Judicial Roulette: Recusal Motions in Criminal Cases
A recent Ninth Circuit decision vacating a conviction because the trial judge failed to recuse himself, and a pending recusal application by convicted executive Jamie Olis, remind us that sometimes defendants try to improve their judicial lot through recusal, though with little hope for success.
Index
Everything contained in this issue, in an easy-to-read format.
Features
Court of Appeals Affirms Owner Occupancy Rights Under Rent Stabilization
In its June 3, 2008, decision in <i>Pultz v. Economakis</i>, the New York State Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that there is no limit on the number of rent-stabilized units an owner can attempt to recover for owner occupancy. The ruling was a major victory for rent stabilized landlords, and a sharp rebuke to tenant advocates who claimed that multiple recovery for owner occupancy violated the letter and spirit of the Rent Stabilization Law. Indeed, the case continues a recent trend of favorable Court of Appeals decisions for landlords.
Features
e-Commerce Docket Sheet
CDA Immunity Not Applicable To Allegedly Misleading Auction Safety Statements<br>Copying Web Site Page for Consumer Gripe Site Is Deemed Fair Use<br>Famous Trademark Parody on Goods Without Consumer Confusion No Infringement
Features
Unconscionable Terms Prevent Enforceability of e-Commerce Contract Clauses
e-Commerce, like traditional commerce, relies on contracts. But unlike traditional commerce, e-commerce typically relies utterly on agreements drafted and presented by one party on a 'take-it-or-leave-it' basis. The validity of such contracts arises from the recipient's 'adherence' to the terms given. These so-called adhesion contracts are enforceable, except to the extent that a court finds a term unconscionable.
I Signed WHAT?!
The typical e-commerce 'Terms and Conditions,' the electronic equivalent of the fine-print contract that governs use of a sales Web site, creates such an unfriendly shopping environment that it makes the legendary 'No soup for you!' restaurant of the television situation comedy Seinfeld seem like the Welcome Wagon. Although I have often written about how the law affecting e-commerce firms ordinarily follows traditional law, the common e-commerce contract stands in stark contrast. Consider the following clauses from actual online agreements obtained in April and May ' and whether you have ever seen anything comparable in any real-world store, much less these Web stores' real-world affiliates.
Features
News Briefs
The latest news from the franchising world.
Court Watch
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
Internet Auctions
Business is always a battlefield, but few e-commerce proponents have fought campaigns as fierce as those to keep Internet auctioning license-free. So intense have been skirmishes between online sellers and state legislators that only one state has a law specifically requiring online auctioneer licensing.
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