Features

Decision of Note: Race Discrimination Claims Against Charter Cable Can Proceed
The Ninth Circuit decided that a group of African-American-owned television networks can pursue racial discrimination claims against Charter Communications Inc., the nation's third-largest cable provider.
Features

FCA and Statute of Limitations: A Puzzle for the Supreme Court
The FCA is not a model of clarity. In a certiorari petition in United States ex rel. Hunt v. Cochise Consultancy, the U.S. Supreme Court will address an area of uncertainty that has led to a three-way circuit split regarding the FCA's statute of limitations. Depending on the outcome, FCA defendants could end up facing even more claims up to a decade old or, alternatively, have a new limitation on FCA actions upon which to rely.
Features

Second Circuit Affirms 'ReDigi': No 'Resale' of Digital Music Files
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently issued a long-awaited ruling in <i>Capitol Records LLC v. ReDigi Inc.</i>, affirming summary judgment in favor of Capitol Records and its record label co-plaintiffs in a case that raised issues of first impression concerning first sale and fair use in the age of digital music distribution.
Features

'Sophisticated' Losers
Why Commercial Fraud Claims Sometimes Fail, and the Importance of Due Diligence If a court decision called you "sophisticated," it was probably not intended as a compliment, but instead signaled the death knell of your fraud claim.
Features

Eighth Circuit Rejects Ponzi Scheme Presumption to Protect Legitimate Loan Repayments
In <i>Stoebner v. Opportunity Finance, LLC</i>, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that “… Ponzi scheme payments to satisfy legitimate antecedent debts to defendant banks could not be avoided” by a bankruptcy trustee “absent transaction-specific proof of actual intent to defraud or the statutory elements of constructive fraud — transfer by an insolvent debtor who did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange.”
Features

UMG v. Grande Communications: Another Victory for the Music Industry in Its Battle to Hold ISPs Liable for Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
Since the advent of the Internet, the music industry has been in a pitched battle to combat online piracy. Initially, the industry focused on shutting down services that offered peer-to-peer or other similar platforms, such as Napster, Aimster and Grokster. For a time, the industry also focused on filing claims against individual infringers to dissuade others from engaging similar conduct. In recent years, the industry seems to have shifted focus toward Internet Service Providers.
Features

Counsel Concerns: Lawyers Battle Over Gears of War Client
A Philadelphia lawyer is suing the founder of a fast-growing litigation boutique over a purported fee-sharing settlement, is arguing that the boutique backed out of the settlement so it could fund other cases against video game makers.
Features

Key Tax and Financial Considerations for New Law Partners
Being asked to join the partnership of a firm is a measure of success as a legal professional. With that achievement comes tax and financial responsibilities that, surprisingly, few attorneys are fully prepared to deal with. These responsibilities include the unexpected individual federal and state and local tax filing and payments.
Features

Five Ways to Maximize Marketing Efforts
With every request for external exposure, there is also an assumption that one effort of marketing will result in millions in new revenue. Yet, we all know that the responsibility to implement all marketing initiatives is on the lawyers.
Features

Don't Set Me Off: No Triangular Setoff Among Affiliated Entities and a Debtor Counterparty
In today's global economy, companies often have multiple business lines operating through separate entities. Outside of bankruptcy, these affiliated operations sometimes transact in a holistic — albeit legally distinct — debtor-creditor relationship with their counterparty. But, as this article discusses, the legal separateness of affiliates can hinder economic protections that a creditor might have otherwise when its counterparty files for bankruptcy.
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