Features

Despite a provision in a commercial lease that prohibited electronic notice, the Massachusetts Appeals Court sided with a tenant in holding that an email to its landlord constituted effective notice to opt out of an automatic five-year lease extension.

Columns & Departments

Court Reserves Decision Pending Further Proceedings When ZBA Produced Inadequate Findings of Fact to Support Variance Grant Landmark Designation Upheld Despite Town's Failure to Call Public Hearing Within Code's Time Limit

Features

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made clear its view — that class-action plaintiffs' lawyers generally should not be awarded fees that exceed the amount their clients get from a settlement — as the court struck down a $1.7 million fee award in which a copyright plaintiffs' class received less than $53,000 in an infringement dispute settlement.

Features

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether the federal Lanham Act should be interpreted so broadly that domestic companies can leverage it to bar trademark infringement by — and seek significant damage awards against — foreign entities operating almost entirely overseas.

Features

While many of the country's largest law firms contend with financial volatility that has resulted in financial declines and workforce overcapacity, the 20 midsize firms included in the Am Law 200 outperformed the 2023 Am Law Second Hundred in key financial metrics.

Features

With ample bravado, in recent years the FCPA unit of the DOJ and the SEC have proclaimed that holding individuals accountable for foreign bribery schemes is of "critical importance," with the FCPA saying "it is unambiguously this department's first priority" to prosecute individuals in corporate criminal matters. Reviewing the enforcement record, however, one sees that the volume of FCPA enforcement activity with respect to individuals has steadily declined in the last three years.

Features

The Second Circuit had a tough call to make in the Purdue Pharmacy bankruptcy appeal: What to do about the release given to the Sackler families who had agreed to contribute $5.5 to $6 billion to Purdue's reorganization plan but were not themselves in bankruptcy.

Features

Simply because the expert is retained by counsel in anticipation of litigation, does not automatically render all communications privileged.