Expert Analysis

• 6th Circ. FirstEnergy Ruling Protects Key Legal Privileges

  

  The Sixth Circuit’s recent grant of mandamus relief in In re: First Energy Corp. confirms that the attorney-client privilege and work-product protections apply to internal investigation materials, ultimately advancing the public interest, say attorneys at Cooley.

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  Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

  

  Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

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  Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

  

  After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

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  Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

• Employer Considerations As Ill. Ends Mandatory Fact-Finding

  

  Illinois recently eliminated mandatory fact-finding conferences, and while such meetings tend to benefit complainants, respondent employers should not dismiss them out of hand without conducting a thorough analysis of the risks and benefits, which will vary from case to case, says Kimberly Ross at FordHarrison.

• Courts Are Still Grappling With McDonnell, 9 Years Later

  

  The Seventh and D.C. Circuits’ recent decisions in U.S. v. Weiss and U.S. v. Paitsel, respectively, demonstrate that courts are still struggling to apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2016 ruling in McDonnell v. U.S., which narrowed the scope of “official acts” in federal bribery cases, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.

• Protecting Sensitive Court Filings After Recent Cyber Breach

  

  In the wake of a recent cyberattack on federal courts' Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, civil litigants should consider seeking enhanced protections for sensitive materials filed under seal to mitigate the risk of unauthorized exposure, say attorneys at Redgrave.

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  Judging Figure Skating Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Judging figure skating competitions helps me hone the focus, decisiveness and ability to process complex real-time information I need in court, but more importantly, it makes me reengage with a community and my identity outside of law, which, paradoxically, always brings me back to work feeling restored, says Megan Raymond at Groombridge Wu.

• $100K H-1B Fee May Disrupt Rural Healthcare Needs

  

  The Trump administration's newly imposed $100,000 supplemental fee on new H-1B petitions may disproportionately affect healthcare employers' ability to recruit international medical graduates, and the fee's national interest exceptions will not adequately solve ensuing problems for healthcare employers or medically underserved areas, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

• What Ethics Rules Say On Atty Discipline For Online Speech

  

  Though law firms are free to discipline employees for their online commentary about Charlie Kirk or other social media activity, saying crude or insensitive things on the internet generally doesn’t subject attorneys to professional discipline under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, says Stacie H. Rosenzweig at Halling & Cayo.

• What's At Stake In High Court's Ill. Ballot Deadline Case

  

  In Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on whether and when candidates for office have standing to bring prospective challenges to election laws, raising broader issues about the proper timing of federal court election litigation, say Richard Pildes and Samuel Ozer-Staton at NYU School of Law.

• Junior Attys Must Beware Of 5 Common Legal Brief Mistakes

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Junior law firm associates must be careful to avoid five common pitfalls when drafting legal briefs — from including every possible argument to not developing a theme — to build the reputation of a sought-after litigator, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.

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  Power To The Paralegals: How And Why Training Must Evolve

  

  Empowering paralegals through new models of education that emphasize digital fluency, interdisciplinary collaboration and human-centered lawyering could help solve workforce challenges and the justice gap — if firms, educators and policymakers get on board, say Kristine Custodio Suero and Kelli Radnothy.

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  Playing Softball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  My time on the softball field has taught me lessons that also apply to success in legal work — on effective preparation, flexibility, communication and teamwork, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.

• And Now A Word From The Panel: Choosing MDL Venues

  

  One of the most interesting yet least predictable facets of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's practice is venue — namely where the panel decides to place a new MDL proceeding — and its choices reflect the tension between neutrality and case-specific factors, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.