One Size Fits All?
Today, a Procrustean 'one-size-fits-all' approach increasingly characterizes federal appellate practice, particularly for attorneys who handle complex conspiracy or white-collar cases. While page limits for appellate briefs date back to at least the 1940s, within the past 20 years they have been applied with a new and sometimes surprising inflexibility. No matter how long the trial, how complicated its facts, or how numerous the appellate issues may be, the day has passed when counsel can assume that requests to file a brief in excess of the standard word limits will be granted.
Features
Rethinking Corporate Cooperation
In the post-Enron world, many public companies have come under intense scrutiny from the government. A diverse chorus of critics argues that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has gone too far, citing the overzealousness of line-level prosecutors, their failure to adhere to the measured tone struck by higher-level officials in their public pronouncements, and their general tendency to treat companies as racketeering organizations.
Protecting Legal Data
In today's environment of well-deserved hypersensitivity to corporate compliance as mandated by the SEC and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), the thought of unauthorized parties viewing or altering privileged corporate records should strike fear in the heart of any corporate compliance officer. That threat can quickly evolve into a reality if your corporation's law department implements an electronic invoicing and matter management system in an application service provider (ASP) environment.
The Bell Keeps Tolling
Selective waiver of the attorney-client privilege is a lonely doctrine indeed. Since the Eighth Circuit first adopted it in the 1977 <i>Diversified Industries</i> case, the notion that a litigant may disclose privileged material to government enforcers without waiving the privilege as to third parties has hardly won fans among federal courts of appeal. Most recently, in June, 2006, the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit weighed in on the viability of selective waiver. The <i>In Re: Qwest Communications Int'l</i> decision is precisely what advocates for selective waiver needed least; it is a comprehensive evaluation, and rejection, of nearly all of the cogent arguments advanced in favor of the doctrine.
Features
The Bankruptcy Hotline
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
NLRB Rulings Regarding Supervisors Provide Clarity and Controversy
Before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its recent decisions in the Kentucky River cases, union leaders and activists predicted dire consequences ' potentially stripping millions of workers, especially in the healthcare industry, of their rights to join a union. Unions, which are trying to attract more employees to their ranks, staged rallies and other events to draw attention to these cases. <br>But the decisions did not dramatically redraw the lines for determining which workers are considered supervisors and which are not. Instead, they provided guidance that will be helpful to employers and unions alike in determining the status of workers whose classification falls into the gray area between supervisor and employee. The analysis remains highly fact-specific and appears unlikely to create the dramatic effects predicted.
What Automatic Stay?
In last month's article, we stated that among the abuses of the bankruptcy system to be remedied by BAPCPA is that of serial filing. The purpose of this two-part article is to provide a brief overview of BAPCPA's new provisions in revised ' 362 of the Bankruptcy Code, to summarize the various issues examined by the courts to date, and to provide some practical recommendations from the perspectives of debtor or credit. We continue this month with a discussion of presumption.
Valuation Experts, Beware the Gatekeeper!
Valuation issues come into play throughout Chapter 11 business reorganization cases. These issues are frequently at the heart of the reorganization process and involve a wide variety of different matters. Bankruptcy courts determine value on a case-by-case basis and in light of the purpose and circumstances of the valuation.
Bankruptcy Code Amendments Alter Franchise Case Strategies
The substantial amendments made by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) to the Bankruptcy Code have had a significant impact on the dynamics of franchisee bankruptcies. The BAPCPA was generally intended to accelerate Chapter 11 'reorganizations' and provide relief to certain constituencies in the bankruptcy process (eg, landlords). This article focuses on the nuances of the BAPCPA's impact in franchisee bankruptcy cases.
Features
Using Business Plans in Recruiting Lateral Partners
Practice group structures, marketing departments, Chief Information Officers, even off-site operations centers ' each of these now commonplace elements of big law firm life is a manifestation of the business focus these firms have adopted. We all see it, with varying degrees of approval. Global law firms now develop and follow business strategies. Slowly, these firms are bringing a similar business focus to their lateral partner recruiting. For partners who think they might switch firms at some point, and for firms doing battle for talent in the lateral market, bringing a business perspective to your analysis can save a lot of time and energy. A properly prepared business plan will prevent the loss of countless (otherwise billable) hours and, more important, help avoid making the wrong move.
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