August 25, 2023

Third LexisNexis African Ancestry Network Fellowship Projects Address Creation of Greater Equity and Accessibility in the U.S. Legal System

Practical Guidance is committed to amplifying diverse voices of attorneys across all differences, including gender and race. If you are interested in writing for Practical Guidance, please let us know through this Author Interest Form . THE LEXISNEXIS AFRICAN ANCESTRY NETWORK HAS announced the third group of 15 law students chosen to participate in the Lexis Nexis African Ancestry Network LexisNexis Rule of...

August 24, 2023

Wetlands Regulations: Considerations for Project Developers

Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a final rule 1 to revise the definition of waters of the United States. THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES THE IMPACT OF THAT REVISION as well as considerations for developers contemplating the purchase or development of real property that contains or is likely to contain regulated wetlands. The presence of regulated wetlands...

August 24, 2023

Federal Environmental Regulations Affecting Oil and Gas Operations

By: Cameron Kinvig , PRACTICAL GUIDANCE ENERGY & UTILITIES ATTORNEY EDITOR This article provides you and your clients with an overview of the federal environmental regulation affecting the oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) industry. THERE IS SUBSTANTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION of oil and gas E&P at the federal and state levels through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies...

August 24, 2023

Sustainability-Linked Loans and Bonds

Sustainability-Linked Loans Overview Sustainability-linked loans are loans where the economic characteristics can vary depending on whether the borrower achieves ambitious, material, and quantifiable predetermined sustainability performance objectives. The borrower's sustainability performance is measured using predefined sustainability performance targets as measured by key performance indicators and which measure...

August 24, 2023

Private Credit Loan Transactions

By: M. Shams Billah , BARNES & THORNBURG LLP, NEW YORK This article discusses guidance for borrowers and private equity sponsors entering into private credit loans with nonbank lenders in the middle to lower-middle market space. The article also discusses the background and benefits of private credit transactions as compared to public credit, as well as best practices for approaching the private credit market...

August 24, 2023

Cautions and Legal Considerations of Using Generative AI in Healthcare

By: Sara Shanti, Phil Kim, Christopher Rundell, Arushi Pandya, and Elfin Noce , SHEPPARD MULLIN The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in healthcare is developing at a fanatical and fascinating pace. BECAUSE THE CONSEQUENCES OF SUCH TECHNOLOGY are yet to be fully understood, thoughtful consideration of its use by industry stakeholders and users is necessary, especially with respect...

August 24, 2023

Drafting an ESG Disclosure Risk Factor Related to Greenhouse Gas Emissions

In recent years, the U.S. federal and state government, as well as governments around the world, have sought to control greenhouse gas emissions by imposing tighter limits on permissible emissions levels for cars, trucks, and other products that use fossil fuels, as well as on the fuels themselves. Companies operating in these markets may face considerable additional costs when complying with these new regulations, or...

August 24, 2023

Market Intelligence: What Commercial Real Estate Owners, Tenants, and Lenders Need to Know Now

By: S.H. Spencer Compton , COMMONWEALTH LAND TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY Interested in access to private market intelligence? Private Market Data offers attorneys private information about highly negotiated agreements not otherwise available or provided in public sources. This valuable market information offers access to protected insights that reveal a higher level of previously hard-to-obtain terms and data points...

August 24, 2023

Generative Artificial Intelligence Moves to Transform the Legal World

For an overview of current practical guidance on generative AI, ChatGPT, and similar tools, see Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Resource Kit LexisNexis is pioneering the use of generative AI with Lexis+ AI™, focusing on reliability, consistency, and data security while enabling legal professionals to achieve better outcomes. Lexis+ AI is built and trained on the largest repository of accurate...

April 28, 2023

Contracting by Emoji

By: Timothy Murray MURRAY, HOGUE & LANNIS A mid-level executive at a client’s company routinely included a smiley face on everything the executive wrote. It didn’t matter what it was—a letter, a greeting card, and presumably even his grocery list. The smiley face practically became part of his name, akin to when the late musician Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol. WHEN THE...

April 27, 2023

The Corporate Transparency Act and Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirement

By: Jonathan B. Wilson TAYLOR ENGLISH DUMA LLP AND THE FinCEN REPORT COMPANY The Corporate Transparency Act As part of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, 1 Congress adopted the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The CTA includes some of the most significant changes to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) laws in recent years. Those changes...

April 27, 2023

Long COVID Presents New Challenges for Employers

By: Jonathan R. Mook DIMUROGINSBERG PC It has been more than three years since COVID-19 changed not only the way in which we work, but our entire lives as well. The lockdowns have ended, and we now are venturing into uncharted waters in what has been termed the new normal. WHAT THAT TERM MEANS IS NOT PRECISELY CLEAR, AS THE COVID-19 virus continues to surprise us. We are just starting to learn about some of the strange...

April 27, 2023

No-Poach Agreement as Per Se Violations of the Antitrust Law

By: Laurie E. Leader EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, BENDER'S LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT BULLETIN The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is aggressively prosecuting employers who enter into no-poach agreements 1 under the antitrust laws. Until 2021, DOJ enforcement was civil in nature. A SEA CHANGE OCCURRED ON JANUARY 7, 2021, WHEN the DOJ announced that it indicted Surgical Care Affiliates, LLC and SCAI Holdings, LLC (together...

April 27, 2023

Pay Transparency and Disclosure Requirements Compliance Checklist

This checklist provides guidance on pay disclosure laws cropping up around the country. One of the goals of these laws is to provide workers with more information regarding an employer’s pay practices so they have greater leverage to discuss and negotiate their salaries. The broader objective of these laws is to help close the wage gap between women and men. As these salary transparency laws proliferate coast...

April 27, 2023

Risk of Crypto-Assets and Impact on Bank Failures

By: Celeste Mitchell-Byars , PRACTICAL GUIDANCE This article examines the recent U.S. bank failures and the risk of cryptocurrency assets at insured depository institutions. IN EARLY MARCH 2023, THREE U.S. BANKING INSTITUTIONS failed, resulting in increased focus on supervision and regulation by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency...

April 27, 2023

Legal Developments Around the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Hiring and Assessing

By: Ellen M. Taylor , SLOAN, SAKAI, YEUNG, & WONG LLP Introduction Today, a variety of artificial intelligence (AI) employment-assessment tools are available to assist employers with nearly every stage of the hiring cycle, from recruiting and assessing job candidates to measuring the performance of current employees. There is AI software designed to screen applications and prioritize resumes based on key phrases...

April 27, 2023

Implications of Using ChatGPT in the Workplace

By: Tom Spiggle , THE SPIGGLE LAW FIRM, PLLC Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t new, but AI technology that’s good enough to catch the attention of the average person and affect their daily lives is rather novel. A great example of such technology is ChatGPT, 1 which is a type of chatbot 2 developed by OpenAI 3 that was launched in November 2022. Since then, it’s received a lot of publicity, especially...

April 27, 2023

The Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Legal Profession

By: Glenn Gordon , THE PRACTICAL GUIDANCE ATTORNEY TEAM This article discusses the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal profession, including how AI can assist attorneys in accomplishing various legal tasks, as well as concerns about such usage. Also review the Lexis+ Legal AI Update offering results of a survey of legal professionals and their planned use of Generative AI going forward. THE ARTICLE ALSO...

April 26, 2023

LexisNexis Voting Center Wins National Justice Technology Award at Legalweek

THE LEXISNEXIS U.S. VOTING LAWS AND LEGISLATION CENTER was honored with the Justice Technology Award at the 2023 Legalweek Leader in Tech Law Awards in New York City on March 20. The Tech Law Awards, given at the annual Legalweek expo sponsored by American Law Media and Law.com, celebrate the achievements of law firms, legal departments and vendors leading the legal profession into the future through technology and innovation...

April 26, 2023

Cryptocurrency & Blockchain: When Do the Benefits Outweigh the Risks?

By: Matthias Geurts SCHALAST LAW, Oded Ofek M. FIRON & CO, Stephen Rutenberg POLSINELLI, and Jill Wong formerly of HOWSE WILLIAMS The collapse of FTX in early November 2022, and subsequent fallout in the cryptocurrency services industry, while disastrous in scope, reflect the growing pains of the industry. IN RECENT YEARS, REGULATORY AGENCIES around the world have both intensified regulatory enforcement and litigation...

April 26, 2023

Recent Bank Failure and Related Bankruptcy Resources

The financial services industry is experiencing shock waves following the recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured bank failures. At a rate unseen since the 2008 financial crisis, three regional banks have succumbed to liquidity challenges and were either placed into FDIC receivership, or voluntarily dissolved. ON MARCH 8, 2023, SILVERGATE CAPITAL CORPORATION (parent company of Silvergate Bank) decided...

January 25, 2023

Climate Change Considerations in M&A Transactions

By: Annemargaret Connolly and Thomas Goslin , WEIL GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP Introduction Climate change is arguably the most high-profile and rapidly evolving environmental issue facing the global business community today. Governments of nearly every nation have acknowledged the risks posed by a warming climate and taken some action either to combat those risks, to mitigate the physical effects of climate change,...

January 25, 2023

Insuring for Climate Change: The Role of Parametric Insurance

By: K. James Sullivan, CALFEE , HALTER & GRISWOLD LLP This article addresses the topic of parametric insurance, a type of insurance that does not indemnify the pure loss, but ex ante agrees to make a payment upon the occurrence of a triggering event. IT DESCRIBES PARAMETRIC INSURANCE, OUTLINES ITS origins and the operation of claims payment and trigger events, provides details about the coverage both in the United...

January 25, 2023

Sea Level Rise: A Guide for Public and Private Projects

By: John Erskine , NOSSAMAN LLP This article discusses the legal and policy framework for addressing sea level rise (SLR) in the 21st century in the United States, with an emphasis on the California Coastal Act (the Coastal Act), its administrative regulations, and policy guidance as promulgated by the California Coastal Commission (the Coastal Commission). THIS ARTICLE ALSO PRESENTS A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE laws and...

January 25, 2023

Climate Change Legislation Tracker (Real Estate) (NY)

By: The Practical Guidance Real Estate Team This tracker provides an overview of New York climate change legislation that impacts real estate ownership and development. This document tracks legislation enacted at the state level and in New York City. This tracker provides direct links to source text, the dates enacted, and brief descriptions of the developments. Developments are organized in reverse chronological...