Commercial Law

Features

Consumer advocates reacted with dismay to reports that the FCC plans to allow Internet service providers to charge companies a toll for faster access, while FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler defended the proposed rules as consistent with the underlying goals of net neutrality.

Features

The U.S. Supreme Court on April 22 voted, 6-2, to uphold Michigan's ban on state affirmative action programs, finding that the court has no authority to set aside the measure approved by voters.

Features

In the March 2014 issue, in their article titled 'Blurred Lines,' the authors discussed a number of decisions from various jurisdictions concerning the applicability of the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine in the context of an insurer's claims investigation. Among those decisions was <i>National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. TransCanada Energy USA, Inc.</i>

Features

Today's book publishing agreements typically include a grant of e-book rights from an author to a publisher. But contracts from the pre-e-book era have been contested as to whether the older agreements give the author or the publisher the e-book rights in the author's works. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has decided that the phrase "now known or hereafter invented" granted the e-book rights to the publisher.

Features

One of the challenges commonly facing franchise lawyers is that there are several definitions of the term "franchise." Regardless of whether the parties intend to establish a franchise relationship, if the relationship legally is deemed a "franchise," certain federal and state laws may apply. However, the definition of "franchise" often varies from statute to statute, and it may be difficult to determine whether a particular statute applies.

Features

Franchisors have historically struggled with whether to include provisions calling for mandatory arbitration of all franchise disputes in their franchise agreements. One of the main complaints about arbitration from franchisors and franchisees alike ' and a reason many franchisors opt not to include arbitration provisions in their franchise agreements ' has been the lack of an effective appeal process.

Features

Moore's Law revealed the fundamental question we all ask when faced with a new technology: should I <i>purchase</i> that device? The fact is, we don't know. The period of exponential improvement which we are all now familiar with has shown time and again that there will be some breakthrough in technology over the next several months that delivers a product to me that is better, cheaper and faster.

Features

Corporate counsel may be surprised to learn that, under certain circumstances, plaintiffs in shareholder litigation have gained access to privileged materials upon a showing of "good cause" under the fiduciary exception. This article discusses the basis for the fiduciary exception, the factors involved in the good-cause analysis, and the circumstances under which courts have turned over privileged materials to plaintiffs.