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NJ & CT News
Rulngs in neighboring states that may affect your practice.
Features
Applying Exceptions to the Rules Against Hearsay Evidence in Custody Cases
In Part One of this article, the authors discussed the fact that the rule against hearsay often presents roadblocks for counsel in contested custody and visitation cases. Now they look at the specific exceptions to the rules against hearsay as they relate to child custody litigations.
CA Gay Marriage Ruling
On May 15, when the California Supreme Court ruled that marriage could not be denied to same-sex couples, the door seemingly flew wide open for gay and lesbian couples from any state in the union (and beyond) to go to California and get married. Whether that right would prove elusive for New York residents ' as was the case in Massachusetts, when that state decided to reserve gay marriage rights only for Massachusetts residents ' was an open question.
Features
Case Notes
Punitive, Non-Economic Damages Reduced for Paraplegic Injuries
Features
TX High Court Rules on Federal Pre-emption
In an April 18 decision that could affect other kinds of cases involving a federal regulatory scheme, the Texas Supreme Court held that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Act ('CPSA') pre-empts a tort claim brought against a cigarette lighter manufacturer.
The Need for New Policy and Business Paradigms
New products frequently give rise to new waves of product liability litigation. With nanotechnology-rooted innovation forecasted to account for upward of $1.5 trillion in global commerce by 2015, the stakes are high.
CA Adopts the Sophisticated User Doctrine
On April 3, 2008, the California Supreme Court, faced with a question of first impression, adopted the Sophisticated User Doctrine as a viable affirmative defense in product liability cases. The issue, as framed by the court, was whether California should adopt the Sophisticated User Doctrine to negate a manufacturer's duty to warn of a product's potential danger when the plaintiff has, or should have, advance knowledge of the product's inherent hazards. The ruling is an undeniable victory for product manufacturers.
<b><i>Practice Tip</b></i> Lone Pine Orders Increase Judicial Efficiency
In recent years, an increasing number of state and federal courts nationwide have issued 'Lone Pine orders' ' case management orders that require plaintiffs in mass tort litigation to substantiate their claims early in the litigation. Jurisdictions are split on whether to permit Lone Pine orders, which typically require plaintiffs to submit evidence, often in the form of expert affidavits or reports, of each plaintiff's exposure to toxic substances, each plaintiff's claim of illness, personal injury or property damage, and a causation link between the exposure and the injury.
Application of the Government Contractor Defense Affirmed in Agent Orange Cases
This article addresses the Second Circuit's decision affirming the application of the 'government contractor defense' to preclude the plaintiffs' claims asserted against the companies that had manufactured the herbicides. Under the government contractor defense, a private manufacturer is immunized from liability where it has made a product in accordance with specifications formulated by the government.
Features
Title Inflation: What's in a Name?
Like many organizations, title inflation has befallen law firms. Clearly, titles are important. Despite the temporary de-emphasis during the 'dot-com' era, titles are fundamental to any organizational design especially in a law firm setting where a more hierarchical model has always been valued. Used correctly, it can represent a way to reward, and in theory retain, talent. Positioning the marketing function at the 'C' level seems to make good sense, for the firm and certainly the executive. Despite this, before taking on the title ask yourself; am I getting a seat at the table or on the edge of a cliff?
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- 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's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- Surveys in Patent Infringement Litigation: The Next FrontierMost experienced intellectual property attorneys understand the significant role surveys play in trademark infringement and other Lanham Act cases, but relatively few are likely to have considered the use of such research in patent infringement matters. That could soon change in light of the recent admission of a survey into evidence in <i>Applera Corporation, et al. v. MJ Research, Inc., et al.</i>, No. 3:98cv1201 (D. Conn. Aug. 26, 2005). The survey evidence, which showed that 96% of the defendant's customers used its products to perform a patented process, was admitted as evidence in support of a claim of inducement to infringe. The court admitted the survey into evidence over various objections by the defendant, who had argued that the inducement claim could not be proven without the survey.Read More ›
- The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance ProgramsThe parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.Read More ›
- In the SpotlightOn May 9, 2003, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced that Bayer Corporation, the pharmaceutical manufacturer, had been sentenced and ordered to pay a criminal fine of $5,590,800 stemming from its earlier plea of guilty to violating the Federal Prescription Drug Marketing Act by failing to list with the FDA its drug product, Cipro, that was privately labeled for an HMO. Such listing is required under the federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act. The Federal Prescription Drug Marketing Act, Pub. L. 100-293, enacted on April 22, 1988, as modified on August 26, 1992 by the Prescription Drug Amendments (PDA) Pub. L. 102-353, 106 Stat. 941, amended sections 301, 303, 503, and 801 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, codified at 21 U.S.C. '' 331, 333, 353, 381, to establish requirements for distributing prescription drug samples.Read More ›
