Litigation
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
The Non-Biological Parent
A recent case from the appellate court in Washington demonstrates the lack of protection offered by the Uniform Parentage Act (UPA) to children raised by same-sex couples and to the non-biological parent. The court in <i>In re the Parentage of L.B.</i>, 121 Wn. App. 460, 89 P.3d 271 (2004), cert. granted, 152 Wn.2d 1013, 101 P.3d 107 (2004), filled in the gap left by the legislature in recognizing the relationship between the non-biological parent/primary caregiver and the child by creating a common law cause of action for the psychological parent.
Spammers Should Know Their Source
Spam is a cost-effective and lawful marketing tool. Just consider: A spammer can send an e-mail advertisement to 1 million people for only $100. <br>So, fortunately for many spammers, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 allows the use of unsolicited commercial e-mail. But to avoid legal difficulties, those who use spam should consider doing more than simply the basics ' more active business planning, and legal defensiveness, than just hurtling spam into the ether. In particular, it's a good idea for anyone sending bulk commercial e-mail to establish an appropriate chain of title for target list databases acquired.
Can Electronic Information Be Kept Secret?
The term electronic secret isn't an oxymoron, but lately, it does seem that storing data digitally is incompatible with keeping that data confidential. <br>While victims of the disclosure of personal information may have concealed past security flaws, California's path-blazing law requiring disclosure of releases of personal information has forced public announcement of many recent incidents. While that law was once a seemingly onerous exception, calls for similar laws have spread among the states and in Washington, DC.
Copy Control
When Static Control Components Inc., a small, family-owned printing-supply business, was sued under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Seth Greenstein was surprised. The 49-year-old partner in the Washington, DC, office of Chicago's McDermott Will & Emery thought he had the DMCA down cold. Still, it took him nearly a year to get an injunction against the company lifted.
Assumption Of Software Licenses In Bankruptcy
Is a software license assumable by a licensee in the event the licensee seeks bankruptcy protection? <br>A recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling has demonstrated the critical importance of this question to software licensees. The risk of nonassumption may prove quite significant. This article discusses this risk and suggests a potential license provision addressing the risk.
Companies in the Crosshairs
Employee discrimination attorneys do not generally give legal advice to employers. But as lead or class counsel in more than 30 of these cases, including the Wal-Mart and Boeing cases, we can offer clues to the workplace practices that cause particular employers to become the subject of careful investigation and, in some cases, the target of litigation.
The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005
Calling it "a model of effective, bipartisan legislation," President Bush signed the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 on Feb. 18, 2005. To achieve itsgoals, the Act significantly expands federal jurisdiction over multi-state class actions while imposing new requirements on class action settlements in federal court, such as restricting attorney fee awards when class members receive coupons instead of cash in a settlement, and requiring defendants to notify federal and state officials of any proposed class action settlement. Parties involved in class actions initiated on or after Feb. 18, 2005 should fashion their legal strategies with the Act's sweeping changes in mind.
