Features

Epstein Saga Puts Spotlight on Crime Victim's Rights Act
The significance of the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA), which is intended to guarantee crime victims a role in federal criminal proceedings, has been highlighted in the case of Jeffrey E. Epstein, the financier accused of sexually trafficking underage girls. Because the government's noncompliance with the CVRA in negotiating Epstein's plea deal in 2008 led to Alexander R. Acosta losing his cabinet position as Secretary of Labor, practitioners can expect prosecutors and judges to be more focused on the CVRA going forward.
Features

Fourth Circuit: Debt Incurred As a Result of Willful and Malicious Injury May Be Dischargeable
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently held that a debt incurred as a result of a willful and malicious injury may nevertheless be dischargeable notwithstanding the provisions of 11 U.S.C. Section 523(a)(6).
Features

New York's 2019 Rent Laws: Impact on Commercial Landlords
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation modifying existing rent laws and enacting significant landlord-tenant reforms. To date, the real estate industry has focused primarily on the sweeping impact the new laws will have on residential tenancies and the deregulation of rent-stabilized apartments. The reforms, however, also dramatically impact commercial tenancies by altering non-residential summary proceedings and significantly hampering the ability of commercial landlords to respond effectively and quickly to tenant defaults.
Columns & Departments
Business Crimes Hotline
Microsoft and Hungarian Subsidiary Agree to Pay $25 Million to Resolve FCPA Investigations in Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Thailand
Features

Caste System Persists Among Attorneys and Business Professionals
While the last decade has brought a revolution of global law firms employing thousands of attorneys and an army of professional staff — pricing executives, marketers and legal operation specialists, among many others — many professional law firm staff tell stories of a two-tiered system that minimizes their role and contributions. Observers said the caste system is a long-standing cultural mindset that stems from an age when firms were smaller and more informal, without hundreds of employees.
Features

Resolving the Competing Desires of Buyers and Tenants In Bankruptcy
A Tension Between §§363(f) and 365(h) How do bankruptcy judges resolve the competing desires of buyers and tenants? Must buyers bid for property knowing that tenants might have the right to stay if their leases are rejected? Are tenants in jeopardy that they might have to move elsewhere to live or work?
Columns & Departments
In The Courts
Maryland Jury Convicts Former CEO of Israeli Company for Role In $145 Million Binary Options Fraud
Features

The Data-Driven Law Firm: The Next Frontier
The next generation of elite law firms may have little in common with today's leading global providers of legal services. Whereas historically top-performing law firms combine stellar talent with marquee clients, brand reputation and client-focused excellence to rise to the top, future leading law firms are equally likely to rise to power using a distinctly different recipe: namely, a mixture of market savvy, strategic agility and operational effectiveness powered by data.
Features

Bankruptcy Court Rules U.S. Trustee Amended Fee Schedule Unconstitutional
The Office of U.S. Trustee is known among practitioners as the "watchdog" of the bankruptcy process. To fund the U.S. Trustee, Chapter 11 debtors must pay quarterly fees. Following a recent substantial increase to the U.S. Trustee fee schedule, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found the amended fee schedule to be unconstitutional because it was being applied nonuniformly to Chapter 11 debtors around the country.
Columns & Departments
Case Notes
Despite State Law, Merger Extinguishes Renewal Rights of Successor in Interest Court May Rely on Parole Evidence to Show Illegal Purpose of Sublease
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