Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure incentivizes a party's attorney to get creative in his efforts to prevent disclosure of his communications with the party's expert ... The results of the rule have been costly and often lead to the discovery of information that is only marginally relevant to any genuine issue in dispute.
In March, an Atlantic County, NJ, judge denied a request to certify a class action against Merck & Co. on behalf of consumers for their out-of-pocket expenses for the painkiller Vioxx, which was withdrawn from the market in 2004 after a medical study linked it to heart disease.
This article poses ten questions in-house corporate counsel should ask themselves when they are preparing to defend a case and are in the process of retaining outside counsel.
The increased regulation of safety standards, testing, certifications of compliance, and advertising will likely result in a significant increase in the number of foreign product recalls. This, in turn, will yield increased litigation in the future. Here's why.
Former employees of Heller Ehrman sued at least 179 former partners in April, demanding they fork over $32 million for the largest group of creditors in the defunct firm's bankruptcy.
Management teams should be aware that reductions in workforce ("RIFs"), while seemingly cost-cutting in nature, can actually yield the opposite result, and can cause unintended and costly consequences with respect to a firm's tax-qualified employee benefit plan.
An advance conflict waiver is an agreement, given by your client, to a potential future representation by your law firm that would otherwise be precluded because of a conflict of interest. Law firms increasingly include such waivers in their standard form engagement letters. Here's what you need to know.
There are key activities that lawyers can engage in to promote the health of existing client interactions. All of these activities can be categorized into one of three stages: 1) establishing the relationship; 2) building the relationship; and 3) proliferating the relationship.
With so many lawyers up for grabs these days, firms have enticing opportunities to bring aboard top talent, sometimes at bargain prices. But let the hirer beware. Lateral hiring isn't without risk, and more lateral hiring means more exposure to claims alleging malpractice and other failings.
In October 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the first time made public its Enforcement Manual, the agency's internal reference guide for Enforcement Division staff in the investigation of potential violations of the federal securities laws. Law firms and corporations involved in matters before the SEC will find it a valuable resource to aid their understanding of SEC operations.
