Legal Current

he ABA’s Business Law Section M&A Committee’s flagship Private Target M&A Deal Points Study is considered the industry’s gold standard reference for deal points in private acquisition agreements. Through Practical Law's new partnership with the ABA, select Practical Law forms now contain integrated slides from the study as well as continuously updated Practical Law What's Market Analytics charts and What's Market's trends information. This podcast discusses this new partnership, including a sneak peek at the timing of and several new data points to be covered in the soon to be released 2023 version of the study, among Barbara J. Oikle, the Senior Managing Editor of National Corporate and M&A Content at Practical Law and the two Co-Chairs of the study: Jessica C. Pearlman, a Partner at K&L Gates, LLP, and Vice Chair of the ABA’s Business Law Section’s M&A Committee and former Chair of the ABA’s Business Law Section’s M&A Committee's Market Trends Subcommittee, and Tatjana Paterno, a Member at Bass, Berry, & Sims PLC, and Vice Chair of the ABA's Business Law Section's M&A Committee's Market Trends Subcommittee. To view a toolkit with links to Practical Law forms that have been updated with this integrated information, see Private M&A Forms with Integrated Market Trends Information Toolkit.

The CDC estimates that about 7.5% of the U.S. population may be dealing with long COVID or what is also termed long-haul COVID, post-acute COVID-19, long-term effects of COVID or chronic COVID. Because long COVID is not as well understood as COVID-19 in terms of causes, symptoms and treatment, it can be complicated for employers to deal with. Lindsay Ditlow Of McDermott Will & Emery discusses what employers and employees should consider if dealing with Long COVID.

Various states are exploring new models on who can practice law, new ownership models of law firms, and other paradigm shifts. Arizona changed its alternative business structure to non-lawyer ownership and investment in law firms. Scout Law is the first such entities to take advantage of the change. Steve Germann discusses why he created the new firm, and his expectations for similar firms.

A lot of attention has been paid lately to lateral hiring and associate compensation, but changes are also taking place in law firm staffing. Thomson Reuters Institute recently completed its annual analysis on law firm staffing ratios. Today, we’ll talk about what the new trends are with Isaac Brooks, senior industry data analyst and Natalie Runyon, director, ESG content and advisory services.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the hot craze. While the initial coin offering ("ICO") craze of 2017-2018 fizzled out in the face of government enforcement actions, a resurgence in the global market for bitcoin and the new category of NFTs is fueling a new boom in digital assets as mainstream interest increases. Recently, Christie's became the very first major auction house to offer a fully digital work. Internet celebrity Logan Paul made over $5 million selling NFTs. Musician Post Malone invited fans to play beer pong with him if they bought an NFT. Thomson Reuters recently hosted a two-day conference discussing risks and rewards for digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Louis Lehot of Foley & Lardner discusses some common legal considerations when launching an NFT marketplace, including documentation you need, intellectual property and other legal considerations, as well as overarching legal implications of this new technology.

Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, Ethereum and dogecoin saw a record $9.3 billion inflow in 2021. Governments and regulatory bodies are racing to keep up with explosion of cryptocurrencies, associated marketplaces and exchanges, and other digital assets such as NFTs. Thomson Reuters is hosting a two-day exploration of risk and reward for the global crypto community. Will anticipated oversight bolster or derail palpable momentum heading into 2023? The conference, which will be conducted both in-person and online, features expert from across corporate, legal, tax, and regulatory realms who will offer comprehensive guidance for both casual observers and industry veterans alike. The event will take place April 14 & 15, and registration is free at: https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/events/manifest-destiny-risk-opportunity-reward-around-digital-currencies/ Co-chair of the conference, Bradford Newmann, partner at Baker McKenzie, and Chair of the AI & Blockchain Subcommittee of the ABA, discusses some of the topics that the conference will address.

Get your brackets out! For the first time in three years, March Madness, as we’re accustomed to seeing it, is back. NCAA, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and the Olympics all navigated their way through the pandemic through a combination of delays, bubbles, cancelled games, and various COVID protocols. Will any of this have lasting effects on players’ rights, collective bargaining agreements, etc.? Glen Rothstein, a partner in the Litigation practice group at Greenspoon Marder, primarily in entertainment, sports & interactive gaming, weighs in.

The events last summer following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police shook the city of Minneapolis to its core. Days of riots and unrest destroyed scores of business, particularly in the Lake Street area, where rebuilding is still taking place. Many parts of the community have pulled together to assist with the rebuilding as well as tackle the broader community issues that also in the wake of the George Floyd killing even more than one year later. Sharon Sayles-Belton, vice president of alliances and partnerships at Thomson Reuters and former mayor of Minneapolis, and Rick Anderson, senior principal at Fish & Richardson discuss where things stand – more than one year later – in that most affected area of Minneapolis that was really Ground Zero for the events of last year, as well as in the broader community, and on the broader issues of racism and policing that are still being grappled with in Minneapolis and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only affected in-person court hearings, but has similarly affected the arbitration world as well. In-person arbitration hearings are now difficult to hold, owing to travel restrictions and the difficulty in safely conducting face-to-face hearings. The arbitration world is rapidly adapting to remote arbitration hearings. The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, one of the leading institutions for international arbitration, is leading the charge to adapt arbitration processes and technologies to remote hearings. Lise Alm, head of business development, discusses how her organization is helping to transform arbitration heariings not only for the current situation but to prepare for the future as well. Sebastiaan Bos, director of solutions for Europe, the Middle East and Asia at Thomson Reuters, joins the discussion to discuss how advanced workflow technologies such as HighQ can help enable this transformation.

Global Lawyer Hackathon Addresses Climate Change Hundreds of lawyers around the world are participating in a unique global “hackathon” to create new contracts and model laws to help fight climate change. The Chancery Lane Project aims to create legal frameworks to enable and encourage businesses and communities to have a positive impact on the environment, and envisions a world where every contract and law enables solutions to climate change. Becky Clissmann, environmental law editor at Practical Law, discusses the project and how it engages legal professionals to empower businesses and communities to help meet goals of net zero emissions.

Small law firms have had to endure not only the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the legal market, but also the additional challenges of being a small business during the current conditions. The 2020 State of the U.S. Small Law Firms Report looks at how small firms are faring against the recent challenges. Mark Haddad, general manager of the Small Law Firm Segment at Thomson Reuters discusses the report’s findings, and how the current situation also presents opportunities for firms.

The tremendous disruptions caused by COVID-19 may introduce a new term to the business lexicon: business divorce. Many small, privately-held and family-owned businesses may not have anticipated the kind of business and personal stressors being brought on by the pandemic. Lee Weinberg of Weinberg Gonser LLP discusses how “business divorces” may surge because of the COVID-19 situation.

When the year began, 2020 had been expected to be a growth year for the Canadian legal market. Now the outlook has changed to one of uncertainty. But legal needs remain, and law firms and corporate legal departments still need to meet those needs, and therein remains potential opportunities. Thomson Reuters is offering the new 2020 State of the Legal Market in Canada Infographic which uses data from the Thomson Reuters 2019 Legal Tracker™ LDO Index and Acritas Sharplegal US, to identify main takeaways from the recently released 2020 State of the Legal Market in Canada report. Among these findings are how these and other strategic priorities have been identified and which are among them are the most important, according to the corporate law department officials surveyed. Maria Cooley, head of Canada for Thomson Reuters, discusses the picture that is coming into focus for Canadian corporate legal department moving forward.

One of HighQ’s strengths is its versatility in solving a myriad of problems that law firms and legal departments deal with. That has taken another leap forward with the introduction of HighQ 5.4. Stuart Barr, Chief Product & Strategy Officer, discusses the innovations in version 5.4, including seamless integration with Contract Express, allowing more powerful document automation.

Legal technology is advancing at lightning speed these days, and HighQ is no exception. The innovative cloud-based platform is continually bringing new innovations to the legal industry. Stuart Barr, chief product and strategy officer, discusses the some of the advances HighQ has introduced recently.

It was just over a year ago that Thomson Reuters brought HighQ into the fold. Irish McIntyre, head of Legal Software & Workflow at Thomson Reuters discusses what the past year has been like planning and executing strategies to continue to grow and improve HighQ’s innovative workflow platform.

The legal industry faces an uncertain future in many respects, including efforts to advance gender equality. Transforming Women’s Leadership in the Law is doing a series of webinars discussing the evolving circumstances due to COVID-19. The discussions will include a renewed focus on the future of the legal industry along with practice methods to advance gender quality and support necessary cultural change. Lucinda Case, head of Legal Professionals, Europe, Thomson Reuters, discusses how the current environment is changing the conversation on how organizations can promote gender equality, and how the COVID-19 crisis has helped reveal the benefits of more inclusive recruiting and hiring practices. Details on the webinar series can be found here: https://legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.co.uk/en/products-services/events/twll2020/webinar.html

Social media is skyrocketing, as people connect with friends and family as shelter-in-place and work-from-home continue. But as we take advantage as these apps, it’s still important to be careful – others may be seeing the personal & professional information that you’re posting. Robert Braun - co-chair of the Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell Cybersecurity and Privacy Group -- says it’s important to make “Social Media Hygiene” part of your routine, and to think before you post.

While women lawyers and lawyers of color have made many advances in the legal profession, there are still some areas that are particularly challenging. Sports and sports law are among those. Sharon Sayles-Belton, vice president of partnerships and alliances for Thomson Reuters, talked recently with two attorneys who have made inroads to help increase diversity in those areas. Demeka Fields is associate general counsel for the Minnesota Vikings. Traci Branford is a partner at Stinson LLP in Minneapolis. She is also an advisory board member for Next Gen Leadership: Advancing Lawyers of Color.