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Amend Your Arbitration Clause to Comply with New Rules
Franchising companies often select arbitration to resolve issues with their franchisees and critical vendors. An arbitral forum allows the parties to discuss and resolve marketing initiatives outside of the prying eyes of the media and competitors. Although some companies welcome the limitations on appeals of arbitration awards as an advantage in reaching finality of business disputes, others find it a reason to avoid arbitration, because the costs of a bad outcome can be high. For example, just recently, a JAMS arbitrator entered an arbitration award against the Starbucks chain in the amount of $2.8 billion in favor of Kraft Foods for terminating a marketing deal. There, the single arbitrator selected by the parties, Edward Bobrick, a retired magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, awarded $2.23 billion in damages and $527 million in legal fees and pre-award interest over Starbucks' termination of the deal in 2010.
Kraft had signed a contract in 1998 under which it took exclusive responsibility for marketing Starbucks coffee in supermarkets. Starbucks terminated the contract in 2010 after becoming dissatisfied with Kraft's performance. Starbucks complained that Kraft had failed to cooperate in its sales planning, budgeting and advertising and undermined the contract by Kraft promoting its own Yuban coffee blend in violation of the exclusive deal.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The 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.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
How AI Has Affected PR
When we consider how the use of AI affects legal PR and communications, we have to look at it as an industrywide global phenomenon. A recent online conference provided an overview of the latest AI trends in public relations, and specifically, the impact of AI on communications. Here are some of the key points and takeaways from several of the speakers, who provided current best practices, tips, concerns and case studies.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.