Beyond the Signature Block: Analyze the Exhibits Attached to a Lease
December 28, 2006
In reviewing a draft of another party's form commercial retail lease, much time and effort is expended in analyzing the lease relative to the agreed-upon letter of intent and/or applying a client's leasing parameters into the lease. Many times the signature block is viewed as the proverbial 'goal line,' so if you can make it to the signature block, you are at the conclusion of your review; however, to review the form lease adequately and completely, one must continue the review and analyze all the exhibits attached to the form lease.
Offshore Outsourcing: Protecting Privacy A World Away
December 28, 2006
Business process outsourcing (BPO) to offshore service providers has become an integral part of the global economy ' and integrally 'e' ' finding particular success in the financial services, health care and IT industries.<br>Studies confirm that offshore BPO will not only continue to grow, but accelerate in the years to come. One study projects that by 2010, the world's 100 largest financial institutions will move $400 billion of their cost base offshore, saving an average of just under $1.5 billion annually each. <br>This explosive trend will continue to create economic, political, cultural and legal challenges for all types of companies dealing with personal data and the regulations that cover the collection, movement, storage and accessing of it ' in the United States and abroad. And, given the popularity of financial services and health care BPO, privacy concerns are certain to figure largely in these challenges. This article provides an overview of some of the legal and practical implications of BPO to offshore vendors.
In the Spotlight: Beware of Lease Disputes in a Declining Market
December 28, 2006
We have just experienced a rising, perhaps frothy, commercial real estate market for the past half-decade, resulting in ever-increasing rental rates throughout much of the country. More recently, we have suffered increased gas prices that tax the budgets of all retail customers and appear to be reducing sales for many retailers.
Drafting a Better and More Effective Right of First Refusal
December 28, 2006
Land transfers date back to biblical times and have been the subject of an inordinate amount of litigation. Of course, the importance and value of land and the necessity for shelter might help to explain many of the disputes. Some, however, are due to human error, especially those involving the right to purchase property.
Age Diversity
December 28, 2006
The challenge of embracing age diversity is building up to be the talent employment issue of the next five years ' and beyond.<br>With the pressure for 'more, better, faster,' and with more money at stake and people wanting more control in their work and personal lives when there seems to be increasingly less, inter-generational issues in the workplace are causing more sleepless nights than ever for firm leaders and managers.
Sustaining a Client Service Initiative
December 28, 2006
Most client service improvement initiatives fail to produce sustained results. While such a statement may seem harsh, I think that most would agree with the statement based on their own experiences. After investing significant amounts of time, effort, and money in service improvement initiatives, most organizations do not attain the sustained results they were hoping for. Failure is usually not due to a lack of creativity or resources, but most often the result of a lack of long-term commitment to the hard work that sustainability requires. The 'launch' phase of an improvement initiative can be challenging, but it is also energizing. Top management is involved in the launch, frontline employees join improvement teams, and service communication abounds. There are skeptics, of course, but most are hopeful that this time things will actually get better. The launch phase may last several months, or even a year, depending on the organization.
Confusion Over Regulation of Lawyers' Sites In Florida
December 28, 2006
To Google or not to Google is the dilemma plaguing the Florida Bar in its protracted debate over how to regulate law firm Internet sites. <br>Because the Bar Board of Governors deadlocked on proposed new Web site rules at its monthly meeting on Dec. 8 in Key Biscayne, law firm sites are completely unregulated as of Jan. 1. The Board tabled its discussion until this month.
CA Supreme Court Shields Web Re-publishers
December 28, 2006
People who republish defamatory content online cannot be held liable for defamation even if they were warned about it, the California Supreme Court ruled, 7-0, late last year.
Chapter 15's First Major Case
December 27, 2006
The continuing drama relating to the demise of the Yukos Oil Company, Russia's leading oil company, has generated two U.S. bankruptcy proceedings that have raised some of the most interesting cross-border insolvency issues in the last year. Both proceedings emanate from the pitched battle between Yukos' management and equity investors, on the one hand ' who assert that the Russian government is expropriating the company for its own benefit in violation of Russian and international law ' and the Russian government and an interim insolvency receiver appointed by a Russian court (the 'Receiver'), on the other hand ' who assert that Yukos' management caused the company to commit a tax fraud of approximately USD $27.5 billion that can only be resolved in a Russian court.
Deepening Insolvency Is Sinking Fast
December 27, 2006
Uniformity among courts on this question has not been and may never be reached. Nevertheless, recent decisions from the Third Circuit, the Delaware Chancery Court, and the Southern District of New York reflect an unmistakable and growing trend toward restricting significantly or even rejecting claims for deepening insolvency. This article describes this emerging trend, and demonstrates that each of these cases reflects an approach that appears to have developed within these respective courts. The common thread underlying these decisions is a concern that recognition of a claim for deepening insolvency would discourage good faith efforts to turnaround a troubled company that qualify for protection under the business judgment rule. This article concludes by identifying serious weaknesses from which deepening insolvency claims suffer in light of these significant rulings.
