Statutory consumer-protection laws are rapidly displacing common law tort principles. Those behind this disturbing trend say that these lawsuits (typically class actions) represent a "different avenue of relief for a different type of injury." Most admit, however, that they are actually running consumer class actions for "risk of injury" because personal-injury class action torts are too difficult to certify.
In recent years, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers have faced an increased number of creative product liability claims arising from alleged actions of their sales representatives. Medical device manufacturers may face a challenge in preventing these claims because of the unique role of these representatives.
In response to the nation's economic downturn, former President Bush signed into law the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 ("Housing Act") on July 30, 2008 and the Emergency Economic Recovery Act of 2008 ("Bailout Plan") on Oct. 3, 2008. The new laws have several significant tax-related provisions that affect individual and business taxpayers including law firms, attorneys, their staff, and their clients.
The importance of having a robust compliance policy to review the content of proposed advertisements is well-known and widely accepted. But what may not be as familiar is the need for a separate policy focused on the means of disseminating such advertising. Here's why.
Along with the viral popularity of social networking Web sites (one of these sites is the fourth most-trafficked Web site in the world), legal blogs, collaboration sites, and informal online education options comes the vulnerability of some risk. Here's what to do.
Technology innovations in legal practice will become standard as the author's generation moves into management and leadership roles. Here's why.
In many industries, non-competition provisions are a typical feature of employment contracts and partnership agreements. For lawyers, however, they have been condemned as unethical. Here's a look at Rule 5.6(a) of the ABA's Model Rules of Professional Conduct promulgated in 1983, and where it stands today.
In these hard economic times, the prospect of bankruptcy looms large for many people, including those who are divorcing. In fact, as anyone in family law practice knows, divorce itself can bring on a financial crisis even when marital assets are evenly split.
An order issued by the Westchester County Executive in 2006 requiring recognition of some same-sex marriages did not go unopposed. On Dec. 30, 2008, however, the Appellate Division, Second Department, upheld the legality of the order, affirming a lower court dismissal of a suit claiming the order violated New York's state constitutional and statutory law.
Virtually all matrimonial settlement agreements contain language that provides for the disposition of a refund of income taxes, paid by the parties during the marriage, in the unlikely event that such a refund is paid out after the agreement is signed. But what if the refund that is paid after the divorce is the result of one party's carryback of a post-divorce business (or "operating") loss?
