With the explosion of e-commerce and the easy availability of often free information on the Internet, franchisors have the ability like never before to expand their businesses into global markets. While the rapid growth into international markets has increased revenues and brand awareness, it also has added a layer of complexity and risk in monitoring franchisee compliance with the terms of the franchise agreement.
Many policyholders have large deductibles or retentions in their liability policies. Insurers that agree to defend policyholders against a claim falling within the coverage of a liability policy typically also want to control the litigation strategy and/or settlement discussions. What happens when the insurer wants to settle a claim within the deductible or retention amount, making the policyholder liable for the entire settlement, but the policyholder does not want to settle?
Another year has come and gone, and Congress has again failed to enact comprehensive data-breach legislation. Certainly, many reasons why such legislation is needed exist and are acknowledged, but one of the primary benefits would be the establishment of national standards that would preempt the current myriad state data-protection laws.
In coverage litigation, insurers often treat extrinsic evidence as if it were radioactive material, and there is some justification for this instinct. Generally, consideration of extrinsic evidence connotes an ambiguity in policy language, and there are several reasons why insurers seek to avoid arguing, or even intimating, that the language at issue in an insurance policy is ambiguous.
On Dec. 20, FTC staff released for public comment proposed online behavioral-advertising privacy principles in an effort to guide self-regulation of this nascent industry. The release of these Principles followed a two-day Town Hall meeting the FTC held late last year on behavioral advertising, which itself followed the FTC's Tech-Ade Workshop in 2006.
Justifiably concerned about the inundation of public adjusters in Louisiana following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the Louisiana legislature enacted 'The Louisiana Public Adjuster Act' ('Public Adjuster Act'), codified at Louisiana Revised Statutes '22:1210.91, et seq., by Acts 2006, No. 806, '1. The Public Adjuster Act was enacted to establish a regulatory framework for the field of public adjusting by setting standards for qualifications and licensing of public adjusters and establishing standards of conduct.
Congress Considers New Net Neutrality Bill
Judge Cuts Court Award in Internet Defamation Case
In a case of apparent first impression, a Staten Island, NY, judge has ruled that a MySpace 'friend request' can constitute a violation of a temporary order of protection.
Who's the hottest young woman lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom? Last month, that question sent the New York firm into a bit of a tizzy. On Feb. 4, Skadden Insider, a blog written by two anonymous firm employees and dedicated, unofficially, to all things Skadden, announced the winner of its weeklong poll to decide the firm's 'Hottest Female Associate.' But the firm was not amused. On Feb. 7, Skadden Of Counsel Henry 'Hank' Baer, the firm's employment adviser, sent an e-mail to all Skadden lawyers in the United States, chastising the blog.
For nearly 150 years, clients' opinions about their lawyers have been relegated to word of mouth. Information passed on in this manner is not recorded in any organized way and is therefore not available to the general public. In that time, the only organized source of information about lawyers came from lawyers themselves. All of that is now changing in a rapid, dramatic and explosive fashion, opening new channels and communities of information for legal services consumers, and creating exciting marketing and business development opportunities for lawyers and law firms.
