Features
Defective Pet Foods: New Litigation Theories Or Just the Same Old Chow? An Animal Law Attorney Argues for More Than Market Value Damages
One of the biggest stories in product liability in the past month has been the recall of tens of thousands of cans of food sold to consumers to feed to their companion animals. The news has attracted public attention because it is a tragedy of potentially epic proportion: Somewhere between 20 (according to the FDA) and 20,000-plus (by extrapolating statisticians) of the nation's nonhuman family members have developed serious illnesses and/or died from eating food containing something very toxic that has caused renal failure (still being debated). Furthermore, in the litigation arena, plaintiffs' attorneys ranging from sole practitioners to the large class action law firms most often in the headlines have all filed actions representing both individual clients and broad-ranging classes of thousands of individuals affected by the poisoned food. (At the time of this writing, more than 30 cases had supposedly been filed across the country.)
The Case for Mentorship
Career guidelines, career plans and mentors. These are familiar terms to most lawyers, especially law students and laterals looking for the right 'fit.' And many, if not most, large law firms highlight one or more of these career-planning tools on their Web sites and recruiting materials. But the 'inside' story of their effectiveness might not be as rosy. Several recent articles in legal journals and newspapers have bemoaned the state of mentoring programs at larger firms, saying that they are boilerplate, empty promises designed to recruit, and that they are usually unsuccessful due to lack of follow-up. Here's how our company overcame these problems.
Business Crimes Hotline
Rulings of interest from around the country.
Features
In the Courts
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
Can Money Laundering 'Travel with the Business'?
It can often be difficult for a white-collar attorney, who may have at least a passing familiarity with money laundering, to explain to a corporate attorney colleague how federal money laundering laws can impact deals on which the corporate attorney is advising clients. This article provides an example that may help you explain to your corporate law colleagues the impact that the federal money laundering laws could have on their work.
Features
Whither the Guidelines?
You might be forgiven for concluding that the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines were largely a thing of the past following the Supreme Court's decision two years ago in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005). The Court held that the Guidelines were purely advisory ' not mandatory ' and just one among many factors to be consulted in meting out a sentence under 18 U.S.C. ' 3553(a). Other factors specified in ' 3553(a) include such…
Features
The Globalization of Investigations
Over the past several years, the Department of Justice ('DOJ') has expanded its tools and efforts to gather evidence from abroad and reciprocate by helping foreign prosecutors gather evidence in the United States. For a client whose primary presence is in this country, cross-border cooperation among law enforcement organizations raises distinct and difficult issues. An effective defense requires knowledge of treaties and criminal law in two or more jurisdictions, and collaboration among defense counsel in different countries.
Bit Parts
Copyright Infringement/Motion to Intervene; Copyright Infringement/Striking Similarity; Right of Publicity/Attorney Fees.
Features
Celebrity Name or Likeness
A new department centering on key cases.
Clause & Effect
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan decided that unresolved issues of fact as to whether a distributor or a record label abandoned a record-distribution agreement precluded summary judgment for either party on breach claims by the distributor.
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