Features

Professional Coaching: A Gift That Keeps on Giving
This article offers a case for legal marketers to consider when strategizing how to best support their lawyer clients on a level that they are personally unable to do on their own, given the many diverse demands within a busy marketing department.
Features

Assigning Claim Value
<b><I>Lawyers Must Weigh Potential Liability</I></b><p>This article outlines some of the issues relevant to a determination of whether an attorney's inaccurate valuation could create potential malpractice liability.
Features

Tri-Parenting: Three's Company or Three's a Crowd?
<b><I>Part One of a Two-Part Article</I></b><p>Laws pertaining to legal parentage have changed frequently in recent years as states have attempted to keep pace with the evolving configurations of modern-day families. Major contributors to this process have expanded our definitions of family and parenthood. Still, what about the related issue of <I>how many</I> recognized parents a child can have?
Features

The Rise of the Travel Act
The DOJ continues to prioritize health care anti-fraud enforcement through the aggressive use of different statutes and investigative methods. Now, the government is putting a 60-year-old tool to a new use: It is using the federal Travel Act to pursue criminal charges against health care entities in connection with health care bribery/kickback schemes. This article discusses these recent actions and the potential ramifications of the expansion of the scope of the Travel Act.
Features

Increased Scrutiny for <I>Cy Pres</I> Provisions in Class Action Settlements
Despite the popularity of utilizing the <I>cy pres</I> doctrine and its benefits, courts are reviewing class-action settlement agreements that provide for <I>cy pres</I> payments with increased scrutiny.
Features

<b><I>AE Liquidation</I></b>: WARN Act Comfort for Debtors Attempting a 363 Sale, or Just the 'Putin Exception'?
In <I>In re AE Liquidation</I>, the Third Circuit held that a WARN Act notice only must be given when mass layoffs are probable, not when merely foreseeable. As a result, a debtor that was attempting to effectuate a going concern sale under Bankruptcy Code Section 363 was not liable for failing to give a WARN Act notice until the day it determined it could no longer wait for approvals from the buyer to close.
Features

The Ever-Changing State of State and Local Taxes
For tax professionals, particularly those who specialize in the area of state and local taxes, nexus is a topic that is discussed all too often. Nexus rules have lagged behind the ever-changing economic landscape, but states are beginning to catch up. Nonetheless, the nexus rules are very important for professional services firms such as law firms.
Features

Tactical Considerations for Patent Owner Responses in IPRs
U.S. Patent Office statistics show that the PTAB has found at least one claim of a challenged patent to be unpatentable in over 80% of IPRs. Given these odds, and the fact that institution of an IPR is not appealable, a patent owner's best shot at preserving its patent rights intact is to defeat institution of the IPR trial in the first instance.
Features

<b><I>Competitive Intelligence:</I></b> What Does CI Mean in Law Firms?
Competitive intelligence in law firms can mean very different things, depending on the context, size and type of law firm (national vs. global), and so forth. Here's why it's so important.
Features

Website Accessibility: The Law and Your Business Priorities
The first step to solving a problem is knowing it exists. But many businesses have never thought to ask whether their customer-facing websites are accessible to people with disabilities, and only become aware of the issue when they are sent a demand letter or served with a lawsuit alleging that their site violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
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- 'Insurable Interest' and the Scope of First-Party CoverageThis article reviews the fundamental underpinnings of the concept of insurable interest, and certain recent cases that have grappled with the scope of insurable interest and have articulated a more meaningful application of the concept to claims under first-party property policies.Read More ›
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- The Powerful Impact of The Non-Foreclosure Notice of PendencyRPAPL ' 1331 and RPAPL ' 1403 Notices of Pendency are requisite elements for foreclosing a mortgage. <i>See, Chiarelli v. Kotsifos</i>, 5 A.D.3d 345 (a notice of pendency is a prerequisite to obtaining a judgment in a mortgage foreclosure action); <i>Campbell v. Smith</i>, 309 A.D.2d 581, 582 (a notice of pendency is required in a foreclosure action under RPAPL Article 13). In contrast, an ex parte CPLR Article 65 Notice of Pendency (the "Notice") is not required but it is a significant tool in an action claiming title to, or an interest in or the use or enjoyment of, another's land. The filer does not have to make a meritorious showing or post a bond. Article 65 provides mechanisms for the defendant-owner to vacate the Notice that caused an unilaterally imposed restraint on its realty. But, recent case law establishes the near futility of such efforts if the plaintiff has satisfied the minimal statutory requisites for filing the Notice.Read More ›