Both Labor Law '240(1) and '241(6) impose a nondelegable duty on property owners to provide specified protections to workers. This duty exists regardless of whether or not the owner controlled, directed, or supervised the work. As the courts have repeatedly observed, the imposition of this duty protects workers, by placing ultimate responsibility for their safety upon owners and contractors, instead of on the workers themselves.
Planning staff of municipalities often view developers with a degree of suspicion, while developers tend to see municipalities as roadblocks ' or, at the very least, speed bumps ' when it comes to building projects. Developers respond to market forces and pursue the rewards of capitalism, while municipalities are concerned about infrastructure issues and meeting the long-term needs of their citizens.
An interview with Sharon Meit Abrahams, Director of Professional Development, McDermott Will & Emery LLP (Miami).
Substantial portions of commercial space are commonly available via sublease. In comparison with a direct lease (which customarily becomes effective upon execution and delivery by the Landlord and the Tenant), a sublease usually only becomes effective if and when the Sublandlord and Subtenant execute and deliver the Sublease and the Master Landlord executes and delivers a Consent to Sublease.
Founding and/or senior partners are the finders, and they hire minders and grinders to do the bulk of the work. Then the day comes when these hires are instructed to go out and get new clients. Suddenly, a population trained to "succeed" in one way has to learn to survive in a vastly different environment.
The deadline for submissions to the coveted MLF 50 ' The Top 50 Law Firms in Marketing and Communications ' has been extended to Monday, Sept. 29, 2008. Click here to see the submission criteria.
Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, a ruling likely to fortify the view that an award of punitive damages should not exceed the amount of the compensatory award. To be sure, some will argue that there are, may be, or ought to be, exceptions; some will argue that the Court was only deciding federal common law in a maritime case and not the limits of state common law; and some may say there is still support for accepting punitive awards that exceed a 1:1 ratio.
Part One of this article discussed the types of vehicle-related accidents to which children fall prey and described some ways technology has developed to avoid such accidents. The conclusion addresses the role of parents and caregivers in vehicle-related accidents and the new type of litigation spawned by new technology.
Product liability litigation is waged through battles of the experts. Hotly contested disputes over expert testimony arise early and often, from discovery through trial and even appeal. Disputes intensify when parties use their own employees as experts because the law governing employee expert disclosure remains undeveloped.
