Smart Phones Require 'Smart' Employers
September 29, 2009
e-Commerce employers must be especially "smart" about employee smart-phone use and the problems it can bring if acceptable use isn't spelled out. Unfortunately, few employers fully consider the various issues these high-tech gadgets pose, such as overtime compensation dangers, security risks and offensive blunders in etiquette.
Recommendation Marketing Through Evolving Social Media Channels
September 29, 2009
In one of its more insidious forms, recommendation marketing can involve a marketer paying Internet users to post disingenuous positive product reviews at online retailers' sites, also called astroturfing, in which advertisers or their agents pretend to be unaffiliated consumers, and spread misleading or false information to advance the advertiser's objectives.
The Pharmaceutical Applications of Nanotechnology
September 29, 2009
In last month's issue, the author began a discussion of nanomedical applications for disease diagnosis, therapy, and prevention, and of why the new technologies that make these advances possible are likely to change the practice of medicine. Now, he looks at more ways in which the use of nanomaterials in drugs and medical devices may affect the provision of health care and lead to new medical liability issues.
Alien vs. Policyholder
September 29, 2009
Although alien tort claims are still relatively novel, long-standing principles of insurance law, and judicial precedents established based on more familiar fact patterns, should provide helpful guidance to companies facing these claims.
REMS, Risk and Reward
September 29, 2009
REMS, or Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, is a new tool that Congress provided the FDA to ensure the safe use of certain types of prescription drug products. The FDA may require a drug manufacturer to include a REMS in its new drug application when the agency concludes this is necessary to ensure that the benefits of the drug outweigh its risks.
Is Europe Ready for Class Actions?
September 29, 2009
Several recent developments suggest that the European Union (EU) and some of its individual Member States are preparing to embrace the idea of collective redress mechanisms for consumer claims. Although an effective European collective redress mechanism has yet to materialize, the process toward crafting one is certainly underway.
Practice Tip: Products Class Action Incentive Awards
September 29, 2009
This article discusses the Ninth Circuit's recent decision in <i>Rodriguez v. West Publishing Co.</i>, 563 F.3d 948 (9th Cir. 2009), that specifically considered the viability of incentive awards and their impact on the adequacy of class representatives.
FJC's Study of Diversity Jurisdiction Class Actions
September 29, 2009
In November 2008, as part of its ongoing study of the impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 ("CAFA") upon federal courts, the Federal Judicial Center ("FJC") published Preliminary Findings from Phase Two's Pre-CAFA Sample of Diversity Class Actions. That report studied 231 diversity jurisdiction class actions filed in or removed to federal court in the two years prior to Feb. 18, 2005, CAFA's effective date.
Class Certification Now an 'Olympic High Hurdle Event' in the Third Circuit
September 29, 2009
In a recent opinion issued by Chief Judge Scirica the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has clarified the hurdle height to "jump over" in order to obtain class action certification. In so doing, the court has both "ratified" and, at the same time, "put greater bite into" the trend of imposing a stricter standard for certification.
