Improved Disgorgement Outcomes

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's nearly $3.4 billion collected in disgorgements in 2023 shows that substantial disgorgement claims from regulators and law enforcement are the new norm, but corporations may be able to dramatically reduce what they owe by using eight strategies to argue for reduced net profit calculations, say experts at AlixPartners.