This article discusses the applicable general principles and drafting considerations for some of the most frequently litigated boilerplate provisions: choice-of-law, forum selection, venue, jury trial waiver and attorney's fees.
Recent important cases.
Important rulings in neighboring states.
In the movies, it seems that monsters are always up to no good ' making mayhem or setting fires. But in a federal court in Philadelphia recently, a couple dozen movie monsters made some important new law and set a few significant precedents in the area of copyrights and trademarks that may help to define the doctrine of fair use for years to come.
The Supreme Court of Georgia recently held in Trinity Outdoor, LLC v. Central Mut. Ins. Co. that an insured for which the insurer is providing a defense does not have a claim for an alleged bad faith failure to settle prior to the entry of an excess judgment.
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
The Ricci decision is a reminder for all employers: Employment decisions cannot be made based on race, regardless of whatever good intentions the employer may have. Even though the Court confirmed that employers can take "affirmative efforts to ensure that all groups have a fair opportunity to apply for promotions and to participate in the process by which promotions will be made," the actual decisions cannot be tainted by racial consideration.
In-house counsel and their outside counterparts routinely struggle with the problem of when and how to issue legal hold notices. When is litigation reasonably anticipated? Who should get the notice? Should the notice be tailored to the case or based on a rigid template? One question that should have a consistent answer is whether the notice should be in writing.
Complex and systemic, the current financial crisis is nearly certain to yield extensive legislation regulating everything from the financial markets to mortgage brokers to ratings agencies. Any such legislation may raise interpretive issues similar to those that have arisen in recent Federal Court decisions interpreting section 304 and section 1514A(a)(1) of the sweeping Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("SOX").
