Need Partners Who Can Effectively Manage Your Firm?
As I work with partners in law firms throughout the country, I continue to be surprised at how little, if any, formal training they have had in the business of law ' leadership, management, profitability, and business development. <br>Lawyers are largely extremely bright and talented people. Most, however, do not have MBAs, did not study business in college and do not devote sufficient non-billable time each year to ongoing leadership and management training courses.
Matrimonial Lawyers Have a New Tool
Timely and accurate knowledge of all the relevant facts is essential to successful matrimonial litigation. The proper use of the Internet helps give litigants access to relevant information; the Internet has been recognized by matrimonial attorneys as promoting a variety of goals: identification and substantiation of claims and defenses; discovery of data that permits the parties to evaluate their respective positions better; the simplification and narrowing of issues; and assistance in the conduct of the trial.
The Out-of-State Dissolution of Civil Unions
Can the subject matter jurisdiction of a family court extend beyond divorce and annulment into the broader realm of dissolution of the family? Does a family court have equity jurisdiction to dissolve a Vermont civil union and to adjudicate the division of property and ancillary economic claims? Does an out-of-state family court have jurisdiction to dissolve a Vermont civil union based on its power to enforce contracts and to adjudicate contractual disputes, including express or implied contracts between unmarried cohabitants? How does a state's version of the Defense of Marriage Act (referred to as a mini or junior-DOMA) factor into this analysis, if at all? Family lawyers are closely monitoring an emerging body of case law that seeks to answer some of these questions. In all likelihood, at some point in 2005, a state's highest court will weigh in on these issues, and that decision may potentially affect the degree to which family lawyers will succeed in securing out-of-state decrees on behalf of clients seeking to dissolve Vermont civil unions.
Litigation
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
Custody Evaluations
New York has recently been exposed to a resurgence of doubt regarding the usefulness of evaluations performed by mental health professionals (MHPs) in custody matters. In debates certain to affect the national family law community, the criticism questions the scientific validity of recommendations and observations that these professionals are called upon to make, asking whether the experts, in fact, have the expertise to participate meaningfully in the process. This article responds to some of the criticism by seeking to clarify the role that MHPs play.
How to Impeach a Custody Evaluator
Because the custody evaluator comes to court as an expert witness, he or she may be impeached by the published writings of other professionals in his or her field. <i>People v. Feldman</i>, 299 NY 153, 85 NE2d 913 (1949). Once a proper foundation is laid, passages that contradict the testimony may be read and the witness asked whether he or she agrees or disagrees with those statements. When used in such fashion, the content of the statement put to the witness does not become evidence in the case, but is allowed only to discredit or weaken his or her testimony by showing that learned writers in the field have expressed contrary views. This article uses New York rules of procedure to explore the evidentiary doctrine and trial techniques pertaining to impeachment by treatise when confronting the testimony of a custody evaluator.
Net News
Recent developments of note in the Internet industry. This month:<br>CA Judge Orders Online Reporters to Reveal Sources in Apple Computer Case<br>Hollywood Studios File New Round of Web Lawsuits <br>British Court Forces ISPs to Reveal Music Sharers <br>Movie Downloading Judged Legal in France <br>eBay Loses Patent Case; Injunction May Follow
Has The Cyberlaw Clinic Struck Out?
The cyber-crusaders behind the attempt to roll back the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act are at it again. <br>This time, Stanford professor Lawrence Lessig and his Cyberlaw Clinic asked a Northern California district court to strike the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992, which automatically renewed so-called orphan works, copyrights in works created from 1964-1977. Not one to shy away from controversy, the Clinic also asked the district court to reconsider the Supreme Court's Eldred decision in light of the "fundamental" changes Congress made to the U.S. copyright system over the last 30 years. Although the Clinic made some interesting policy arguments, it once again failed to articulate a sound legal basis to back up its claims.
Hyperlinking As Infringement
Can hyperlinks on one Web site that link to another site where copyrighted materials are displayed constitute copyright infringement? Although at least two earlier decisions have declined to recognize the potential of copyright infringement from the mere use of such hyperlinks, the recent Indiana federal district court case, <i>Batesville Services, Inc v. Funeral Depot, Inc.</i>, concluded that a defendant's use of hyperlinks on a Web site that link to copyrighted material on another Web site could constitute copyright infringement.
Public Company Web Sites: A Marketing Tool Subject To Securities Laws
Following the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, disclosures by public companies via their Web sites are increasingly required or encouraged. With the implementation of these new rules and the growth of the Internet, investors, as well as prospective investors, increasingly are relying upon a company's Web site for investment information. Public companies should recognize the value of their Web sites as marketing and investor-relations tools, subject to the boundaries of applicable legal standards and constraints.
