Features

On May 20 of this year, the members of the American Law Institute (ALI) unanimously approved a project that was five years in the making ' "Principles of Aggregate Litigation." Although it encompasses all of the many forms of aggregated lawsuits, the Principles really focus on the most controversial one: The class action.

Features

This article summarizes the law of inadvertent waiver of privilege and the evolution of courts' approaches to this problem, describes the changes brought about by newly enacted Federal Rule of Evidence 502, and offers a roadmap for the product liability practitioner to keeping privileged documents out of the hands of one's adversary.

In a recent divided decision, New York's highest court may have changed some contours of product liability law as it affects cases involving optional equipment, knowledgeable purchasers and off-product warnings.

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A properly pleaded Complaint in a design defect case will permit the plaintiff to try his case on several different theories: negligence, strict liability and breach of warranty. Nevertheless, certain cases would be most efficiently tried only as a breach of warranty.

Features

The two recent Supreme Court decisions in <i>Riegel</i> and <i>Altria Group</i> are difficult to reconcile in fundamental ways, and, consequently, they did little to provide meaningful guidance to litigants and lower courts.

Developing a strategic plan is a wasted exercise if not followed by action plans ' and then action. This article explains how to do it.

Grappling with an unprecedented recession, law firms are merging out of both necessity and opportunity, according to a recent client advisory from Hildebrandt and Citi Private Bank.

Features

Compounded by the current recession, demands of clients and competition among law firms are causing fairly dramatic changes in the pricing of legal services, away from straight hourly billing.