Features
Interpreting and Applying the Hague Convention
Last month, the authors discussed the law in the U.S. and beyond pertaining to the establishment of a child's habitual residence. The next issue to cover, once habitual residence of the child has been established, is whether or not the petitioning party has a right to custody of the child in question.
Sperm Donor May Be Told to Support Teen
A sperm donor who fathered a colleague's child 18 years ago and has held himself out as the father cannot now deny his paternity, said a Nassau judge, who denied the donor's request for a genetic test.
Taming the EDD Beast
Recent surveys and polls indicate that the number of discovery requests law firms receive is on the rise ' rapidly! Changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ('FRCP') are accelerating the proportion of time and effort related to e-discovery compliance. The question is not 'if,' but 'how,' when it comes to e-discovery planning. While it seems imperative to design an information strategy that enables firms to be litigation ready, basic know-how of litigation readiness concepts and a well thought-out approach, especially when it comes to handling electronically stored information ('ESI'), is essential.
The Changing Landscape of Divorce
There are noticeable new trends in divorce that affect both the legal process and the financial strategies required to help clients move past it. These trends include: 1) an increased reliance on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods, including development of a new modality called collaborative divorce, which are gradually moving divorce out of the courtroom; 2) the continued evolution of the best interests of the child standard; 3) the alignment of antiquated statutes or cumbersome and complex case law with other states' laws; and 4) a greater realization that the divorce process is most effective when it utilizes an interdisciplinary team approach. These and other trends will radically affect how the divorce process will evolve in the future.
Features
How to Get the Most Out of Legal Blogs
However you wish to refer to them, blogs provide a singular opportunity for a firm to leverage its unique knowledge in a format that's easily updatable and which can be targeted to specific market audiences. If a firm has a number of practice areas, it can maintain separate blogs to target each of these areas and not be faced with trying to write content that will appeal to every client or potential client that the firm is trying to reach.
Features
Verdicts
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
Drug & Device News
Recent happenings that may affect your practice.
Drugs and Devices
The Medical Device Amendments (MDA) to the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act contain an express preemption provision, namely 21 U.S.C. ' 360k(a), which prohibits states from imposing requirements different from, or in addition to, the specific federal requirements imposed on medical devices by FDA regulations. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has held, in a case involving ' 360k(a), that traditional state law claims are permissible and are not preempted if the common law duties involved parallel the duties statutorily imposed in the federal law and do not impose higher standards.
Is Ranking Physicians a Fair Practice?
New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo recently spearheaded a statewide New York investigation into health insurers' use of physician-ranking programs. The investigation, which has made inquiries to insurers including United Healthcare, Aetna, CIGNA Healthcare, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, Preferred Care and HIP Health Plan of NewYork/GHI, has now produced a settlement with CIGNA. Although the investigation is specific to New York, the issues raised are national in scope and worth serious consideration, since health insurers nationwide are increasingly utilizing physician-ranking systems.
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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 ›
