What Lies Ahead for 2006
It doesn't take great foresight or a crystal ball to recognize that law firms will face some serious challenges in 2006. Coming events have already cast their shadows. Some of the challenges have existed for several years. Others are new. What they add up to are two basic questions most law firms must answer: "Do we recognize the challenges facing us?" and "How are we going to address them?" This article discusses several of these challenges and, where possible, suggests some alternatives for meeting them.
International Franchising 2006: Why Attorneys Need to Know the Laws in Other Countries
In many countries around the world, concepts that are common in the United States are considered exotic to the local populace. Furthermore, as more and more Americans travel abroad, they welcome the sight of a familiar brand from "back home." As a result of these two factors, when U.S.-based franchisors seek to expand abroad, they often find a ready audience. In fact, many franchisors get their first taste of international franchising when they are approached by a potential franchisee, asking for the opportunity to obtain franchise rights to a particular country or region of a country. It is only later that the franchisor actually begins to focus on active development of franchises outside the United States.
Insurer Permitted to Recoup Defense Costs Under Quantum Meruit Theory
Predicting what the Texas Supreme Court would do, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota has allowed an insurer to recover defense costs expended in defending its insured in a liability action. Extrapolating from, and expanding on, a Court of Appeals of Texas opinion, the Minnesota court used a <i>quantum meruit</i> theory to allow the insurer to recoup its defense costs.
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Causes of Action for Loss of Cryopreserved Embryos
There has been much discussion of the ethics and liability issues created by recent advances in reproductive science. While fertility treatments allow couples that might otherwise not be able to conceive or carry a baby to term create much-wanted families, fertility clinics and the health care professionals working in them are dealing with a highly emotional issue. When patients don't get the results they wanted -- particularly when mistakes are made -- the chances of being sued run high.
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Drug & Device News
Recent developments of importance to you and your practice.
Experts on Juries
As blanket occupational exemptions for jury duty become a relic, litigators are split on whether there is a need for specific jury instructions to keep jurors from relying on their expertise in evidentiary matters. This issue tends to be particularly troubling for medical malpractice attorneys, as the pool of potential jurors with knowledge of medical issues -- doctors, nurses, physical therapists, etc. -- is so large. One court system -- New York's - instructs professionals to keep their expertise outside of the jury room. No other court currently singles out professional jury-deliberation conduct in jury instructions.
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Federal Preemption and Tort Claims
For medical device manufacturers, federal preemption can be a powerful defense to state tort claims. Although there is some split of authority, most federal courts of appeals that have addressed the issue have held that when a medical device reaches the market via the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) rigorous "premarket approval" (PMA) process, many state common law claims are expressly preempted by the Medical Device Amendments (MDA) of 1976.
<b>Meyerowitz on Marketing:</b> Your Guide to Getting on the Web: Content Is King
Here are the Rules of Effective Web Writing: Be Factual. Be Brief. Be Clear.
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