Often, the most effective way to tackle the challenge of improving responsiveness as clients demand more immediate access to attorneys and legal advice, is by fortifying our communications systems in order to foster quicker and more efficient collaboration between attorneys, counselees, subject matter experts, and other legal professionals. As a multi-office legal organization, we achieved this by switching to a Voice over IP (VoIP) phone system that provides redundancy and reliability, streamlines the management of call flow, protects internal resources, and provides measurable cost-savings. In our experience, VoIP is a valuable technology for any productive legal organization.

What happens when information is available but not trusted because it is not secure? What happens when end users have unfettered access to information ' but the information they're sharing is suspect? Or, what happens when quick business decisions are made based on data that is readily available but possibly compromised? The bottom line: Information is useless unless it is both secure and available.

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By now, virtually everyone is familiar with the Internet. What surprises many trial lawyers is the fact that the technology that powers the interactive Web sites on the Internet is increasingly being used to present evidence and illustrative material in the courtroom. Specifically, lawyers and their trial teams are successfully relying on Macromedia Flash to organize their cases, display trial graphics, create effective 2-D animations, educate judges, and persuade jurors.

Evidence of Post-Accident Repairs PermittedThe Third Circuit has ruled that under Federal Rule of Evidence 407, a plaintiff who sues only the manufacturer…

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Most companies have fairly comprehensive document retention/destruction policies for both paper and electronic information. Often, these policies have been crafted to meet a disparate range of state, local, federal and regulatory laws (HIPPA, SEC, Sarbanes-Oxley, etc.) that impact document retention schedules. For large companies that face regular, complex litigation (<i>ie</i>, "serial litigants"), the greatest challenge is when the company has to suspend these policies in response to litigation. A company's obligation to preserve data does not necessarily begin at the exact moment a complaint is filed. Rather, recent case law, local statutes, and American Bar Association (ABA) guidelines prescribe that a company's obligation to preserve data begins at the time litigation becomes likely.

The Department of Labor's new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (Wage and Hour Regulations) regulations, which went into effect Aug. 23, 2004, are an attempt to modernize pay scales, increase employee coverage, and clarify rules for employers. The salary levels had not been updated since 1975. The Korean War had not yet begun the last time the primary duties regulations were revised, and until last August, the regulations included such anachronistic titles as "legmen," "straw bosses," and "key punch operators." Nevertheless, if one were to judge merely by the sheer number of opinion letters the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued since the regulations went into effect, it would seem that the new regulations have generated as much confusion as the previous regulations.

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Many people believe that the most difficult job of a director is being a member of the Audit Committee. However, in many ways being a member of the Compensation Committee is more challenging and much more likely to result in the director becoming subject to public scrutiny and possibly criticism.

As corporate scandals continue to dominate the financial press, the actions taken by members of corporate boards of directors are under attack by the civil class action bar, the Securities and Exchange Commission, federal prosecutors, and state regulators. As the activities of board members are increasingly subjected to challenge in civil and even criminal proceedings, the existence of a clear record of the board's activities has become an increasingly critical element in establishing a corporation's decision-making process. Thus, boards of directors should take a fresh look at how their decision-making process is described in corporate minutes to ensure that the minutes will permit the directors to defend the actions taken in the boardroom, as well as to demonstrate that the directors have performed their oversight duties with appropriate care.