A cross-section of law firm leaders comment on the current state of litigation, remote training, building cohesive and collaborative multidisciplinary teams, leveraging technology to enhance litigation processes and outcomes, and looking at the practice of law in the next decade.
Copyright lawsuit filings declined significantly over the last two years, according to a new report by Lex Machina, which found that overall cases had dipped from a 2018 peak that was driven primarily by surges in file-sharing litigation.
Parties holding potential claims against non-debtor third parties that are arguably "related to" the bankruptcy estate must weigh the risks and benefits of actively prosecuting such claims. The mere fact that a bankruptcy trustee could pursue such claims as property of the bankruptcy estate under Section 541 of the Bankruptcy Code will not be enough to argue that such claims are conclusively barred by the automatic stay.
Landlords and commercial tenants have proven savvy and mutually symbiotic. These entities learned quick lessons during the pandemic to sustain the landlord-tenant relationship on adjusted footing or otherwise to provide an agreeable runway for a lease exit minimizing the damage to landlords and tenants. Three workout trends reflect this changing landscape that "we are all in this together."
Likening his client's claim to that of an athlete with a monetizable image, an attorney representing TV reporter Karen Hepp, who is suing social media websites over misuse of her likeness, recently argued to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that the case should fit a narrow exception to a federal law that bars suits against online content providers.
What provisions in a subordination agreement can be enforced, and can the subordinated creditor participate in the reorganization process if there is no prospect it will receive any distribution as a result of being subordinated?
The Justice Department has confirmed it is looking to develop new policies surrounding how standard-essential patents might be used as tools for anticompetitive practices. The change in policy will mean big business for law firms that can combine highly technical IP advice with their antitrust and litigation practices.
At the Oscars in March, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made “inclusion rider” go viral. But Kalpana Kotagal, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll had already worked for months to write the language for such provisions. Kotagal was developing legal language for contract provisions that Hollywood's elite could use to require studios and other partners to employ diverse workers on set.
The law firm office cannot remain unchanged, as if frozen in time set to some date prior to the onset of pandemic, when the terms and meaning have all changed. In fact, the office must now provide benefits or an experience the lawyers and staff cannot get at home.
The legal implications of branding generally arise initially for companies during the process of selecting a company name and any initial product or service names. For drug development companies, however, careful consideration should also be paid to the implications of branding a clinical trial.
'Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel is a continuation of the discussion of client expectations and the disconnect that often occurs. And although the outside attorneys should be pursuing how inside-counsel actually think, inside counsel should make an effort to impart this information without waiting to be asked.
