Features
News Briefs
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
Bet-the-System Disputes: When Minor Issues Can Get Out of Control
It's not common that a franchise is embroiled in a dispute that has the potential to disrupt or force operational changes to the entire system. But when those situations arise, franchisors are faced with the unpleasant decision whether it's worth taking on the "bet-the-system" challenge.
Features
Insurance, Indemnification and the Franchise Relationship: How to Make 'Belt and Suspenders' Work for Your Business
Unless one is aware of the potential pitfalls, even so-called "iron-clad" indemnification clauses or insurance provisions in a franchise agreement can be all for naught. This article discusses the interplay between insurance, indemnification, and the default common-law rules, so that franchisors and franchisees can avoid those dangerous pitfalls.
In the Marketplace
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Features
Grant Money Doesn't Come Free: How to Keep Your Company Out of Trouble When Using Federal Funds
Private companies should take advantage of the unprecedented funding created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Before they avail themselves of that funding, however, they must take careful stock of the requirements that accompany every aspect of the grant, from accounting under a grant to intellectual property created with those grant funds.
Features
Beyond the Signed Agreement: Intercreditor Dynamics in Bankruptcy
When a creditor enters the realm of bankruptcy, lenders often find that the many detailed provisions of an extensively negotiated intercreditor agreement are no longer controlling.
Features
FASB Issues Lease Accounting Discussion Paper Inviting You to Comment
The FASB/IASB Boards issued a Discussion Paper titled <i>Leases: Preliminary Views</i> on March 19, 2009, inviting the public to comment by July 17, 2009.
Features
Business Crimes Hotline
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
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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 ›
- 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 ›