General Counsel and In House Counsel

When the Supreme Court last year agreed to hear the defendant's appeal in United States v. Salman, it raised expectations in some quarters that it might significantly change insider trading law by curtailing liability for trading on tips from family members. But when it issued its opinion in December, it disappointed those expectations by unanimously reaffirming liability for trading on family tips, even where the tipper receives no monetary gain.

It is expected that equipment and software investment for 2016 will ultimately close down 1.1%, including three consecutive quarters of declining growth. This trend is expected to reverse in the new year, however, as investment in equipment and software is expected to grow 3.0% in 2017, according to the Annual 2017 Equipment Leasing & Finance U.S. Economic Outlook released by the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation.

In Villarreal v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the Eleventh Circuit concluded that Section 4(a)(2) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) does not allow job applicants to assert claims of disparate impact against a potential employer.

No one can deny that cyberattacks are the new norm. Such risks will increasingly challenge our ability to operate our businesses. In the world of cybercrime, everyone — from individuals to nation-states — is a target. However, some targets are more alluring than others.

Rotten for Apple

On Dec. 6, 2017, the United States Supreme Court, hearing its first design patent case in over 120 years, unanimously threw away a $400 million award that Apple won against Samsung Electronics. In doing so, the justices interpreted an 1887 statute providing that it is unlawful to manufacture or sell an "article of manufacture" that a patented design or colorable imitation has been applied.

Compensation for in-house counsel is up across the board, ranging from 3.7% to as much as 6% at some general counsel and expert counsel levels, according to recently released data from HBR Consulting's 2016 Law Department Survey.

Three Chinese nationals face federal charges for allegedly hacking into two major U.S. law firms in a scheme to trade on information about imminent mergers and acquisitions.

Non-compete clauses in employment contracts typically seek to preclude employees from working for a competitor for a specific period of time and within a specific geographic area. Most states allow non-competition agreements, provided they are reasonable in scope and justified by the employer's legitimate business interests. California, however, generally prohibits covenants not to compete, subject to limited exceptions.