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Expert Analysis

• State AGs Are Turning Up The Antitrust Heat On ESG Actions

  

  Recent antitrust developments from red state attorneys general continue a trend of environmental, social and governance scrutiny, and businesses exposed to these areas should conduct close examinations of strategy and potential material risk, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• Crypto Custody Guidelines Buoy Both Banks And Funds

  

  A statement released last month by banking regulators — highlighting risks that the agencies expect banks holding crypto-assets to mitigate — may encourage more traditional institutions to offer crypto-asset safekeeping and thereby offer asset managers more options for qualified custodians to custody crypto-assets for their clients, say attorneys at Dechert.

• Navigating Executive Perk Enforcement Under Trump Admin

  

  While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently signaled a softer approach to executive perks, companies should remain vigilant due to the bipartisan and lengthy nature of executive perquisite cases and Chairman Paul Atkins' previous support for disclosure requirements, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

• Rebuttal

  BigLaw Settlements Should Not Spur Ethics Deregulation

  

  A recent Law360 op-ed argued that loosening law firm funding restrictions would make BigLaw firms less inclined to settle with the Trump administration, but deregulating legal financing ethics may well prove to be not merely ineffective, but counterproductive, says Laurel Kilgour at the American Economic Liberties Project.

• What FinCEN's AML Rule Delay Means For Advisers

  

  Even with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's statement last month delaying the compliance date for a rule requiring advisers to report suspicious activity, advisers can expect some level of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission oversight in connection with anti-money laundering compliance, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• Liquidity Rule Compliance Still Vital Even After SEC Dismissal

  

  Despite its recent dismissal of a novel case against Pinnacle Advisors over liquidity rule violations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has continued to bring enforcement actions involving investment advisers, making compliance with the rule important for registrants, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• 5 Ways Lawyers Can Earn Back The Public's Trust

  

  Amid salacious headlines about lawyers behaving badly and recent polls showing the public’s increasingly unfavorable view of attorneys, we must make meaningful changes to our culture to rebuild trust in the legal system, says Carl Taylor at Carl Taylor Law.

• Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons

  

  In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses key takeaways from federal appellate decisions involving topics including antitrust, immigration, consumer fraud, birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment, and product defects.

• A Look At Justices' Rare Decision Not To Limit Agency Powers

  

  The Supreme Court's recent denial of Alpine's cert petition in its long-running case against the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority sends a strong signal that litigation strategies dependent on the elimination of government agencies merit caution, even from a court that lately hasn't been shy about paring back agency authority, say attorneys at Venable.

• Series

  Hiking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  On the trail, I have thought often about the parallels between hiking and high-stakes patent litigation, and why strategizing, preparation, perseverance and joy are important skills for success in both endeavors, says Barbara Fiacco at Foley Hoag.

• White House Report Strikes An Optimistic Note On Crypto

  

  Taking seriously President Donald Trump's pledge to adopt a pro-innovation mindset toward digital assets and blockchain technologies, a recent benchmark White House report on crypto provides a comprehensive regulatory framework that takes into account the products' novel characteristics within the high-tech ecosystem, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Negotiation Skills

  

  I took one negotiation course in law school, but most of the techniques I rely on today I learned in practice, where I've discovered that the process is less about tricks or tactics, and more about clarity, preparation and communication, says Grant Schrantz at Haug Barron.

• Opinion

  Andreessen Horowitz's Take On Delaware Is Misguided

  

  Hostility toward incorporation in Delaware, as expressed in Andreessen Horowitz's recent announcement that it has moved its primary business from the First State to Nevada, is based on a basket of arguments that fail to stand up to harsher scrutiny, say attorneys at Alto Litigation.

• Bipartisan Bill Could Aid ESOP Formation, Valuation Clarity

  

  The proposed Retire through Ownership Act represents a meaningful first step toward clarifying whether transactions qualify under the adequate consideration exemption in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, potentially eliminating the litigation risk that has chilled employee stock ownership plan formation, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

• ESG-Focused Activism Persists Despite Proxy Curbs

  

  Shareholder activism focused on environmental, social and governance factors appears poised to continue, despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent move toward exclusions in proxy voting proposals around ESG, say attorneys at Mintz.