Features
Wyeth v. Levine
One of the great dramas playing in the theater of American jurisprudence is the epic struggle that roils pharmaceutical labeling. Simply put, the labeling issue confronting the Supreme Court this term is: Who decides the adequacy of drug labeling ' the FDA or a jury of plaintiff's peers?
Features
Ethical Issues of the 21st Century
In Part One of this article, the authors covered ethical issues relating to e-mail. In Part Two below, they discuss ethical issues related to e-discovery and social networking and blogs.
Leadership Development Programs
Leadership competencies are critical for lawyers on many fronts. While leadership is not taught in law school, many firms have begun to implement formal leadership development programs. Here's how to do it.
Should Your Partnership Agreement Require Mandatory, Binding Arbitration?
Many partner disputes are resolved informally through discussions with firm management. However, many firms do not have a formal internal grievance procedure for partnership-related matters. What happens when the dispute cannot be amicably resolved? Is litigation the sole solution?
A Discussion on Partner Capital
In a July issue of The National Law Journal, there was a lead article titled, "Firms Ask Partners to Pony Up." That article sparked questions from clients of our firm, Altman Weil, Inc., regarding law firm capital structures. This article pulls together a number of the issues we have been dealing with recently.
Bit Parts
Book Publishing/Personal Jurisdiction<br>Copyrights/Wills and Estates<br>Film Tax Shelters/Disclosures to Investor
Features
Cameo Clips
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/BANKRUPTCY DISCHARGE<br>COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/TV SHOW TREATMENT<br>COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/VENUE TRANSFER
Features
License to Merge: Precautions for Preserving IP License Rights
Despite a long history of case law relating to mergers, one area remains unclear, especially in the entertainment industry: the effect of mergers on intellectual property licensing agreements. Recent case law contributes to this uncertainty and suggests that certain precautions may be necessary to preserve valuable IP licensing rights. Importantly, entertainment companies should anticipate these issues from the outset and careful consideration should be given when first negotiating a license agreement.
Features
<i>Veoh</i> Ruling: Protecting Service Providers or Is It a Trap Door?
The recent 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. Veoh is an Internet TV platform similar to YouTube that hosts user uploaded content. When clips from adult movies owned by Io Group appeared on Veoh's network, Io brought a copyright infringement suit, rather than issuing DMCA notices to Veoh requesting that its content be removed. Io lost its case.
Features
<b><i>Decision of Note:</i></b> FL Federal Court Has Jurisdiction Over TN Manager
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided that a federal district court in Florida had personal jurisdiction over a Tennessee-based personal manager who used the indicia of a Florida musician on his Web site.
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- Abandoned and Unused Cables: A Hidden Liability Under the 2002 National Electric CodeIn an effort to minimize the release of toxic gasses from cables in the event of fire, the 2002 version of the National Electric Code ("NEC"), promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, sets forth new guidelines requiring that abandoned cables must be removed from buildings unless they are located in metal raceways or tagged "For Future Use." While the NEC is not, in itself, binding law, most jurisdictions in the United States adopt the NEC by reference in their state or local building and fire codes. Thus, noncompliance with the recent NEC guidelines will likely mean that a building is in violation of a building or fire code. If so, the building owner may also be in breach of agreements with tenants and lenders and may be jeopardizing its fire insurance coverage. Even in jurisdictions where the 2002 NEC has not been adopted, it may be argued that the guidelines represent the standard of reasonable care and could result in tort liability for the landlord if toxic gasses from abandoned cables are emitted in a fire. With these potential liabilities in mind, this article discusses: 1) how to address the abandoned wires and cables currently located within the risers, ceilings and other areas of properties, and 2) additional considerations in the placement and removal of telecommunications cables going forward.Read More ›
- Guidance on Distributions As 'Disbursements' and U.S. Trustee FeesIn a recent case from the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, In re Paragon Offshore PLC, the bankruptcy court provided guidance on whether a post-plan effective date litigation trust's distributions constituted disbursements subject to the U.S. Trustee fee "tax."Read More ›