Extra-Judicial Opinions: The Argument Against a Fifth Daubert Factor
December 27, 2007
Although the Ninth Circuit did not rule that extra-judicial circumstances should be added to the four Supreme Court Daubert 'factors,' there is, nevertheless, superficial support by some courts in dicta that <i>Daubert II</i> held that an extra-judicial opinion is more reliable than one born out of the litigation. A closer look at this idea will reveal it is not one that should be adopted as a factor.
Consumer Fraud Actions: The Applicability of the Learned Intermediary Doctrine
December 27, 2007
There is much uncertainty surrounding if and how well-established defenses to traditional product liability claims will translate in non-personal injury consumer fraud actions. At the forefront of this uncertainty is the applicability of the learned intermediary doctrine in consumer fraud actions involving pharmaceuticals or medical devices.
Practice Tip: Rule 34's Direct Access Provision
December 27, 2007
Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits a party to 'inspect, copy, test, or sample any designated documents or electronically stored information.' However, what exactly does that mean for corporate litigants? Can a plaintiff demand to show up at a client's offices and expect a seat in front of a keyboard? Will a client be forced to hire a third party to copy its hard drives — online shopping Web history and all — and hand them over to the opponent?
Nanotechnology: Law and Business at One-Billionth of a Meter
December 27, 2007
Nanotechnology represents a vast frontier for science, business, and law. Already governments and corporations are sinking an estimated $10 billion annually into nanotechnology R&D, and economic forecasters are predicting that nanotechnology will account for some 15% of all global manufacturing output by 2014 ' commerce valued at some $2.6 trillion. The plaintiff's bar, mass torts, and class actions cannot be too far behind such words.
The Leasing Hotline
December 27, 2007
Highlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the country.
The Evolution of Matter-Centricity to Address Business Management Needs
December 21, 2007
The movement from unstructured content management to matter-centric 'electronic matter files' in document management systems continues to be an important technology migration process in the legal industry worldwide. An organization's implementation of, or movement to, matter-centricity is not a merely a technology project. It is a business process project, and actually a collection of business process opportunities.
