LJN Newsletters

  • Expert Witness Liability: An Expanding Field

    Expert witnesses have become a necessity in virtually all litigation, from medical malpractice to products liability to family law cases. Technical understanding of disputes is required for juror determination in this increasingly technical world. Damages need to be calculated using expert data; professional standards and their application to any medical malpractice action require expert opinion. But what happens when the side hiring the expert loses, or the independent evaluation doesn't come up with the hoped-for answer? Increasingly, what happens is the disappointed party sues the expert. In some cases, the experts have immunity to lawsuit, but in an increasing number of instances, they simply do not.

    March 03, 2004R. Collin Middleton

  • When to Conduct Voir Dire of Expert Witnesses

    Last month, we discussed tactical considerations when challenging expert witnesses' qualifications. This month, we focus on the optimal time to conduct voir dire.

    March 03, 2004Lawrie E. Demorest and Natalie S. Whiteman

  • Med Mal News

    National news of interest to you and your practice.

    March 03, 2004ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Recent Developments in Executive Compensation

    Although executive compensation has been the subject of evolving reform for several years, the bright spotlight of public attention is now focused on this issue, due in part to the bursting of the stock market bubble, the collapse of Enron, and a number of other highly publicized corporate scandals. The image of executives enjoying excessive compensation packages as revenues and earnings decline, and stock values of the companies they manage plummet, is a dangerously common stereotype.

    March 02, 2004Dennis P. R. Codon and David L. Lynch

  • Bullies in the Workplace

    Bullying isn't just a playground issue. In an era of declining unionization, job insecurity, and the global profit squeeze, bullying has become a serious workplace problem, even though workplace bullies usually prefer memos, informal disciplinary meetings and grinding criticism to spitballs. Left unchecked, on-the-job abuse adversely affects both employers and employees. Current legal theories, though, are inadequate to address this recent phenomenon.

    March 02, 2004Eric Matusewitch

  • Investors May Be Liable to WARN Act Plaintiffs

    Major investors in companies that commit violations of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act may not be immune to liability, according to a federal court sitting in the Southern District of New York. Vogt v. Greenmarine Holding, LLC, No. 02 Civ. 2059 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 1, 2004). Relying on Department of Labor (DOL) regulations, the court denied a motion to dismiss the claims of a class of plaintiffs who were terminated by a bankrupt company against the investors in the bankrupt entity.

    March 02, 2004Mark A. Konkel

  • The Bankruptcy Hotline

    Recent cases of importance to you and your practice.

    March 02, 2004ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Critical Ruling on Compensation from Supreme Court

    The Supreme Court has held that Bankruptcy Code Section 330(a)(1) does not allow a Chapter 7 debtor's attorney to be compensated from the estate unless the attorney is employed by the Trustee with the approval of the Bankruptcy Court. Lamie v. United States Trustee, 2000 WL 110846 (U.S. 2004). This decision conclusively ends the controversy over the 1994 amendments to that Section, and puts Chapter 7 debtors' counsel on notice that, if not retained pursuant to Section 327, they are on their own with respect to fees.

    March 02, 2004Luis Salazar