Columns & Departments
Drug & Device News
Analysis of a case in which an appeals court reversed a plaintiff verdict in an Accutane case; FDA warning over a morning sickness drug.
Features
Who Are 'Employees' and How Should We Treat Them?
The 2014-15 New Jersey Supreme Court term brought major decisions on diverse employment law issues 'employer liability for sexual harassment, how to determine whether a worker is an "employee" for purposes of wage and hour laws, the extent of protection afforded watchdog employees under the 'Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA), and the negotiability of furlough decisions by municipal employers.
Features
Eye on <i>Lenz</i> In Light of NFL Takedown Notices
In October, after receiving takedown requests from the National Football League and two college athletic conferences citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Twitter suspended two sports news feeds that feature short clips of football highlights.
Features
Killing the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg
A troubling trend is apparent in medical malpractice actions venued in New Jersey: Over the past few decades, our courts have undermined legislation meant to limit hospital liability for tort claims.
Features
The NLRB Joint Employer Ruling
On Aug. 27, the NLRB issued a sweeping decision that expands the definition of "joint employer" for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Here's what you need to know.
Columns & Departments
Bit Parts
New York Federal Court Dismisses Copyright Plaintiff's Suit Against Former Lawyers<br>Nicollette Sheridan's Retaliation Claim in L.A. Superior Court Needn't First Be Filed with California Labor Commissioner
Features
The Global 100
The Global 100 appears to have found its groove. After the turbulence of the financial crisis, which in 2009 caused the world's 100 highest-grossing law firms to collectively suffer their first-ever fall in aggregate fee income, the group has now settled into a pattern of slow, steady growth.
Features
Damages In Design Patent Infringement Cases
The successful plaintiff in a design patent infringement case is entitled to recover the greater of the defendant's profits or its own damages, regardless of how the jury desires to apportion the award. Thus, in <i>Nordock, Inc. v. Systems Inc.,</i> the Federal Circuit ordered a new damages trial on the grounds that the amount of defendant's profits assessed by the jury was not supported by the evidence or in accordance with the law.
Features
Designs on Cheerleader Uniforms Can Be Copyrighted
When is a graphic design a "work of authorship" that, when incorporated into the design of a useful article, is "identified separately from, and ' capable of existing independently of, the utilitarian aspects of the article"? In deciding that the designs on cheerleader uniforms were more like copyrightable fabric designs than unprotectable garment designs, the Sixth Circuit undertook a lengthy analysis of "separability.
Features
Contracting with Minors
One of the fundamental principles of U.S. contract law is that a party must have the capacity to enter into a contract in order to be bound. Minors, as a general rule, lack this capacity. As a result, any contract made with a minor might not be enforceable. Yet in certain circumstances, contracts with minors are commonplace. The following identifies some risks, some mitigating solutions and the limitations of those solutions when contracting with a minor.
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- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- 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 ›
- Meet the Lawyer Working on Inclusion Rider LanguageAt the Oscars in March, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made “inclusion rider” go viral. But Kalpana Kotagal, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll had already worked for months to write the language for such provisions. Kotagal was developing legal language for contract provisions that Hollywood's elite could use to require studios and other partners to employ diverse workers on set.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›