In the few short years since Fuller-Austin was decided, the use of "prepack" bankruptcies has become a favored approach to resolving asbestos liabilities, often with the threat of a "Fuller-Austin result" as a hammer over the insurers asked to pick up the tab. Here's the drill: A policyholder uses section 524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code to channel its present and future asbestos liabilities to a trust; under policyholder's reorganization plan, the trust is funded in significant part with insurance rights; the insurers cannot object to the plan because it is said not to affect their interests; yet plan confirmation triggers coverage for the entire liability in an amount (often a nine or 10 digit amount) to be determined at a later date. See Fuller-Austin Insulation Co., 2002 WL 31005090 (Cal. Sup. Ct. Aug. 6, 2002) (appeal pending). The pressure this Fuller-Austin play puts on insurers leads many to settle their coverage obligations ' often a rational response to a high-stakes game in which insurers have few sources of leverage.
- April 28, 2005Robert D. Goodman and Steve Vaccaro
Insurers considering whether to bring suit for restitution under the New Jersey Insurance Fraud Prevention Act, N.J.S.A. 17:33A-1 et seq., against suspected fraudulent claimants must deal with a problem confronting all potential plaintiffs: the likelihood that a favorable judgment against the claimant may never be collected.
April 28, 2005James L. SimpsonThe U.S. cable industry and the government fought Internet service providers before the Supreme Court last month over whether cable high-speed Internet lines must be opened to rival Internet providers.
At issue is an appeals court decision last year that said cable high-speed Internet service, known as broadband, has a telecommunications component and therefore is subject to traditional telephone network access requirements.April 28, 2005ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |The super-fast "Internet2" network that connects universities researching the next-generation Internet has found new followers in college students who download pirated music and movies.
Entertainment groups said last month they intend to sue hundreds of students accused of illegally distributing copyrighted songs and films across college campuses using the private research network, which boasts speeds hundreds of times faster than the Internet.April 28, 2005Samuel FinemanSpam is a cost effective and lawful marketing tool. A spammer can send an e-mail advertisement to one million people at a cost of only $100. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 allows the use of unsolicited commercial e-mail. However, to avoid legal difficulties, those who use spam should consider doing more. In particular, it is highly advisable to establish an appropriate chain of title for target list databases they acquire.
April 28, 2005Jonathan BickThe Supreme Court appeared wary on March 29th of punishing peer-to-peer downloading services like Grokster for copyright violation, in spite of arguments by a lawyer for the recording and movie industries that they amount to "a gigantic infringement machine."
An hour of spirited oral arguments in the case MGM Studios Inc. v. Grokster Ltd., played out before a courtroom packed with intellectual property lawyers and entertainment industry representatives.April 28, 2005Tony MauroRecent developments of note in the Internet industry. This month:
Music Industry Expands Piracy Lawsuits to Asia
Senators Eschew Historical Tax for Internet
Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Extend Internet Tax Ban
Congress Moving to Tackle Spyware Problem
Judge Sentences Spammer to 9 YearsApril 28, 2005Samuel Fineman, Esq.The booming world of online gambling has dealt lawyers a messy hand of legal challenges, spawning a host of lawsuits that target an industry poised to make nearly $10 billion this year ' up 40% from last year.
In California, a group of lawyers has filed a class action suit against a dozen search engines, including Yahoo and Google, for allegedly running ads that lead players to online gaming sites. The suit seeks to hold the search engines responsible for gambling losses.April 28, 2005Tresa BaldasHighlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the
April 28, 2005ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |Tenant estoppel certificates are generally perceived by most tenants as an occasional innocuous annoyance, and in most cases they are just that. There are certain instances, however, where the careless execution by a tenant of an estoppel can lead to serious potential legal difficulties in the future.
April 28, 2005William Crowe