Law Library

Updated ABA book makes Federal Torts Claim Act easy to ­understand for lawyers new to statute


Newly published by the ABA, “A Guide to the Federal Torts Claims Act, Second Edition” serves as a straightforward handbook to help lawyers understand this complex measure. Author Paul Figley uses his three decades of experience with the U.S. Department of Justice to make the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) accessible and concise.

Government employees are sometimes responsible for injuries to others that warrant torts and subsequent monetary compensation. This revised edition helps lawyers gauge the appropriateness of an FTCA remedy and allows government lawyers to measure the scope of issues they encounter. This book breaks down the numerous amendments to the act that have both expanded and narrowed the initial rights available while maintaining a balance between federal interests and a fair tort remedy.

The guide also includes a comprehensive appendix full of federal statutes and regulations, standard forms and helpful checklists.

 

New edition of ABA book grounds attorneys in assisted reproductive technology law
 

The American Bar Association’s recently published book, “Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Lawyer’s Guide to Emerging Law and Science, Third Edition” keeps practitioners well-versed in the legal background and up-to-date with this rapidly changing practice. Family law attorneys Maureen McBrien and Bruce Hale have revised this ground-breaking handbook to reflect the new possibilities of assisted reproduction, the revision of parentage laws around the country and the evolution of legal and ethical issues associated with assisted reproduction.

With the dramatic advancements in family-formation science in the past decade and the growing diversity of family configurations, assisted reproductive technology (ART) has progressed throughout the country. This volume helps family lawyers to understand parenting concepts that are common in this area of law, such as the “intended parent,” “gestational carrier” and “gamete provider,” as well as the varying laws governing the use of assisted reproduction methods across the United States to effectively advocate for their clients. The law will need to continue to develop as the science advances, and “Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Lawyer’s Guide to Emerging Law and Science, Third Edition” provides attorneys with foundational information that will only become more crucial to practitioners in the future.

McBrien is a partner and family law practitioner at Brick, Jones, McBrien, & Hickey LLP in Newton, Mass. Her practice includes litigation related to legal issues arising from the use of ART. Before writing this third edition with Bruce Hale, McBrien co-authored the prior two editions with the late professor Charles P. Kindregan, Jr. She also co-authored with Kindregan the four-volume, fourth edition of the “Massachusetts Practice Series for Family Law.”

Hale is a solo practitioner in Newton. His practice, Modern Family Law, is focused exclusively on matters related to assisted reproduction. He has also served as an adjunct professor of law at Suffolk University Law School and Northeastern University School of Law, teaching ART law at both institutions. Before focusing on this area of law, Hale became a parent through assisted reproduction (specifically, gestational surrogacy with egg donation).

 

New ABA book uses ­history to show lawyers the power of diversity  and inclusion


Just published by the American Bar Association, “Fix It: How History, Sports, and Education Can Inform Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Today” addresses the legal profession’s struggle to achieve a more diverse bar. Author, attorney and diversity and inclusion leader Kenneth Imo brings issues of unfairness, tradition and bias into focus while offering improvements that will benefit lawyers, the bar and future attorneys.

“Fix It” gives law firms the perspective and strategies to overcome the barriers to equal opportunity, progressing from altruism to action. Placing diversity in the context of great leaders like Harriet Tubman (the famed Underground Railroad conductor and little-known Union military strategist) and Branch Rickey (the architect behind integrating baseball), Imo shows how inclusion benefits both the people harnessing new opportunities and the organizations reaching innovative solutions.

By identifying the problems in the education pipeline and proposing changes that will reorganize the hiring, evaluation and promotion of lawyers, this volume highlights the importance of diversity and the positive impact of true inclusivity. “Fix It” reflects on the negative consequences of homogeneity in history and today’s current culture while offering hope for a brighter future by embracing the power of difference.

Prior to joining Capital One’s diversity and inclusion leadership team, Imo led diversity efforts for two international law firms during his 10-plus years in private practice. He began his legal career in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps as a captain and received his law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law.

 

ABA book gives ­companies the keys to successfully navigate international ­procurement
 

Just published by the ABA, the “Contractor’s Guide to International Procurement” is a practical tool for companies weighing the potential risks and rewards of contracting with foreign governments. Editors Erin Felix and Marques O. Peterson have compiled their in-depth expertise on subjects ranging from U.S exports and sanctions to anti-human trafficking qualifications to NATO procurement procedures.

This book provides a comprehensive look at how to avoid the potential pitfalls of international procurement — including misunderstandings of legal rights and obligations under foreign law and lapses in anti-corruption compliance — and how to maximize the benefits, such as working with a trusted local partner familiar with the culture and geopolitical history. Necessary for even the most experienced contract managers, the “Contractor’s Guide to International Procurement” details the complexities of foreign contracting that create difficulties and opportunities for the expanding global business.

Felix managed government and commercial contracts and subcontracts for one of the largest defense contractors in the United States for 15 years prior to practicing law. This unique, hands-on experience allows her to “speak the client’s language,” and gives her an intimate understanding of contractors’ business priorities and challenges.

Peterson has extensive experience in all aspects of government contracts, including international public procurement. In addition to representing clients before the Court of Federal Claims, the Government Accountability Office, the Boards of Contract Appeals and federal and state courts, he has represented major U.S. government contractors in significant international arbitrations.

 

ABA book fosters ­cultural sensitivity and business acumen to understand Asian economies
 

A new American Bar Association book, “Asia Ascending: Insider Strategies for Competing with the Global Colossus”, supplies the practical advice and experienced perspective necessary for successful expansion in the world’s most robust economies. Author Dennis Unkovic shares his wisdom gained through decades of conducting business in Asia to familiarize lawyers with intercultural communications and business strategies across this diverse continent.

This guide provides comprehensive examinations of Asia’s largest and fastest growing economies – as well as crucial discussions of vital and emerging countries’ GDPs – with details of individual nations’ negotiation strategies, perspectives on intellectual property and cultural practices. Coupled with illustrations from editorial cartoonist Heng Kim Song, “Asia Ascending” aims to educate lawyers and executives so that they can better collaborate with countries across Asia as those nations come to dominate the world stage.

Unkovic, a transactional lawyer, has focused his professional efforts in Asia, which he has visited more than 100 times since the 1980s. He is frequently invited to comment on current global issues and host briefings for corporate executives, trade associations and government and academic leaders. Unkovic has authored eight books and more than 175 articles for domestic and foreign publications on a wide range of topics, often Asia-specific.


 

ABA book helps private lawyers ­navigate the changing terrain of ­immigration compliance
 

Just published by the American Bar Association, “ABA Immigration Compliance and Best Practices” offers crucial expertise to private labor and employment attorneys, rivaling the resources available to government lawyers. Renowned immigration lawyers and authors Charles M. Miller, Marcine A. Seid and Daniel Brown bring their combined experience to this practitioners’ handbook.

As ICE enforcement increases in the workplace — with audits that can quickly turn from civil inspections to criminal investigations — knowing the ins and outs of immigration compliance can prove critical to employers. With hard-to-find knowledge and comprehensive detail rarely accessible to the private practice lawyer, “ABA Immigration Compliance and Best Practices” guides attorneys to the most effective solutions to federal regulations for past and future employees, as well as asylees and refugees.

Miller helped establish immigration law as a field of legal specialization in California, serving on the state bar’s Specialty Advisory Commission as chairman and a member. His ABA and Aspen books, coauthored with Seid, are indispensable immigration compliance resources. Miller is the founding partner of the Miller Law Offices in Studio City, Calif.

Seid is the principal attorney of the Seid Law Group of Palo Alto, Calif. Seid’s practice focuses on business immigration and the representation of employers in I-9 inspections and worksite investigations. She is the coauthor of “Immigration Law in the Workplace” (Aspen) and “Immigration Compliance Auditing for Lawyers” (ABA).

Brown is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP, and is part of the firm’s Government Strategies and Compliance Group. Prior to entering private practice, he was the ICE director of the Office of Policy and Planning and held other senior Department of Homeland Security positions.


ABA book helps
personal trustees find the life insurance answers they need
Just published by the ABA, “Due Diligence of Trust-Owned Life Insurance” simplifies the often-confusing language of insurance into plain-spoken answers that will help consumers and advisers alike. Experts Lawrence Brody, Billie D. Resnick, John Resnick and Richard Weber collaborated to bring the best of law and life insurance to this volume while encouraging protection that is properly acquired and actively managed.
Selecting and maintaining long-term solutions to life insurance is a challenge for even the most well-versed attorney. In counseling clients, they face pitfalls with the failure of policy performance and projections to manage financial liquidity after death. The authors make insurance terminology more accessible for lawyers so that they can outline potential impacts on their clients. This volume clarifies necessary due diligence and helps lawyers determine what’s best for the beneficiaries. With quick answers to the most frequently asked questions, thumbnails on all major forms of life insurance and sample documentation and illustrations, “Due Diligence of Trust-Owned Life Insurance” provides attorneys with the best resource for decision-making criteria.
Brody is a partner of Bryan Cave LLP and an adjunct professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and books on the use of life insurance in estate and employee benefit planning.
Billie Resnick is a co-founder with her husband of The Resnick Group in Naples, Fla., and Lemoyne, Penn. She has contributed to articles on life insurance and estate planning that have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Journal of Practical Estate Planning and Journal of Retirement Planning.
John Resnick’s commentaries have appeared in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, and he has conducted educational forums at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania since the 1990s. The Resnicks are creators of the syndicated radio program Legends of Success with John Resnick, which shares John’s interviews with America’s leading CEOs, entertainment icons and The Forbes 400.
Weber is president and primary consultant for The Ethical Edge, Inc., in Pleasant Hill, Calif., and holds an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley with a specialty in insurance and finance. He currently serves as senior adjunct professor of risk and insurance in California Lutheran University’s MBA program.