Features

Force Majeure Clauses In Construction Contracts In the Aftermath of COVID-19
We are only beginning to scratch the surface of the effect on the construction litigation visited on us by COVID-19-related impacts. However, the pandemic and its continuing impact has reinforced the importance of planning for the unexpected — and undefined — when negotiating construction contracts.
Features

How NY Courts Find Copyright Preemption of State Law Claims
Under §301 of the U.S. Copyright Act, state law claims that are "equivalent" to exclusive rights in copyrights granted by federal law are preempted by the federal statute. To survive preemption, courts consider whether a state law claim in a lawsuit has an "extra element" that qualitatively distinguishes it from a federal copyright claim.
Features

Virtual Reality or the New Reality of Virtual Practice?
In response to the worst period on record for cyber attacks, the ABA published Formal Opinion 498 to address practicing law outside of the traditional brick-and-mortar office environment. It reminds lawyers that while the ABA Model Rules permit virtual practice, they provide minimum requirements and recommendations for virtual practice, particularly in the areas of competence, confidentiality and supervision.
Features

Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Features

Activision Trial Counsel Discusses Case About Video Game Character
Activision Blizzard and a trial team led by San Francisco-based Durie Tangri partner Daralyn Durie recently faced down a $400 million copyright suit in the Eastern District of Texas. In this Q&A, Durie talks about the strategy and the theatrics of the four-day trial.
Features

The Queen's Gambit: A Proactive Approach to Reducing Technology Vendors' Contracting Risk
There are numerous "gameplays" to reduce risks when selecting and hiring a technology vendor. Whether you are able to accept a risk and to what extent are not always clear. Just know that, like in chess, your opening move to an IT deal can be your most powerful.
Features

Key Issues In Cyber Insurance Policies
The surge in ransomware attacks has made familiarity with the provisions of cyber insurance essential for professionals in the entertainment industry, which is among prime targets of ransomware operatives.
Features

Hoteling Here to Stay As Law Firms Return to the Office
For the Big 4 consultancies, hoteling has been a positive operational construct for over a decade, or in some cases longer. The success of the decentralized law firm depends in some part on how well firms can shift "hoteling" from the negative connotation of "losing my desk" to the positive connotation of "having a hotel-like experience."
Features

Fear of Unknown In Force Majeure Litigation Prompting Settlements
Since the pandemic began, lawyers have been using the coronavirus to justify nonpayment of rent, construction delays and even termination of labor contracts. But the prospect of litigating a contract cancellation based on force majeure is still so fraught with peril that many breach-of-contract disputes end in an amicable resolution.
Features

Artificial Intelligence and Subject Matter Eligibility In U.S. Patent Office Appeals
For the foreseeable future, patent applications involving artificial intelligence technologies will increase with the continued proliferation of such technologies. However, subject matter eligibility can be a significant challenge in securing patents on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
- Meet the Lawyer Working on Inclusion Rider LanguageAt the Oscars in March, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made “inclusion rider” go viral. But Kalpana Kotagal, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll had already worked for months to write the language for such provisions. Kotagal was developing legal language for contract provisions that Hollywood's elite could use to require studios and other partners to employ diverse workers on set.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›