Features

The Fourth Amendment and ESI
Courts have long acknowledged that searches of computers and other mediums storing electronic information (ESI) often involve a degree of intrusiveness much greater in quantity and in kind from searches of other containers. This article reviews some recent case law that spotlights this ever developing area of the law.
Features

The 4th Amendment and ESI
Courts continue to grapple with the specificity of description required by these warrants for electronically stored evidence so as not to undermine the particularity required by the Fourth Amendment.
Features

Supreme Court Unwilling to Rule On Constitutionality of Florida and Texas Social Media Legislation
The court's unwillingness to issue a final decision at this early stage indicates how much is at stake for social media moderation of users' postings. The outcome could set a crucial precedent affecting the regulation of content on social media platforms, influencing how these entities manage user-generated content and exercise their editorial discretion.
Features

Supreme Court Limits Impact Fees
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, holding that legislatively-imposed fees on development are subject to the same constitutional scrutiny as fees imposed by administrative bodies. The Court's decision may have an impact on fees New York municipalities impose on developers in lieu of developer-provided parkland.
Features

The Guaranty Law Continues to Divide Opinion
This article discusses the recent developments surrounding the constitutionality of the Guaranty Law. In particular, we address the Southern District's view that the statute is unconstitutional and the splintered view of the statute's constitutionality expressed by New York State courts.
Features

Owners Have No Constitutional Right to Expand Nonconforming Uses
Can a municipality's refusal to permit expansion of a pre-existing nonconforming use constitute a federal constitutional violation?
Features

Municipality's Refusal to Permit Expansion of a Pre-Existing Nonconforming Use Doesn't Violate Constitution
Can a municipality's refusal to permit expansion of a pre-existing nonconforming use constitute a federal constitutional violation? The federal district court for the Eastern District of New York faced that question and awarded summary judgment to the municipality, rejecting the landowner's substantive due process and takings claims.
Features
The First Amendment and the Lanham Act At the Supreme Court
In March, the Supreme Court heard a blockbuster trademark case with significant implications for trademark law. After argument, reversal seems likely as questioning from the justices suggests that a long-standing precedent is unlikely to survive unscathed. But the Court also indicated concern over the broader implications of this case in the arts, entertainment, and publishing. Here's what you need to know about Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products.
Features

Supreme Court Finds 2017 Bankruptcy Fee Increases Unconstitutional But Leaves Remedy Unclear
The Supreme Court concluded that because the 2017 amendments exempted debtors located in two States, it was not "uniform" as it did not apply equally to all debtors regardless of where they were situated and, therefore, the statute was unconstitutional.
Features

Efforts to Provide Out-of-State Abortion Travel Benefits Face Rapidly Shifting Legal Landscape
Employment attorneys say the breadth of new state laws — and the pace at which they are going into effect — means in-house counsel at companies trying to create workarounds for employees in states with restrictive abortion laws by providing benefits that would allow them to travel out-of-state to access abortion services will need to be on high alert, since keeping up on top of the laws will be key to limiting their exposure to litigation — or even criminal penalties.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›