Delaware Bankruptcy Court Denies Multi-Party Setoff
<i>In re SemCrude, L.P.</i> is a departure from the long-standing assumption that a multi-party netting agreement among affiliates would be upheld in bankruptcy if enforceable under applicable non-bankruptcy law. This article provides an analysis of the decision, the procedural status and its potential impact, and recommendations for minimizing the potential negative implications.
Case Briefs
Highlights of the latest insurance cases from around the country.
CA's 'Genuine Dispute' Doctrine
This article provides a historical overview of California's "genuine dispute" doctrine, a summary of the general principles applicable under the doctrine, and a discussion of the recent legal developments in the doctrine.
Spoiled Rotten: Courts Are Split on Coverage for Contaminated Foods and Products
In a series of recent cases addressing coverage for contaminated foods and similar losses, jurisdictions have split on the availability of insurance. Courts excluding coverage have relied on language traditionally used to exclude business and product-related losses, including the "your product" and "impaired property" exclusions. Other courts have rejected the application of these exclusions if it is unclear that the damage was to the insured's product and if the cause of the damage is not inherent in the product itself.
Features
A 'Not So' Full Defense
Insurers take deductions from defense bills or delay payment of these bills far too frequently. Insurers engage in these tactics with many policyholders, but few actually challenge the insurer's conduct. There are, however, ways to challenge these tactics.
IP News
Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.
In re Swanson: Reaffirming a Substantially Old Question
<b>In re Swanson</b> will likely have the effect of encouraging even more third-party ex parte re-examination requests, while only discouraging an applicant's incentive to perform a patent search to provide the best art to the PTO.
Veoh: Increased Protection for Service Providers, Or a Trapdoor?
The August 2008 ruling in <i>Io Group, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc.</i>, has been widely heralded as a win for online service providers in the legal maelstrom surrounding social media.
Gripe Sites: Sue or Stew
Gripe sites are Web sites whose purpose is to complain, criticize, and revile businesses or other institutions. So, what to do.
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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 ›