The Leasing Hotline
December 28, 2006
Highlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the country.
Combating e-Discovery Project Risk With Effective Communication
December 28, 2006
Litigants and their law firms continue to be frustrated with the escalating costs of discovery during litigation, investigations and regulatory response. Fueling these costs is risk ' and the fears associated with discovery risk ranging from common concerns such as budget and schedule issues, to more severe outcomes, including sanctions, adverse inference or even stress-induced hair loss.<br>A simple way for litigants to lessen risk and gain control of these costs is through effective project planning and communication. In fact, without good communication, you're not just taking a ride down the wrong route ' you're paving the road to risk.
The Growing Role Of Litigation Support Teams
December 28, 2006
The world of litigation support isn't what it used to be.<br>It used to be that technical issues revolved around finding a vendor to scan the other 100 boxes of documents someone just 'found' and still meet the original deadline. After calling a short list of vendors, the issues focused on whether to select a scan rate of 200 dots per inch (dpi) versus 300 dpi to increase scan speed ' and find a vendor that could get the load-file specs right.<br>How times have changed. e-Discovery has forced a deeper understanding of technology and a deeper understanding of the litigation process.
Non-traditional Sources of e-Data In Investigations
December 28, 2006
From teenagers to retirees, the digital revolution has touched almost all aspects of our everyday lives. Widespread business use of voice mail, e-mail, instant messaging (IM), and sales-management systems, as well as use of portable devices, simplifies our work in many ways, but also makes electronic discovery much more complex.<br>This article describes some of the more prominent non-traditional sources of electronic data. The reader should be mindful of these sources when he or she develops a discovery work plan ' and should weigh the costs and benefits of each option.
Developments of Note
December 28, 2006
Recent developments in e-commerce law and in the e-commerce industry.
Blog Defamation
December 28, 2006
Bloggers can be held liable for defamatory statements posted on their sites, regardless of whether the statements were original comments generated by the blogger or whether he or she republished the statements that someone else made.<br>The good news, though, particularly for bloggers and counsel who advise and represent enterprises where blogs are likely to be created and used (say, for instance, e-commerce or technology companies that supply or deal extensively with e-businesses), is that just as with traditional print publications, bloggers may raise a defense against defamation claims under Internet communication-protection statutes and the First Amendment.
Empowering Attorneys and Clients to Exchange Large Files Securely
December 28, 2006
Given the sensitive nature of attorney/client files, the challenge is how to give attorneys the ability to exchange the information in a secure way. Strategically, security is the easier part of the problem; the bigger issue is how to facilitate the exchange so that users are in control of the process instead of having to call for IT support every time information must be exchanged.
Punk Rock and The Sale of Your e-Business
December 28, 2006
'Should I stay or should I go?'<br>That was the question that those classic '80s punk rockers The Clash asked in a song by the same title about a romance gone awry. That's just a song, though.<br>But, interestingly enough, that hard-driving ditty is applicable to the world of e-business: The entrepreneur contemplating the future of his or her business ' a love built of the same good times and bad, and with the same blood, sweat and tears as a real-life romance ' confronts the same dilemma when it's time to make that decision: Should he stay or should he go? How could a person not expect such perseveration? When an entrepreneur reads about the rapid rise of YouTube from startup to $1.65 billion buyout, he or she can easily forget about the many new firms that fail, and instead imagine being the personification of ' or fantasize about ' having a company that becomes the next tech-economy icon.
Beware of Phishing: How Landlords and Tenants Can Avoid the Hook
December 28, 2006
Although landlords and tenants often have different views on various topics, they share a common interest in protecting their premises against theft. Until recently, security considerations were generally limited to decisions concerning appropriate locks and the installation of stout hardware. In the new millennium, however, securing electronic entryways to premises may be of even greater importance, and it behooves landlords and tenants alike to keep abreast of developments in computer-related security breaches. In particular, landlords and tenants must be alert to a variety of identity theft threats, including phishing scams, in which they receive an e-mail from a seemingly reputable company (eg, a tenant receives an e-mail that appears to be from the landlord) that attempts to obtain personal information from the recipient when in fact the e-mail was sent by an identity thief.
