Features
Jury Awards $12.5 Million to Paralyzed Boy
In one of the largest medical malpractice verdicts in Connecticut state history, a jury ordered Hartford Hospital to pay $12.5 million to a boy who became paralyzed from the neck down while awaiting surgery for a spinal tumor 7 years ago.
Features
1099-MISCgivings: Reporting Taxable Awards & Settlements
The Federal tax code and corresponding regulations require a lawyer to send a 1099-MISC form to certain individuals (and non-incorporated business entities) who receive disbursements from the lawyer's trust fund for legal awards and settlements. Writing on behalf of a law firm, an accounting firm reader has asked about the proper way to report such disbursements.
Managing Alternatives to Hourly Rate Billing
Demands of clients and competition among law firms are causing fairly dramatic changes in the pricing of legal services, away from straight hourly billing.
The Ethics of Billing by the Hour for 'Recycled' Work
One of the most difficult attorney billing issues is how a lawyer may receive fair compensation for the "intellectual property" value of work products reused for a later client. An attorney who has spent substantial time developing interrogatories, jury charges, legal memoranda or other such documents for one client naturally will want to "recycle" the same materials when they are relevant to later clients. But on what, if any, basis can the lawyer legitimately bill for this recycled work?
Key Considerations in Choosing a Survey
Part One of this article offered a general overview and comparison of the major surveys currently available for US law firms (Altman Weil's "The Survey of Law Firm Economics"; Hoffman Alvary's "The Flash Report on Law Firm Economics"; and Pricewaterhouse Coopers' "The Law Firm Statistical Survey"). Part Two offers advice on how to select a survey.
Significant Changes for EEO-1 Form
The EEOC has proposed significant changes in the way EEO-1 forms are to be completed, including revisions to the scope of the race/ethnicity categories and in the definition of job categories.
Writing Insights
<i>Put the argument into a concrete shape, into an imagesome hard phrase, sound and solid as a ball, which they can see and handle and carry home with them and the cause is half won.</i>-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Features
Supreme Court Hands Arbitrators the Keys to the Class Action
A plurality of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an arbitrator must decide whether class action arbitration in a consumer action is authorized. <i>Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Bazzle</i>, 123 S.Ct. 2402, (June 23, 2003). Four Justices concluded that whether or not the contracts forbid class arbitration is a disputed issue of contract interpretation and that such a dispute must be decided by an arbitrator. Justice Stevens concurred in the judgment.
John Gaal's Ethics Corner
Your ethics questions answered by the expert.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About ItWhy is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?Read More ›
- Major Labels File Lawsuits Over AI Companies' Alleged Copying of 'World's Most Popular' RecordingsMajor record labels including Capitol Records and Sony Music Entertainment sued two music-focused generative artificial intelligence companies, accusing them of "willful copyright infringement on an almost unimaginable scale."Read More ›
- Removing Restrictive Covenants In New YorkIn Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?Read More ›
- Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand OwnersBlockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.Read More ›
- Beach Boys Songs Written Decades Ago Triggered Current Quarrel With LawyersThere's current litigation in the ongoing Beach Boys litigation saga. A lawsuit filed in 2019 against Nevada residents Mike Love and his wife Jacquelyne in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada that alleges inaccurate payment by the Loves under the retainer agreement and seeks $84.5 million in damages.Read More ›