Features

There is considerable information available in cyberspace ' much of it interesting, some of it damning, and some of it false. Obtaining that information feels risk free and virtually untraceable. However, the universe of employment laws applies to much of what happens when virtual sleuthing yields tangible job consequences.

Cost-control methods in law departments are more than just talk as cost pressures are creating a fundamental shift in the management and operation of the departments and their interaction with outside counsel, results of a recent Hildebrandt International survey suggest.

Features

Over the past several months, the DOJ has begun investigating several leading technology companies for possible violations of the antitrust laws. One focus of the multi-faceted investigation is whether certain companies have violated antitrust laws by agreeing among themselves not to recruit one another's employees.

Corporate counsel should note recent legal developments surrounding spoliation ' the destruction or significant alteration of evidence, or the failure to preserve property for another's use as evidence in pending or reasonably foreseeable litigation. This violation occurs when one party intentionally or negligently breaches its duty to preserve potentially discoverable evidence.

While companies conduct internal investigations for many reasons, the results of these investigations are often shared with the government. But the disclosure required by that cooperation leaves open the real possibility that the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine may be waived.

A new federal appeals court decision promises to give significant pause to corporate counsel, particularly in-house tax attorneys. To their dismay, the First Circuit has ruled that no amount of anticipation of litigation, nor the intimate involvement of legal counsel, can ever immunize so-called "tax accrual workpapers" from discovery by the IRS.

Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.

Now is the time for retail landlords and tenants to put themselves in the strongest possible legal and economic position. Using the steps in this article, a landlord or tenant can proactively evaluate where it currently stands, identify positions of strength and weakness, and execute on the strongest possible strategy.