Recent Developments from Around the States
Cases around the states of interest to your practice.
E-mails: 'Smoking Guns' in Employment Litigation
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.
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Develoments of Note
Recent developments in the e-commerce world.
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<b><i>You Need To Know</i>The FTC Safeguards Rule: An Expansion of Gramm-Leach-Bliley</b></i>
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.
e-Commerce Docket Sheet
Summaries of recent cases in e-commerce.
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Federal Task Force Urges Rules For Electronic Proofs in Criminal Cases
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.
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FCC Grants Time to Comply with No Fax Ad Rule
Over the last month or so, the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) changes to its rule regulating unsolicited faxes has been generating some high-volume buzz.
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The Survey Says...
Preliminary results from our legal spending survey shows general counsel balancing an increased need for outside counsel with pressure to reduce costs.
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What Not to Do in ADA Cases
A recent case in the Federal District Court for the District of Maine offers in-house counsel and others providing employment law advice to corporate clients with a lesson in what not to do when faced with an employee suffering from a mental health disability and seeking leave for hospitalization as an accommodation.
Courts Turn Up Corporate Heat
The highly publicized accounting scandals at Enron, WorldCom and other large corporations have prompted a concerted legislative and regulatory response from Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the national securities exchanges. While there has been little in the way of legislative reaction at the state level, several recent court decisions reflect that state corporate law is not immune from the impact of these scandals. Using existing judicial doctrine, but applying it in a fashion that appears to indicate an increasing toughness with respect to corporate directors and officers who do not live up to their obligations, the judiciary has turned up the heat on corporate fiduciaries.
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- Abandoned and Unused Cables: A Hidden Liability Under the 2002 National Electric CodeIn an effort to minimize the release of toxic gasses from cables in the event of fire, the 2002 version of the National Electric Code ("NEC"), promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, sets forth new guidelines requiring that abandoned cables must be removed from buildings unless they are located in metal raceways or tagged "For Future Use." While the NEC is not, in itself, binding law, most jurisdictions in the United States adopt the NEC by reference in their state or local building and fire codes. Thus, noncompliance with the recent NEC guidelines will likely mean that a building is in violation of a building or fire code. If so, the building owner may also be in breach of agreements with tenants and lenders and may be jeopardizing its fire insurance coverage. Even in jurisdictions where the 2002 NEC has not been adopted, it may be argued that the guidelines represent the standard of reasonable care and could result in tort liability for the landlord if toxic gasses from abandoned cables are emitted in a fire. With these potential liabilities in mind, this article discusses: 1) how to address the abandoned wires and cables currently located within the risers, ceilings and other areas of properties, and 2) additional considerations in the placement and removal of telecommunications cables going forward.Read More ›
- The New York Uniform Commercial Code Comes of AgeParties in large non-consumer transactions with no connection whatsoever to New York often choose its law to govern their transactions, and New York statutes permit them to do so. What most people do not know is that the New York Uniform Commercial Code is outdated.Read More ›