LJN Newsletters

A state attorney general's novel investigation into the development of treatment guidelines for Lyme disease should put health care and professional medical societies on alert to a possible new front in antitrust litigation, say antitrust lawyers and others. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal late last year issued a subpoena to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) for information on how it established its latest guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease ' guidelines that were subsequently adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While IDSA has responded to the subpoena, Blumenthal said his investigation is ongoing. 'We've reached no conclusion,' he said.

When tortious conduct causes injuries, the plaintiff is allowed to recover as special damages the 'reasonable value' of the medical services needed to treat the injury. Today, determining what is the 'reasonable value' of health care services is becoming a more challenging task.

With the advent of Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional, the software company has finally specifically targeted the needs of the legal community in a package that is worthy of our praise ' as well as our dollars!

Billing is a necessary evil with any small business, law practices included. It must be done to stay in business and keep a roof over the office, but it takes time away from actually practicing law.

For years, technology has been used to improve the efficiency of countless business activities and functions. Recently, a number of technology tools have emerged that enable companies to do the same with their electronic discovery process.

The first two installments of this series addressed security procedures and practices, document destruction, and security breach notification. The series concludes with a discussion of the varying enforcement policies at the state level.

A recent decision from the Ohio Supreme Court may have an impact on the marketability of commercial lease agreements. In Preferred Capital, Inc. v. Power Engineering Group, Inc., 112 Ohio St. 3d 429, 860 N.E.2d 741 (2007), the court held that an open-ended forum selection clause, often referred to as a 'floating forum clause,' was not enforceable. The Preferred Capital court found that a floating forum clause in a lease agreement, which provided that any lawsuit arising from the lease would be venued in the state of the lessor's or its assignee's principal place of business, was unreasonable and contrary to public policy. While one might conclude that the subject forum clause is innocuous, the court took issue with the fact that the designated forum could be transferred to another jurisdiction if the lease agreement were assigned. In other words, if the lease were assigned to an assignee with a principal place of business that differed from that of the lessor, the appropriate forum would change. Another significant consideration for the court was the disparity of information between the parties. At the time the lease agreements were executed, the lessor was aware that the leases would be assigned to a company that was based in a foreign jurisdiction. The court's refusal to enforce the forum clause was based, in large part, on the lessor's failure to disclose that information at the time the parties entered into the lease.

Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.