Legal Current

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 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.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

HighQ is considered one of the most advanced and versatile technology platforms. Stuart Barr, Chief Product & Strategy Office for HighQ, discusses how HighQ improves efficiency for law firms and corporate legal departments, and how the recent version 5.3 release takes HighQ to a new level.

Episode 5 of our special podcast series marking the 50th anniversary of the first publication of Wright & Miller’s Federal Practice & Procedure continues the discussion between Prof. Arthur Miller, founding author of the treatise, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, discuss the Justice’s views on what makes for an effective argument before the Court, how lawyers can write more effective briefs, and how Justice Ginsburg feels about the recent RBG documentary on her life.

The law and the courts have undergone many changes over the years. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg discusses what she believes is “the most heartening change” in the legal profession. Episode 4 of our special podcast series marking the 50th anniversary of the first publication of Wright & Miller’s Federal Practice & Procedure is part 1 of a two-party discussion between Prof. Arthur Miller, founding author of the treatise, and Justice Ginsburg.

The Antonio Brown saga continues to spawn new revelations. On the heels of the NFL initiating an investigation into allegations of sexual assault stemming from a civil lawsuit filed by Brown's former personal trainer, an attorney representing a painter commissioned by Brown has asked the NFL to investigate allegations of additional sexual misconduct as well as threats and intimidation. Sports attorney Glen Rothstein discusses the case against Brown and the workings of the NFL's disciplinary policy.