Four Rules for Tax-Exempt Organizations with Volunteers
February 28, 2012
As discussed last month, the use of volunteers and interns by nonprofit corporations comes with legal risks, particularly from potentially applicable wage and hour laws and from harms caused by or happened upon the volunteers and interns.
The Supreme Court Finds Religion
February 28, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held in that the First Amendment's religion clauses provide for a "ministerial exception." In doing so, the Court promoted religious autonomy at the expense of ministers' rights and society's interest in eradicating discrimination.
When Sympathy Trumps Contractual Rights
February 27, 2012
Is "equity" more powerful than enforcing the terms of a renewal lease option in a lease between two sophisticated business entities? In <i>135 East 57th Street LLC v. Daffy's Inc.</i>, the Appellate Division, First Department, signaled that it is.
Vicarious Liability
February 27, 2012
When is a franchisor's control over a franchisee so great that the franchisor risks being held vicariously liable for the actions of its franchisees?
In the Spotlight: Lease Restructures
February 27, 2012
Although landlords do not want excess space to lease in a down market, there may be benefits to the landlord of a steady long-term income stream that offsets the impact of additional vacancy. In sum, for each side an early lease restructure may make sense.
Drafting Better Commercial General Liability Insurance Requirements
February 27, 2012
A landlord generally does not want to impose obsolete or otherwise nonsensical requirements on its tenant, and a tenant generally does not want to promise to do things that are impossible. But both can regularly be found in lease insurance provisions.
Prepping for the 2010 Amendments to Article 9 of the UCC
February 27, 2012
In 2008, the Uniform Law Commission and the American Law Institute set to work on evaluating and improving Article 9. A set of amendments which were completed in May 2010 by the ULC and the ALI reflecting these efforts is ready for consideration by state legislatures. This article discusses some of the troublesome issues that prompted the work of these commercial law grandees and the solutions contemplated by the 2010 amendments.
Case Briefs
February 27, 2012
Highlights of the latest insurance cases from around the country.
Specialty Recall Insurance Coverage
February 27, 2012
With the cost and frequency of product recalls on the rise, many companies are considering purchasing specialty policies to cover certain recall-related losses that are often excluded from general liability and property policies. Few cases provide guidance about how such policies will be interpreted and applied by the courts, but some recent decisions highlight limitations on their scope of coverage.
Insurance Coverage for False Advertising Claims
February 27, 2012
This article provides an overview of case law holding that insurance companies are obligated to provide coverage for false advertising claims, particularly under the advertising injury section of a CGL policy. In doing so, the article discusses the general framework for advertising injury coverage under CGL policies and the inapplicability of certain exclusions sometimes asserted by insurers to deny coverage.
