In recent years, the need to treat e-discovery as a repeatable, streamlined process has been well-evidenced by a series of U.S. court opinions citing a wide range of e-discovery failures, including those related to preservation of electronically stored information (ESI), document productions and identification of potential custodians.
Strategic contract management and the deployment of the right supporting technology can help organizations extract maximum value from their contracts. Many organizations are not there yet, however, according to a recent survey.
Beginning in 2015, California employers will be required by law to provide paid sick leave to employees. Because California is often a bellwether state for changes in others, this legislation is of national interest. Will your state be next?
After broaching the issue in a nonprecedential opinion released last summer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit suggested during arguments on Oct. 21 that it might soon answer definitively whether the catalyst theory for recovering attorney fees applies in ERISA cases.
In a recent decision subject to multiple flaws, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts refused to dismiss a suit against the manufacturer of an investigational drug and medical device used in a clinical trial based on the allegedly inadequate warnings the clinical trial investigator provided to patients in obtaining their informed consent to the trial.
In New Jersey, the AOM Statute, although reducing the number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed overall, has created virtually as much litigation by way of motion practice and appellate practice; these make up for the reduced number of lawsuits.
In recent years, as client fee pressure has increased and client loyalty has decreased, law firms are investing significant time and money in business development programs. Some partners receive training to dust off selling skills that were largely unnecessary during a time of plenty. Other partners receive training, then individualized coaching, then more training, then more coaching, in an often-futile attempt to turn everyone into a capable rainmaker.
Counsel, directors and managers of multinational companies that have corporate compliance programs and codes of conduct in place may think the company has done all it can to reduce the risks posed by potential corrupt employee actions. But these things may not go far enough.
It is not uncommon for forensic child custody evaluations (CCEs) to include detailed interviews with children that focus, to some extent, on alleged events in a family that may be relevant to a best interests determination. Unfortunately, not all child interviews are created equal, and a biased or unskilled evaluator can shape or distort a child's recollection of family history by violating basic principles for maximizing reliability in child reports.
