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Expert Analysis

• Key Points From DOJ's New DeFi Enforcement Outline

  

  Recent remarks by the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division head Matthew Galeotti reveal several issues that the decentralized finance industry should address in order to minimize risk, including developers' role in evaluating protocols and the importance of illicit finance risk assessments, says Drew Rolle at Alston & Bird.

• Atkins-Led SEC Continues Focus On Private Funds

  

  Since the change in administration, there has overall been a more accommodative regulatory stance toward private funds, but a recent enforcement action suggests that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is not backing off from enforcement in the space completely, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• Sales And Use Tax Strategies For Renewables After OBBBA

  

  With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act sharply curtailing federal tax incentives for solar and wind projects, it is vital for developers to carefully manage state and local sales and use tax exposures through early planning and careful contract structuring, say advisers at KPMG.

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  Writing Musicals Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  My experiences with writing musicals and practicing law have shown that the building blocks for both endeavors are one and the same, because drama is necessary for the law to exist, says Addison O’Donnell at LOIS Law.

• Diverging FAA Preemption Rulings Underscore Role Of Venue

  

  Two recent rulings evaluating Federal Arbitration Act preemption of state laws — one from the California Supreme Court, upholding the state law, and another from a New York federal court, upholding the arbitration agreement — demonstrate why venue should be a key consideration when seeking to enforce arbitration clauses, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

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  Adapting To Private Practice: From Va. AUSA To Mid-Law

  

  Returning to the firm where I began my career after seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia has been complex, nuanced and rewarding, and I’ve learned that the pursuit of justice remains the constant, even as the mindset and client change, says Kristin Johnson at Woods Rogers.

• Rebutting Price Impact In Securities Class Actions

  

  Defendants litigating securities cases historically faced long odds in defeating class certification, but that paradigm has recently begun to shift, with recent cases ushering in a more searching analysis of price impact and changing the evidence courts can consider at the class certification stage, say attorneys at Katten.

• 7 Document Review Concepts New Attorneys Need To Know

  

  For new associates joining firms this fall, stepping into the world of e-discovery can feel like learning a new language, but understanding a handful of fundamentals — from coding layouts to metadata — can help attorneys become fluent in document review, says Ann Motl at Bowman and Brooke.

• NY Laundering Ruling Leans On Jurisdictional Fundamentals

  

  A New York appeals court’s recent dismissal of Zhakiyanov v. Ogai, a civil money laundering dispute between Kazakh citizens involving New York real estate, points toward limitations on the jurisdictional reach of state courts and suggests that similar claims will be subject to a searching forum analysis, say attorneys at Curtis Mallet-Prevost.

• Ruling On Labor Peace Law Marks Shift For Cannabis Cos.

  

  Currently on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, an Oregon federal court’s novel decision in Casala v. Kotek, invalidating a state law that requires labor peace agreements as a condition of cannabis business licensure, marks the potential for compliance uncertainty for all cannabis employers in states with labor peace mandates, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

• FTC's Reseller Suit Highlights Larger Ticket Platform Issues

  

  Taken together, the recent Federal Trade Commission lawsuit and Ticketmaster's recent antitrust woes demonstrate that federal enforcers are testing the resilience of antitrust and consumer-protection frameworks in an evolving, tech-driven marketplace, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.

• Agentic AI Puts A New Twist On Attorney Ethics Obligations

  

  As lawyers increasingly use autonomous artificial intelligence agents, disciplinary authorities must decide whether attorney responsibility for an AI-caused legal ethics violation is personal or supervisory, and firms must enact strong policies regarding agentic AI use and supervision, says Grace Wynn at HWG.

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  Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

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  Law School's Missed Lessons: Adapting To The Age Of AI

  

  Though law school may not have specifically taught us how to use generative artificial intelligence to help with our daily legal tasks, it did provide us the mental building blocks necessary for adapting to this new technology — and the judgment to discern what shouldn’t be automated, says Pamela Dorian at Cozen O'Connor.

• Ch. 11 Ruling Voiding $2M Litigation Funding Sends A Warning

  

  A recent Texas bankruptcy court decision that a postconfirmation litigation trust has no obligations to repay a completely drawn down $2 million litigation funding agreement serves as a warning for estate administrators and funders to properly disclose the intended financing, say attorneys at Kleinberg Kaplan.