Lease Voided Due to Vendor' Default
February 29, 2008
On Oct. 31, 2007, a trial-level court in New York issued a decision finding that an equipment lease 'fail[ed] for lack of consideration' when the bankrupt vendor did not deliver the leased equipment, even though the lessee had signed a lease amendment ... a look at the ruling.
Who Benefits?
February 29, 2008
An anlysis of the recent case of <i>Rush v. U.S. Bancorp Equipment Finance, Inc.</i>, __ S.D. Rep. ___ (2007 SD 119, Nov. 14, 2007). There, the plaintiff put forth the novel contention that the creditor/defendant should have protected the debtor's financial condition by perfecting the creditor's interest.
e-Working For a Living
February 29, 2008
No one would deny that those in the e-commerce economy 'work hard for the money,' in the words of nascent e-commerce entrepreneur and one-time disco queen Donna Summer. But is 'workin' for a living' any different for an e-commerce manager or executive than for the rest of us? To consider how dot-com employment has evolved over the past few years, I looked at a random sample of recent employment agreements to identify current practices and techniques in e-commerce employment contracting.
Case Briefs
February 29, 2008
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
So What Does Your Fidelity Policy Actually Cover?
February 29, 2008
Businesses purchase fidelity insurance to cover their losses from crime such as employee theft and forgery. This need is usually most pronounced for banks and other financial service firms, where employees have access to enormous amounts of money. For these policyholders, misplaced trust in a resourceful employee can result in millions of dollars disappearing from the policyholder or its clients with only a few keystrokes.
Franchisors: Exercise Your Contractual Rights
February 29, 2008
With the explosion of e-commerce and the easy availability of often free information on the Internet, franchisors have the ability like never before to expand their businesses into global markets. While the rapid growth into international markets has increased revenues and brand awareness, it also has added a layer of complexity and risk in monitoring franchisee compliance with the terms of the franchise agreement.
To Settle or Not
February 29, 2008
Many policyholders have large deductibles or retentions in their liability policies. Insurers that agree to defend policyholders against a claim falling within the coverage of a liability policy typically also want to control the litigation strategy and/or settlement discussions. What happens when the insurer wants to settle a claim within the deductible or retention amount, making the policyholder liable for the entire settlement, but the policyholder does not want to settle?
It Came from the State Legislature
February 29, 2008
Another year has come and gone, and Congress has again failed to enact comprehensive data-breach legislation. Certainly, many reasons why such legislation is needed exist and are acknowledged, but one of the primary benefits would be the establishment of national standards that would preempt the current myriad state data-protection laws.
Extrinsic Evidence and Conditional Reform
February 29, 2008
In coverage litigation, insurers often treat extrinsic evidence as if it were radioactive material, and there is some justification for this instinct. Generally, consideration of extrinsic evidence connotes an ambiguity in policy language, and there are several reasons why insurers seek to avoid arguing, or even intimating, that the language at issue in an insurance policy is ambiguous.
