Federal

Expert Analysis

• An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

  

  As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.

• Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

• A New Tax On Employers Could Help Curb Illegal Immigration

  

  To better enforce the law against hiring immigrants unauthorized to work in the U.S., Congress should enact a punitive excise tax on compensation paid to such immigrants and amend the False Claims Act to allow qui tam actions against employers for failure to pay such tax, says Ajay Gupta at Moore Tax Law Group.

• Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

  

  In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

• Justices May Find Gov't Can Keep Fraudulent Transfer Benefit

  

  Based on the justices' questions at the recently argued U.S. v. Miller, the Supreme Court appears prepared to hold that the U.S. — unlike any other creditor — is permitted to retain the benefits of a fraudulent transfer to the detriment of other bankruptcy creditors, says Kevin Morse at Clark Hill.

• Tax Court Should Update Framework For Defining Insurance

  

  ​​​​​​​The U.S. Tax Court's unnecessary determination in Royalty Management Insurance v. Commissioner that a fraudulent transaction did not contain the hallmarks of a legitimate insurance transaction applies an outdated analysis that threatens the captive insurance sector and illustrates the need for a more modern framework to define true insurance, says Matthew Queen at the Queen Firm.

• When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

  

  As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

• Impact Of Corporate Transparency Act Ambiguity On Banks

  

  Even though banks generally needn't file beneficial ownership information reports, financial institutions must continue to monitor the status of the Corporate Transparency Act and understand its requirements in case the nationwide injunction that was issued against the CTA earlier this month is overturned, say attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale.

• 6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School

  

  Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.

• Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware

  

  Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

• Congress Should Expand Investment Options For 403(b)s

  

  Lawmakers should pass pending legislation to give 403(b) plan participants access to collective investment trusts, leveling the playing field for public sector retirement investors by giving them an investment option their private sector counterparts have had for decades, says Jason Levy at Great Gray Trust Company.

• Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out

  

  In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

• Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity

  

  Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.