LJN Newsletters

In the 2005 Special Issue of Employment Law Strategist, we summarized key issues affecting employers following the Hurricane Katrina disaster, including the federal government's legislative and regulatory responses to the catastrophe. The following is an updated summary of relevant legislative and regulatory actions.

When I entered law practice in 1971, it was common in corporate criminal investigations for a single law firm to represent the target corporation and all its relevant employees. They hung together lest they hang separately. Over time, practice changed, and such joint-representation arrangements mostly disappeared. The old paradigm was succeeded by a new one, which recognized the separate interests of the corporation and each of its relevant employees, but also provided a large measure of mutual support and good will on the defense side. This paradigm, too, has been attacked by prosecutors and now has largely disappeared in major federal and some state investigations. It has been succeeded by a new, far harsher paradigm.

How much freedom does a party have to tell its service provider not to use a given employee to provide the services? Although the freedom to contract (or not contract) might suggest that this liberty is unfettered, a recent decision by the Second District Appellate Court of Illinois suggests that the answer is not so clear.

Recent rulings you need to know.

Information about upcoming seminars and conferences.

Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.

There is a wealth of information about punitive damages on the Internet, including the Web sites of various organizations and law schools, as well as blogs. Here is a sample of what's available.

As part of the Food and Drug Administration's ("FDA") ongoing and comprehensive efforts to minimize risks while preserving the benefits of medical products, the FDA recently released three industry guidance documents on risk management strategies. These final guidance documents, applicable to various stages of drug and biological product development, will assist manufacturers in developing and improving methods to assess and monitor the risks associated with drugs and biologics. The risk minimization action plan is one of these initiatives that promises to further tip the balance of the risk-benefit profile of drugs and devices.