3 Asian Legal Business | November 2024 TheBriefs (Reuters) A change in presidential administrations always means change for leading U.S. law firms, whose corporate clients need advice on shifting regulations and navigating new policy and business landscapes. The recent election brought a clear victory for Republican Donald Trump, a GOP majority in the U.S. Senate and possibly the House of Representatives, and a conviction among Trump’s allies that his vision for transforming the economy won a strong mandate. Trump’s win is likely to jolt some legal practices more than others, including regulatory work in areas like energy and the environment, and for attorneys who help clients structure mergers and investment deals and manage antitrust, employment and tax enforcement. “Change generally is good for lawyers,” said law firm consultant Peter Zeughauser. “That’s going to be particularly true in the regulatory practices,” he said, as the promise of aggressive deregulation brings both uncertainty and the chance of new economic activity. Regulatory and compliance Trump has said he would broadly roll back regulations he sees as strangling U.S. business. But cutting red tape doesn’t necessarily mean less regulatory work for law firms, said Dan Binstock, a partner at Washington-based legal recruiting firm Trump’s win brings new opportunities, challenges for US law firms Your monthly need-to-know Garrison. Rapid, potentially chaotic change typically increases demand for legal advice. “Whenever there’s uncertainty, the work spikes,” Binstock said. Some states may seek to fill a void left by pared-back federal regulation. Democratic state attorneys general frequently sued to stop Trump’s policies during his first administration, just as their Republican counterparts have targeted policies of Democratic President Joe Biden. Law firms, including Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Hogan Lovells, Holland & Knight, and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, responded by hiring former state government lawyers and creating practices dedicated to state enforcement matters. Energy and environment Trump has vowed to make it easier for energy companies to drill on federal land and build new pipelines, and law firms with strong traditional energy practices could benefit under his second administration. The United States, already the world’s largest oil and gas producer, could further expand production if Trump dismantles Biden’s climate initiatives. Experts told Reuters they think Trump’s win is unlikely to dramatically slow the current push for renewable energy thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act enacted under Biden. Law firms responded to the IRA’s passage by hiring energy and
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