Expert Analysis

• Teaching SEC Investigations Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Instructing a law school course on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations has made me a more thoughtful, deliberate practitioner because it requires me to continually reassess and challenge what I know about securities law enforcement, how I know it and how best to explain it, says David Chase at Miami Law.

• FDIC Proposals Mark Pullback In Bank Resolution Rules

  

  A recent pair of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposals would fundamentally reshape testing of banks' resolution-related capabilities from a mandatory exercise to a voluntary one supported by significant financial incentives, amounting to an overall reduction in reporting requirements, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

• Being A Singer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Before law school, I spent seven years trying to make it as a professional singer in Los Angeles, and nearly everything I learned about preparation, humility, confidence and more has followed me into my legal practice, says Jessica Caterina at Moses & Singer.

• $400M Serta Ruling Offers Warning On Uptier Deal Risks

  

  A Texas bankruptcy court's recent remand ruling, which disallowed Serta Simmons Bedding’s uptier debt exchange and awarded $400 million to the minority lenders, demonstrates why deal counsel negotiating similar agreements should clearly define exceptions and lien subordination, while litigators should lean on express terms, says Jamie Aycock at Yetter Coleman.

• Yellow Corp. WARN Act Appeal Refines Layoff Guidance

  

  A Delaware federal court's recent upholding of a bankruptcy court's disallowance of unions' federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act claims against Yellow underscores that fact-specific notices and thoughtful timing are essential for distressed companies implementing layoffs, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Tips For Investors, Creditors Before Venezuela Restructuring

  

  As Venezuela enters the first genuinely actionable phase of what may become one of the largest sovereign debt restructurings in modern financial history, creditors should strategically evaluate their claim types and investors should consider engaging before formal negotiations commence, says Rodrigo Carvalho at Winston Taylor.

• What PE Practitioners Need To Know About New Del. ABC Act

  

  Delaware's new Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors statute represents a structural shift in how companies backed by private equity can be wound down and provides a more streamlined tool for managing sponsor liability without the public visibility of a bankruptcy proceeding, says Evelyn Meltzer at Troutman Pepper.

• Being A Magician Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  The skills I've developed as a lifelong magician have translated directly into tangible benefits in the courtroom because performing magic and trying cases both live at the intersection of psychology, storytelling, timing and disciplined rehearsal, says Mark Dombroff at Fox Rothschild.

• How State, Local Rules Are Expanding Debt Collection Reach

  

  Consumer protection rules recently enacted by several states signal that the rules of debt collection are being rewritten at a pace that should command the attention of every creditor, servicer, debt buyer, collection agency and collection law firm operating across state lines, says Weldianne Scales at Reed Smith.

• How Ch. 11 Debtors Can Stop MCA Receivables Raids

  

  Approximately 42 merchant cash advance lenders are involved in the recently filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy of SIMAD Holdings, illustrating that debtors-in-possession must work with committees to preserve the receivable stream before litigating priority, says attorney Kenneth Rosen.

• 5 Rulings Clarify Limits On Chapter 15 Public Policy Exception

  

  Recent bankruptcy decisions from New York and Delaware federal courts distinguish between relief a U.S. bankruptcy court may grant in a domestic case and relief it may recognize under Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code when a foreign court has entered the order, say attorneys at Pierson Ferdinand.

• Choral Singing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Singing in the New York City Bar Chorus — a hobby partly inspired by the late U.S. District Judge Richard Owen, who infused my clerkship year with opera music — has improved my legal career by refining my abilities to listen, exude confidence and develop emotional intelligence, says Bonnie Baker at Friedman Kaplan.

• Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

  

  Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.