Regulation

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The U.S. Supreme Court on April 29 appeared reluctant to give police sweeping authority to search the full contents of smartphones without first obtaining a search warrant from a judge.

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Franchisors have historically struggled with whether to include provisions calling for mandatory arbitration of all franchise disputes in their franchise agreements. One of the main complaints about arbitration from franchisors and franchisees alike ' and a reason many franchisors opt not to include arbitration provisions in their franchise agreements ' has been the lack of an effective appeal process.

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Corporate counsel may be surprised to learn that, under certain circumstances, plaintiffs in shareholder litigation have gained access to privileged materials upon a showing of "good cause" under the fiduciary exception. This article discusses the basis for the fiduciary exception, the factors involved in the good-cause analysis, and the circumstances under which courts have turned over privileged materials to plaintiffs.

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The cease-and-desist letter is a routine occurrence in the practice of most trademark attorneys. And, often it is treated routinely ' something that is little more than a form and is given little more thought than a form.

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On Dec. 16, 2013, the FTC announced consent decrees settling charges that two professional associations, the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and the California Association of Legal Support Professionals (CALSPro), had violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by using their respective codes of ethics to restrain competition among association members.

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Every online enterprise today is struggling to manage and exploit the exploding volume of personal information that comes within their possession, while also maintaining data security and complying with privacy-related laws and regulations. They are not alone. Courts, legislators and regulators also are striving to find ways to protect legitimate privacy rights while keeping the realities of today's technology evolution and business environment in mind.

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You have likely read stories of employees being fired for poorly thought-out Facebook posts or controversial Tweets. Depending on your point of view, you may be sympathetic to the employer's desire to avoid being associated with offensive or controversial statements made by an opinionated worker ' or you may be appalled that an employer would concern itself with an employee's use of social media.

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In <i>Bobrow v. Commissioner</i>, U.S. Tax Court Judge Joseph Nega surprisingly ruled that Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 408(d)(3)(B), which allows one tax-free 60-day rollover per year, applies to all of a taxpayer's IRAs, rather than to each IRA separately.