Features

Enhanced Oversight of Search Warrants and Title III Wiretaps
Search warrants and wiretaps were once used primarily to investigate organized crime, drug dealing and terrorism. In recent years, however, prosecutors have employed these tools increasingly in the context of white-collar crime to the point where it is now commonplace.
Features

WEBINAR: AI & Intellectual Property
Owners of intellectual property should be aware of how their works are used by generative AI models and the users of these tools, and timely action should be taken to defend intellectual property against infringement. Join LJN for a free webinar on Nov. 9.
Features

Law Firms Might Meet Budget, But Uncertainty Looms
With the end of the year in focus, most law firms may well finish in line with their budget plans. But analysts and observers also described the end-of-year profitability picture in Big Law as "tepid," "flat-ish" and "volatile," with 2024 promising plenty of uncertainty as well.
Columns & Departments
Players On the Move
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
Features

Landmines In Bankruptcy Appellate Practice
Pundits are raving about the current increase in business bankruptcy cases. But they rarely, if ever, mention the spike in bankruptcy appeals. A brief survey of recent decisions shows that appellate courts are, among other things, finding ways to (a) avoid making decisions or to (b) avoid litigation delay and uncertainty by expediting appellate review. Practitioners can avoid surprises by grasping what these courts are actually doing.
Features

Are Law Firms' Real Estate and Tech Spending Invariably at Odds?
But in place of the common assumption from the COVID years that real estate and technology spending were inversely related, it's becoming increasingly clear that the two line items — which trail only talent on the overall cost hierarchy — have a more complex relationship.
Features

Are Professional Associations Really Valuable?
In the legal profession, joining and maintaining membership in various professional associations is common practice. However, lawyers often overlook the critical question of whether their affiliation with these organizations yields substantial benefits, such as quality referrals and new clients.
Features

Emojis in the Workplace: Innocent Fun or Discovery Hazard?
Emojis can be equally troublesome in any type of business legal case. How are your employees using emojis in text messaging? Awareness can be an important part of risk reduction. We have compiled here a few case law examples where the use of emojis in business communications had surprising legal ramifications.
Features

FIFA Decision Curtail U.S. Efforts to Police Foreign Commercial Bribery
Heeding the U.S. Supreme Court's clear message that ever-expanding constructions of the general fraud statutes are out of style, the latest decision out of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in the long-running FIFA saga has the potential to substantially curtail U.S. efforts to police foreign commercial bribery.
Columns & Departments
IP News
Federal Circuit: The Comparison Prior Art Has to be Within the Proper Scope Federal Circuit: More Than Describing Trial and Error Is Needed for Enablement
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
- 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 ›
- 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 ›
- Meet the Lawyer Working on Inclusion Rider LanguageAt 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.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.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 ›