Features
Failure to File Post-Trial Motions Means $18.5 Mil. Verdict Stands
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has upheld an $18.5 million verdict against grocery chains Safeway and Genuardi's because the chains did not file post-trial motions before appealing to the Superior Court.
Features
Practice Tip: Top 10 Tips for Defending Mass Torts in NJ
With plaintiffs filing numerous cases in the Garden State, it is easy to fall into the mindset that New Jersey is for plaintiffs. Do not get caught in that trap and become complacent, filing rote motions and litigating on autopilot.
Features
The Products Liability Act, the Economic Loss Rule and the Integrated Product Doctrine
This article provides a summary and analysis of the recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision, <i>Dean v. Barrett Homes, Inc.<i>; it dealt with the application of the New Jersey Products Liability Act, the economic loss rule, and the integrated products doctrine in a factual context not previously considered by the court.
Features
<i>En Banc</i> Rehearing Demanded on Facebook-ConnectU Settlement
When the Ninth Circuit denied Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra's request to have their settlement with Facebook overturned last month, it made headlines, most likely due to the depiction of the legal battle in the Academy Award-nominated film, <i>The Social Network</i>. But despite being told by the court to be happy with the "quite favorable" settlement amount, the attorney leading the fight isn't ready to give up.
Features
TV Reality Show Arbitration Clause Binds Non-Signing Participant
A teen beauty who slapped The Walt Disney Co. with a $100 million suit claiming she had been depicted as a bratty child on the reality TV show <i>Wife Swap</i> will not have her day in court. Alicia Guastaferro was 15 when her mother signed a release and waiver for her TV appearance, during which the daughter made the comment that she felt "sorry for people who aren't as gorgeous as me." Even though Guastaferro did not execute the release, Acting New York County Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla nonetheless held that she was bound by its arbitration clause.
Features
<b>Decision of Note</b> Film Owner Can't Claim Copyright Protection for Actor's Multiple Roles
To determine whether a defendant's work is substantially similar to a plaintiff's work in a copyright infringement case, courts generally first discard any unprotectable elements from the plaintiff's work. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recently ruled that the use of one actor to play multiple roles in the plaintiff's 1949 comedy film <i>Kind Hearts and Coronets</i> wasn't a protectable element for proving infringement by the authors of a stage musical adapted from the film.
Features
Strategies for Using the IFTA Arbitration Process
More film productions have become international affairs, with shooting in faraway exotic locations, post-production in still other foreign countries, production funding from international sources, and sales in both foreign and domestic markets. The question then is how best to resolve disputes arising among the vast cast of characters in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
Features
Time-Barred Copyright Ownership Claim Prevents Infringement Claim
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that a time-bar for copyright ownership under the statute of limitations also bars a related copyright infringement claim.
Features
Online Behavioral Advertising
The first quarter of this year has been marked by a rise of awareness and legal activity surrounding the question of behavioral, or targeted, advertising ' a significant area of operation and interest for e-commerce firms.
Features
In the Courts
Analysis of a recent ruling by the Fifth Circuit.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›