Features

<b><I>Voice of the Client</I></b>: Why Put Clients on Mute?
According to the author: "Having conducted hundreds of in-person client feedback interviews, I can say without reservation that clients would welcome — and prefer — a call or meeting focused on what the firm is doing well, what it could be doing better, and how the firm can provide more value."
Features

Alternative Legal Services Providers: Changing Buyer Perceptions
A common perception of today's legal services industry is that buyers of legal services have many more choices because legal services are disaggregating and unbundling. No longer are law firms the only option for clients with legal work; they now have a wider menu of providers from which to choose.
Columns & Departments
Drug & Device News
A settlement was reached Feb. 10 between McNeil Consumer Healthcare (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) and more than 200 plaintiffs who claim liver damage from taking Tylenol.
Columns & Departments
Case Notes
On April 6, Florida's Supreme Court announced that a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. may go forward, rejecting the cigarette manufacturer's argument that federal preemption foreclosed the right of an injured smoker and his representatives to bring state-law tort claims against it for marketing cigarettes.
Features

Railcar Leasing on the Rise
According to a recent analyst report from global market research company, Technavio, the railcar leasing market in North America, is predicted to grow steadily at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of above 9% by 2021. The report, titled Railcar Leasing Market In North America 2017-2021, finds that one of the primary drivers for this market is the rise in the demand for tank cars due to growing crude oil production.
Features

What Lawyers Can Learn from Poker Players
Litigation is often compared to chess. The image is evoked of a lawyer strategically developing evidence and making arguments the same way a chess player moves and sacrifices pieces on a chessboard, to defeat an opponent. But ask any trial lawyer, and he or she will tell you that litigation is nothing like chess. The better analogy and, more importantly, the better place to turn for useful practice pointers, is poker. Here's why.
Features

<b><i>Online Extra</b></i><br> What You Need to Know About Emoji Law (Yes, That's a Thing)
How will the courts deal with questions of interpretation raised by emojis?
Features

Hiding Assets in California
Often, asset protection advice is bereft of any discussion of California exemption statutes — which often provide the most efficient and safest asset protection. But to properly protect an asset in California, it's generally best to understand and maximize exemptions.
Features

The Dire Financial Consequences of Misclassifying Your Employees
<b><I>Looking at a Case in Florida</I></b><p>In February of this year, a Florida appeals court upheld a decision by Gov. Rick Scott's administration that Uber drivers are independent contractors and not employees. In terms of the law, the decision was hardly revolutionary. It did, however, highlight the importance of properly classifying workers. Indeed, failure to properly classify workers can have staggering financial consequences for a business that operates on a model that relies heavily on a large number of independent contractors.
Features

Second Circuit Upholds Ban on Private Investment in Law Firms
A federal appeals court in March rejected an attempt to loosen restrictions on private investment in the legal industry. The decision, which affirms a 2015 district court ruling, is a blow to Los Angeles-based personal injury firm Jacoby & Meyers, which has fought a nearly six-year legal battle against the prohibition on non-lawyers investing in law firms and sharing in legal fees.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- Lack of Logo Placement At Center of Ruling Over Meat Loaf Album PackagingTo build visibility for its brand, a record label or production company will want its logo included on products containing its master recordings manufactured and distributed by third parties. This will be addressed in the agreement between the label or production company and manufacturer/distributor. The failure to include the logo may raise a host of issues, from the breadth of the logo-placement obligation ' such as whether it includes Internet downloads ' to the proper theory on which to base any damages and just which album-sales figures are subject to evidentiary discovery. A recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ' in a long-running dispute between Cleveland International Records and Sony Music Entertainment ' illustrated how these issues may be argued and decided.Read More ›
- Law Firms and the Rise of HospitalityThe law firm office cannot remain unchanged, as if frozen in time set to some date prior to the onset of pandemic, when the terms and meaning have all changed. In fact, the office must now provide benefits or an experience the lawyers and staff cannot get at home.Read More ›
- The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance ProgramsThe parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.Read More ›