Parties to entertainment industry agreements often include a provision for the arbitration of contract disputes. This may be motivated by the lower cost and less formality than court proceedings that arbitration can offer, as well as the ability to keep arbitrated disputes out of public view. But the simple language of an arbitration clause can lead to challenges over whether the arbitration process was proper.
Competition in all aspects of the entertainment world - from television to movies, to the record industry, to the Internet, to the video game industry - has grown quite fierce over the past decade. The stakes are higher than ever. So is the demand for successful, breakthrough ideas. Consequently, cases alleging the theft of creative ideas are becoming more and more common. A recent case in which this writer served as plaintiffs' co-counsel demonstrates how substantial damages can be in lawsuits over ideas.
The following is a primer on the "leniency" standard for FLSA actions, and its interplay with Rule 23 guidelines. Why do we need a primer? Well, if one were so disposed as to survey a sufficient number of well-regarded class action practitioners, the result of that inquiry would most assuredly be a virtual consensus that the quest for class certification is, to a targeted defendant, the most feared battle waged in litigation.
Recent cases of importance to your practice.
Cases around the states of interest to your practice.
E-mail traffic by employees in the workplace has proven to be key evidence in recent criminal and civil investigations of public companies like Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Merrill Lynch, Citibank and other Wall Street firms.
Recent developments in the e-commerce world.
Just when businesses thought their privacy policies were finally perfect and that it was safe to assume they had seen the last of the privacy laws, the issue struck again. And this time, it struck where businesses and their legal advisers might least have expected it, turning regular e-businesses into "financial institutions" and requiring implementation of yet another set of rules.
Summaries of recent cases in e-commerce.
A federal task force studying use of technology in the criminal justice system has reported that electronic evidence is playing a growing role, and the increased use has judges and attorneys worrying about its costs and the need to train users. Judges, in particular, are also concerned that "there be an equity of resources between prosecution and defense counsel," according to the report.
