The Dirty Little Secret Of Law Firm Billing
<i>The Wall Street Journal</i>'s front-page headline on billing rates last month tells only part of the story. "Legal Fees Cross New Mark: $1,500 an Hour," the Feb. 9 article announced, before listing partner hourly rates at several big firms.
Features
The Rise of Cyber Insurance Liability Litigation
As businesses are quickly learning, companies today have no choice but to confront the risks presented by the proliferation of cyber-based attacks targeting their confidential business information. Faced with this growing threat, many companies have begun taking steps to fortify security measures protecting their informational and technological infrastructure in the hope of preventing a cyber-attack.
Features
Thought Leadership Initiative
Many brilliant attorneys struggle to attract clients despite their well-developed strategic and winning legal skills. Most likely, they have either resisted or simply don't know how to "get the word out" about the availability and quality of their services.
Court of Appeals Modifies Standing Test in Land-Use Cases
There has been a long history of judicial analysis of what gives rise to standing to challenge a land-use approval. The interplay between the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and the vast majority of land use approvals has given rise to a number of cases applying and modifying the standing test in the context of SEQRA.
The Illusion of a 'Second Opinion'
Creating the illusion of an independent "second opinion," insurance companies involved in personal injury lawsuits frequently contract with vendors to provide "records reviews," "peer reviews" or "paper reviews." In the authors' view, these opinions are far from objective.
Features
The Raising of a Privacy Shield
On Feb. 2, 2016, the U.S. Department of Commerce and European Commission unveiled a new framework for personal data transfers from European Union (EU) Member States to the U.S. The new framework ' dubbed the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield ' will replace the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor program, which was invalidated by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in 2015.
Features
Extracting the 'Consent to Settle': A Game Plan for Insurers and Defense Counsel
Consent-to-settle provisions in medical malpractice insurance policies present challenging issues to insurers, defense attorneys and policyholders in the context of defending professional liability claims. Most liability insurance policies cede the ultimate discretion over settlement decisions to the insurer. Medical malpractice policies are outliers from the norm in the insurance industry.
Features
Expert Testimony on Industry Practice
Recently, the Second Circuit held that expert testimony regarding how a "specialized securities market" operated was relevant and potentially "highly" probative of the question of whether the defendant's misstatements to investors were material. Because juries are tasked with determining materiality, the notion that experts can opine on overarching industry practice that is not case-specific appears surprising.
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