Features

Class Certification
<b><i>Will Gorsuch Pick Up Where Scalia Left Off?</b></i><p>"Is my client a potential member in a class-action lawsuit against a pharmaceuticals manufacturer?" The answers can get complicated, especially when the legal landscape is in flux, as it is now as we await the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice. What should we expect?
Features

New Rules Pose Hurdles for Disability Claimants
Over the course of the past few months (and prior to the inauguration of President Trump), the Social Security Administration (SSA) proposed and finalized…
Columns & Departments
Development
Discussion of two rulings of interest to you and your practice.
Features

User Behavior Analytics and Your Company's Data
While cybersecurity spending at many organizations still tends to focus on perimeter defenses, security experts have begun to face the reality that it is nearly impossible to keep bad actors out of your network, and are turning their attention to better ways of mitigating threats posed by intruders once they've hacked their way in.
Features

Streaming Pre-'72 Recordings Not Piracy Under Georgia Law
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that media companies streaming music recordings made prior to Feb. 15, 1972, over the Internet without paying royalties or licensing fees aren't violating the state's criminal record piracy law.
Features

Supreme Court May Preserve EDTX Grip on Patent Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court did not appear eager to upset the patent litigation landscape by drastically limiting where infringement lawsuits can be filed.
Features

Expansion of the <i>Barton</i> Doctrine To Unsecured Creditors' Committees
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held in <i>Blixseth v. Brown</i> that under <i>Barton v. Barbour</i>, a plaintiff must obtain a bankruptcy court's permission before commencing a lawsuit in another forum against a member of the committee of unsecured creditors, and that <i>Stern v. Marshall</i> does not preclude bankruptcy courts from adjudicating such claims on the merits.
Features

Make-Whole Mayhem
<b><i>Uncertain Treatment of Make-Whole Premiums Upon Bankruptcy-Induced Acceleration and Redemption of Indentures</b></i><p>Make-whole premiums are essentially prepayment penalties imposed on borrowers when loans are paid off in advance of their maturity dates. These premiums remove the borrowers' incentives to refinance whenever interest rates drop, and provide stability and predictability to the world of secured lending.
Features

Trade Secrets and Whistleblower Disclosures
A national bank client calls you and says that an internal auditor employee, who has signed stringent confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, has…
Columns & Departments
In the Courts
On March 9, 2017, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby's approval of a settlement that barred several IRA account owners from filing individual claims against the custodian bank. An in-depth analysis of the court's ruling.
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