Features
Reining in the Inequitable Conduct Defense
Responding to views from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and elsewhere about the unintended consequences of the current inequitable conduct doctrine, a divided <i>en banc</i> Federal Circuit decision issued on May 25, 2011 adjusted the standard of the materiality element to make this defense harder to establish.
Real Property Law
A look at recent key rulings of importance to you and your practice.
Yellowstone Injunctions Are Applicable to Residential Leases
In the Second Department, tenants who miss the deadline for the application of Yellowstone injunction are now out of luck ' Article 63 is no longer a viable option.
Obtaining Evidence from Social Networking Sites
If an attorney (or his or her agent) uses trickery to gain access to data that the owner allows only certain people to see, the ethical line will be crossed. Ultimately, if an attorney suspects that private data could be useful to the litigation of a family issue, court intervention should be sought.
Creating a Catalyst For Change
Like many other companies, Rockwell Automation wanted to become more cost-efficient, have the capability to perform benchmarking, make the best staffing decisions and serve our business proactively by providing legal advice that helps lower and manage the company's risks. However, our inability to monitor and report on our outside counsel spending was holding us back from meeting these goals.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Law Firms are Reducing Redundant Real Estate by Bringing Support Services Back to the OfficeA trend analysis of the benefits and challenges of bringing back administrative, word processing and billing services to law offices.Read More ›
- Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel'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.Read More ›
- Divorce Lawyers' Obligation to ChildrenDo divorce lawyers have an obligation to disclose client confidences when it is in the best interests of the client's child to do so? The short answer of the rules of professional responsibility is 'no' because a 'yes' answer is deemed to be fundamentally inconsistent with the premises of the adversary system in which the divorce lawyer functions. The longer answer is that the rules encourage ' but do not require ' a divorce lawyer to counsel the client to authorize the disclosure because it is in the best interests of both parent and child.Read More ›
- Upping the Legal Training AnteWomble Carlyle's technology training and online learning programs were in need of an upgrade. Unprecedented firm growth, heightened emphasis on developing lawyers' core technology competencies, and a need to streamline and automate existing e-learning processes led the firm to initiate a fundamental shift.Read More ›