Choosing the right place to arbitrate disputes concerning international commercial transactions is of fundamental importance. The choice has significant legal and practical implications. Fortunately for American corporate counsel and their clients, an ideal place of arbitration lies close at hand, just north of the 49th parallel. Canada should be the preferred place of arbitration for U.S.-based organizations involved in international commercial disputes.
Of the top litigation firms in the country that boast a blue-chip roster of Fortune 100 clients, how many are composed of more than 50% women lawyers, 25% gay or lesbian lawyers, and a Native American shareholder? I only know of one: Caldwell, Leslie, Newcombe and Pettit (CLNP) in Los Angeles.
There is not a single statistic that says that women lawyers have achieved equality in terms of pay, position, power, or prestige ' not one. From its roots in 1987 as the brainchild of ABA President Robert MacCrate and its first chair, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession has worked to assess the status of women lawyers and support efforts to help them achieve full and equal participation and opportunities in the legal profession. The Commission's lodestar has been that organized and concerted efforts could make a difference in combating the causes and effects of gender bias, stereotypes, harassment, and inhospitable work environments that have impeded the professional careers and aspirations of women in the bar.
Women in Law initiatives and programs are not a new phenomenon. Many firms nationwide have programs that afford their women attorneys business development, mentoring and career counseling. In writing this article, we spoke to 10 different firms to learn the how's and why's of their women's initiatives. In Part 1 of this article we have profiled the first five firms.
National news of importance to your practice.
America is in a health care crisis -- a "perfect storm" of needless errors, unaffordable cost increases, declining access, inadequate accountability, and fearful and frustrated professionals. Some of the problems are unavoidable. No one can change, for instance, the fact that the baby boom population needs more health care as it ages. But our legal system is part of the problem, too: It imposes needless costs, deters safety improvements, and fosters widespread distrust among medical professionals. Changing the way medical malpractice lawsuits are decided would go a long way to improving health care for patients and providers alike.
Communicating complicated medical information precisely and simply can make or break a legal case, but imparting this information in a compelling way is no easy task. Descriptions of complex medical procedures and conditions can be difficult for the average person to understand, let alone remember. Advances over the last decade in computer processing of medical images and rapid manufacturing techniques can provide the basis for an important development in medical-legal communication.
Part One of a Three-Part Article. Since its enactment, with perhaps only three significant exceptions, the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Pub. L. No. 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936 (1996) (HIPAA) have not been litigated. In the majority of cases where HIPAA has been the subject of litigation -- less than 50 -- litigants have raised HIPAA provisions as an issue, but only tangentially as part of a "throw away" argument, or in a meaningful manner but where the answer was immediately clear from the case's inception. Three federal cases, however, merit analysis, since they go to the heart of HIPAA, the government's broad attempt to safeguard medical records in the electronic age.
The latest rulings of importance to you and your practice.
