Features

With surprising alacrity, the New York State Legislature followed the lead of the New York City Council by banning smoking in all respects in the workplace, and went further by eliminating some of the few exceptions present in the City law applicable to restaurants and bars. Governor George Pataki signed the bill within hours of receiving it from the Legislature. The new law, which takes effect in late July, is one of the strictest state smoking bans in the country.

Features

Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.

Features

When a former executive accepts a position with a competitor, how does the original company protect its trade secrets? One method is to invoke the doctrine of inevitable disclosure, which prohibits a former executive from competing when he or she cannot help but disclose or use the former employer's trade secrets to do so. Divulging these secrets, of course, would be in violation of the executive's continuing fiduciary duty to his or her former employer.

The New York Court of Appeals has once again rejected an effort to limit the employment-at-will doctrine in New York, ever so slightly, when it rejected a claim by a physician working for <i>The New York Times</i> that she was inappropriately required to disclose patient medical records in violation of state law, her code of ethical conduct, and various state and federal regulations.

Management counsel has become quite predictable when asked by a client: "Can we give a job reference for a former employee?

Sound off about issues that affect you and/or your practice!

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Jury Verdict Research' has just released its report, Current Trends in Personal Injury &mdash; 2002 Edition. The research company maintains a nationwide database of verdicts and settlements in personal injury claims. Its recently released report identifies and summarizes current award trends and breaks down the awards by type of case and injury.

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Analysis of Web sites of importance to you and your practice.