LJN Newsletters

A look at interesting litigation.

Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.

'Parallel proceedings' is a term with which white-collar criminal defense lawyers and in-house counsel are very familiar. It describes the private civil actions that often are concurrently filed when a criminal investigation or charges are disclosed. The civil impact of criminal investigations and prosecutions begin and continue long after resolution of the criminal case. Indeed, once the corporation's alleged fraudulent actions or resulting settlement become public knowledge, often it is only a matter of time before an action is filed against its officers and directors.

Most attorneys involved in the investigation or defense of complex business crimes will turn to private investigators to assist them in developing the facts. Given the breadth and nature of many modern criminal investigations, the use of private investigators is almost becoming a necessity. Yet many basic rules governing their use are unclear or in flux, especially when it comes to monitoring or gathering electronic information.

In the first part of this article, the author discussed the availability of relief for a taxpayer from liability for tax on a joint return that results from his or her spouse's errors or omissions, focusing on the equitable catch-all provided in IRC ' 6015(f). In December 2006, Congress amended the statute explicitly to provide for Tax Court review of IRS determinations not to grant relief under ' 6015(f). Now, the author considers how the Tax Court evaluates these claims in relation to the position of the IRS.

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/ACCESS, SIMILARITIES
TV PROGRAM AGREEMENT/VIABILITY OF FRAUD CLAIM

Still, there are heavyweight intellectual-property matters and then there are battles against real heavyweights. In one of Marenberg's current videogame trademark cases, the slim fivefoot-eight-inch Irell & Manella partner Steven Marenberg's client list includes a long list of Hollywood heavyweights. Pop songster Stevie Wonder, 'The Lord of the Rings' film director Peter Jackson, The Walt Disney Company, the wizards at Pixar Animation Studios ' the 52-year-old Marenberg has represented them all. Marenberg is up against a six-foot-three-inch, 300-pound former professional wrestling bruiser known as the Warrior. Until three years ago, Marenberg had never heard of the Warrior and knew nothing of his exploits during the 1990s as one of World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) premier stars.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decided that the three-year federal statute of limitations for copyright suits, rather than a longer state limitations period for accounting actions, applied to a complaint for a portion of profits from figurines, including 'The Merry Wanderer,' derived from the book 'Das Hummel-Buch.'