Commercial Law

In In re Reichhold Holdings US, bankruptcy judge Mary F. Walrath upheld the validity of a vendor's administrative claim for its reclamation rights under Section 546(c) of the Bankruptcy Code as against a post-petition DIP lender. In doing so, Judge Walrath declined to follow cases from the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York that held otherwise.

In what began as a year with a forecast of modest growth, The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (ELFA) has just released its Q4 update to the 2016 Equipment Leasing & Finance U.S. Economic Outlook, reducing the year's growth expectations to -0.5%, marking a steady decline in growth forecast for the year.

Landlord's Self-Proclamation of Tenant's Breach Costs It Big

The ABA has long published its Model Rules of Professional Conduct and modifies them from time-to-time to stay current with legal and technological developments and advances. While these Model Rules are not officially binding on attorneys, they have been adopted in large part by nearly every stateand provide a guideline for attorneys across the country regarding standards of professional responsibility and ethical conduct.

Contracts between a corporation and a corporate director can give rise to certain difficulties in managing expectations of the director's obligations and responsibilities. Such contracts may create obligations that extend beyond those fiduciary duties inherent to the director position. This extension of the director's role may increase the risk of a conflict between a director's contractual obligations and his fiduciary duties.

Former hedge fund manager Steven Lamar, who helped launch Dr. Dre's Beats headphones a decade ago, won the right to go to trial against the rap artist and record producer after the California Court of Appeal revived his $100 million case over unpaid royalties.

Critics of the DMCA got some ammunition recently, when Warner Bros. asked Google to take down hundreds of copyright-infringing websites ' only to later realize that it had included legitimate sites and some of the entertainment company's own official pages. The blunder dredges up questions about whether the current notice-and-takedown system is working for both copyright owners and service providers.

With four IP cases on the docket and several more knocking at the door of certiorari, the U.S. Supreme Court is poised for a banner year of patent, trademark and copyright decisions.