Today, the legal industry, including the landscape of law firms, corporate law departments, and government legal agencies, is in the midst of establishing a common definition for legal case management technology. While this is still a far cry from the existence of a case management "standard," it does signify a progression that is rapidly advancing the way we utilize technology in the practice of law.
France's lower house of parliament recently has voted to legalize peer-to-peer file-sharing of films and music on the Internet, unleashing a wave of protest from the country's film, audiovisual and music industry organizations.
Patricia Santangelo, a 43-year old divorced mother of five says she has never downloaded a single song on her computer, but the recording industry didn't see it that way. Santangelo, from Wappingers Falls, NY, was surprised to find out that she was the Defendant in a suit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ' one of those now about 16,000 that we keep noting as the RIAA sues a new batch of alleged file sharers each month.
Recent news of interest to the Internet law community.
According to an American Management Association 2005 survey of 536 employers, 84% of companies have established policies relating to personal e-mail use, and 81% have established policies relating to personal Internet use, but only 23% have policies on personal postings on corporate blogs.
This article discusses blogging and the potential for employer liability that employee blogging presents. It recommends that employers establish blogging policies so that such liability hopefully may be avoided.
e-Businesses, by forming networks of season ticket holders and entering into contracts with entertainment venues, provide Internet customers with entry passes for concerts, sports and other spectator events.
Generally, Internet ticket providers are in the business of buying and selling tickets to such events above the face value of the ticket. Some people have equated such Internet ticket providers with ticket scalpers, and claim that they are acting unlawfully. In particular, some state anti-scalping laws have been applied to Internet ticketing transactions, resulting in criminal and civil sanctions. But the application of proper Internet notices and appropriate Web site access limitations may render such state anti-scalping laws moot.
The science of cryobiology introduced the world to the previous impossibility of a posthumously conceived child. In the years that have followed, courts have been forced to address myriad unique social and legal issues incident to a child conceived after the death of its father. With little precedent to guide them, judges have been asked to answer the most elementary of probate questions: Is this a child of the decedent? If so, does this child have a right to inherit under the decedent's will or as an intestate beneficiary? From here, courts will continue to face an endless barrage of increasingly more difficult questions of inheritance: How long must a class of beneficiaries remain open? What responsibility does the Personal Representative of the estate have to ensure that the class is closed? Does the mother have an obligation to inform the court or the Personal Representative of her intent to conceive?
The subject of "discounts" is the most contentious issue in business valuation and property valuation today. In marital property division, the relative high or low values of the individual properties balance against each other as the parties settle (and squabble over) the allocation of assets. For example, it is common to see the husband (assumed to be the in-spouse, or business owner) argue for a "low" value for the business, whereas the wife (assumed to be the out-spouse, who will not take the business asset) would argue for a "high" business value. Discounts from a total property value (or, a proportionate ownership per share value) seemingly lower value in an arbitrary manner, usually spurring a nasty and expensive fight with dueling appraisers.
Lawyers involved in product liability cases are occasionally involved with child witnesses, either as plaintiffs or as percipient witnesses to the critical events in the lawsuit. As in other types of litigation, child witnesses present a number of difficult challenges in product liability cases.
Recent rulings you need to know.
