Features

How Firms Should Be Measuring the Profitability of Matters
Matter profitability matters. Yet most firms struggle to measure it in a manner that is accurate, focused on the levers partners control, and inclines partners to take action. Using margin per-partner-hour (MPH) to measure profitability delivers on these objectives.
Features

Forensic Mythologies and Custody Evaluations
<b><I>Part One of a Two-Part Article</I></b><p>As forensic psychologists and psychiatrists agree to accept appointments as evaluators or take the stand to testify about a custody matter, there are often many assumptions about forensic practice floating among those in the legal community, and even on the part of litigants, that are questionable at best.
Columns & Departments
Case Notes
Discussion of a pelvic mesh verdict.
Features

Communication and Why It Matters
The art of speaking, understanding, asking and developing dialogue has been eliminated in this fast-paced, quick-reply, "do it now" universe we now live in. Sure, we can communicate around the world in seconds, and conduct business at extraordinary speed; however we have lost the "human" elements of conversation. And it matters!
Columns & Departments
Real Property Law
In-depth analysis and discussion of seven key rulings.
Features

Smaller Firms' Message To Big Law on Alternative Fees: Join the Club
Microsoft's vow to make its outside lawyers bill nearly all their work under alternative fee arrangements caused a stir, given large law firms' traditional devotion to the billable hour. But for a growing number of mostly smaller firms, those anxieties highlight a Big Law business model they've already left behind.
Columns & Departments
Bit Parts
Boots Litigation Involving John Wayne's Persona To Be Heard in California, Instead of Texas<br>Distinguishing Between Burden of Proof for California Statutory and Common Law "Likeness" Violation Claims<br>Interpreting Jury Verdict in Quincy Jones' Music Royalty Case
Features

Automatic Legal Holds Becoming the Norm
While they are a prime responsibility for attorneys facing litigation or regulatory investigations, legal holds are not always executed as effectively as they should be. For many, it is a problem of managing data in multiple locations; for others, it's the challenge of having unreliable data custodians.
Columns & Departments
IP News
Fed. Cir. Vacates Lack of Written Description Ruling In Interference<br>Federal Circuit Vacates Unclear Application of “Causal Nexus” Requirement to Prove Irreparable Harm
Business Crimes Hotline
Analysis of a case in which a German national admitted to taking part in a 2001 to 2004 scheme to pay roughly $3 million in bribes to Haitian officials in return for favorable treatment from Teleco, a state-owned telecommunications company.
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- 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 ›
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