Most lawyers don’t keep a crystal ball in their office, but if pressed, some will take a crack at forecasting the future. We asked a selection of litigators to share their predictions about the legal and political issues that could have an impact on their practice areas over the next four years. Many suggested that the legal pendulum will swing away from eight years of policies broadly sympathetic to financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and the oil industry. Regardless of which side of the political aisle they stand on, our experts agreed that this year’s financial crisis is likely to lead to sweeping changes in bankruptcy and securities law, energy policy, and financial regulation.
But our litigators didn’t agree on everything. Securities and white-collar lawyers raised questions about who will take the lead in enforcement: state attorneys general, the U.S. Department of Justice, or the Securities and Exchange Commission. Employment lawyers debated whether organized labor will regain lost ground through passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. And antitrust litigators wondered if the Federal Trade Commission might suddenly clamp down on price-fixing.
