Features

Insurer insolvency has become an increasingly significant concern. Since 1969, more than 400 property and casualty insurers have been placed in liquidation. The past 5 years have seen several larger commercial insurers go into liquidation, among them The Home Insurance Company and Reliance Insurance Company. Indeed, from just 2001 to 2003, Guaranty Associations paid approximately $5 billion in covered claims — more than half the $10 billion they had paid in the previous 31 years from their inception. This article addresses what creditors need to know when dealing with a financially troubled insurer.

Features

Two years ago, the Pentagon was poised to have 100,000 members of the military stationed overseas vote in federal elections over the Internet. The government canceled the plan, however, after it grew concerned it would not be possible to prevent hackers from affecting the results, that it could not examine the privately owned proprietary software that was to be used, and that there would not be a database of those who voted that it could check after the election. Nonetheless, online voting seems to be slowly gaining in popularity.

Given the continued proliferation of law-related Weblogs, including blogs written by law professors and attorneys with expertise in various substantive areas of the law, one frequently finds on the Internet a robust and insightful discussion of cases pending before the courts for resolution. What should judges do if, while visiting the legal blogosphere, they encounter discussions about how pending cases ought to be decided?

There may be gold in them California hills. But there's a price to be paid when panning for it. It has become clear that leasing companies need to exercise particular vigilance when operating in the Golden State.

A recent Harvard law graduate, first-time author and cause c'l'bre Jeremy Blachman is riding high, but not, as one might expect, as a highly sought U.S. Supreme Court clerk or caffeine-addled associate at a premiere New York law firm. Blachman eschewed the law in favor of a purely creative pursuit: writing an anonymous blog (eponymously known as the 'Anonymous Lawyer' at www.anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com) detailing the fictionalized travails of a narcissistic partner in a big firm who makes The Devil Wears Prada boss Miranda Priestly look like Mr. Bean. Following a feature article in The New York Times, Blachman's notoriety skyrocketed. Apropos of his blogging cynosure, Blachman participated in the following colloquy with IL&S Editor-in-Chief, Sam Fineman, strictly through e-mail so as not to curtail billable possibilities. Blachman reflects on his book, his life and blogdom.

Features

The sale of individual equipment leases from one equipment lessor to another, or entire portfolios of equipment leases, is common practice in the United States. One component that parties interested in purchasing equipment leases or portfolios of equipment leases desire in the equipment lease contract is a choice of forum clause that provides the flexibility for the purchasing party to initiate litigation in its own home state. However, the enforceability of forum selection clauses providing for one or more appropriate forums has been the question of some debate both in the federal and state courts. Recently, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion coming down squarely in favor of the enforceability of such forum selection clauses.

Malpractice Claims and Estoppel.

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