Features
Cooperatives & Condominiums
In-depth analysis of recent rulings.
Features
Index
Everything contained in this issue, in an easy-to-read format.
Settlement of Zoning Disputes
What power does a municipality's counsel have to settle a zoning dispute on terms that would ordinarily require the exercise of discretionary authority by a zoning board of appeals (ZBA) or by a planning board? In <i>Matter of Commco, Inc. v. Amelkin</i>, which was decided more than 20 years ago, the Court of Appeals indicated that counsel had no such settlement power, even if counsel acted with the approval of the municipality's elected governing body.
Distressed Hedge Funds Amidst the Credit Crunch
As we begin a new year, many beleaguered hedge funds will reflect on 2007 and how the credit crunch affected Wall Street, corporate borrowers and hedge funds in the long run. Although nobody knows if the end of troubled times is near, we do know that a sustained recovery will take lots of know-how, cooperation and willingness to be more transparent in our dealings with one another and, perhaps, some old-fashioned work.
Bit Parts
Karaoke Recordings/Synchronization Licenses<br>File-Sharing Suits/Attorney Fees<br>Song Infringement/Access<br>Trademarks/Record Labels
Counsel Concerns
Personal Jurisdiction in Legal Fees Dispute<br>Statutory Interest on Legal Fees Owed
Cameo Clips
FILM PRODUCTION/ARBITRATION<br>RIGHTS IN BAND NAMES/LACHES
Pretty Ricky Leaving Member Spurs Litigation
After its first two releases went gold, Miami rap-R&B upstart Pretty Ricky claims one member ' Pleasure ' broke the rules by doing what music stars like Beyonce Knowles and Justin Timberlake have done in the past: going solo. The group's Fort Lauderdale, FL-based management company Bluestar Entertainment International is suing Pleasure, whose real name is Marcus Cooper, for performing outside the group.
<b>Practice Notes: </b>Supreme Court Justices Ask Tough Qs In 'Judge Alex' Case
Jan. 14, 2008 marked Eric Brunstad's seventh oral argument before the Supreme Court and it was a doozy, with justices hitting him harder than almost any lawyer in recent memory. The case was <i>Preston v. Ferrer</i>, an arbitration case that also has a modicum of celebrity appeal because of the identity of Brunstad's client. Brunstad was arguing on behalf of Alex Ferrer, a former Florida judge who stars in the syndicated 'Judge Alex' TV show in which, ironically enough, he arbitrates disputes between ordinary folks over issues like falling trees and damaged furniture.
Features
Suit Seeks Share Of Profits from 'Jersey Boys'
In the months before his death from cancer in 1991, Beaumont, TX, lawyer Rex Conrad Woodard helped Thomas Gaetano DeVito, an original member of the pop group the Four Seasons, write an autobiographical book, Woodard's widow alleges. Woodard died before the book could be published. Now, with the work allegedly partly the basis for the hit Broadway musical 'Jersey Boys,' Woodard's widow has sued DeVito for a share of income stemming from the work.
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