Keys for Successfully Mediating Franchise Disputes
Many franchise agreements now require the franchisor and franchisee to meet face-to-face, with an independent mediator, before any adversary proceeding is initiated between them. Even without such a provision, many practitioners advocate mediation as a means of settling franchisor-franchisee disputes.
Features
NLRB Changes Rules for Determining Joint Employers
The long-awaited decision of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in <i>Browning-Ferris Industries of California</i> set forth new guidelines under which a company could be determined to be a joint employer so that it would be subject to collective bargaining.
Features
Restaurant Chain Accuses CT BBQ Restaurant of Trademark Violation
A Bridgeport, CT, restaurant's use of a logo with the letters BBQ against a flame backdrop has an out-of-state restaurant chain fired up.
Features
Ninth Circuit Insulates Corporate Insider from Preference Liability
"A corporate insider who personally guaranteed" the debtor's loan was not liable on a bankruptcy trustee's preference claim when the corporate debtor repaid its lender, held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on May 6, 2015. Here's an in-depth analysis of the ruling.
Columns & Departments
In the Courts
Analysis of a case in the Seventh Circuit in which a wire fraud and bribery conviction was upheld for a County Director In Illinois. Also, a look at a case out of the Second Circuit involving whistleblowing.
Features
2015 Trends: Balancing Judicial vs. Corporate e-Discovery Practices
The changing data landscape and prevalence of new data sources continues to impact how e-discovery is addressed. I had the opportunity to discuss these impacts with Andrea D'Ambra, senior counsel for Norton Rose Fulbright, as part of a recent webcast. We compared and contrasted findings from Norton Rose Fulbright's Litigation Trends Annual Survey of in-house counsel and Exterro's 2015 Federal Judges' Survey. Following are the takeaways we discussed.
Features
Forum Selection Clause Held Waiver of Removal Right
A forum selection clause in an agreement provides that the parties "irrevocably consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts in the state of Delaware." Does the provision constitute a waiver of a party's right to remove the case to federal court if the other party files suit in a Delaware state court?
Features
Legal Departments and Law Firms
The International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) recently conducted its 2015 Inside/Outside Counsel Relationship Survey in order to gain a better understanding of the relationship between lawyers in corporate legal departments and lawyers in law firms. The results are reported herein.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- 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 ›
- 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 ›
- 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 ›