Philadelphia Mass Tort Program: Alive and Well
January 26, 2005
Status report from Philadelphia: The Mass Tort Program is alive and well. A recent decision by Judge Norman Ackerman of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas sent a message to pharmaceutical giant Wyeth (formerly American Home Products) that the court would not require persons injured by diet drugs to refile their lawsuits in the states where they live. Instead, by denying Wyeth's Motion to Dismiss on the Basis of <i>Forum Non Conveniens,</i> Judge Ackerman allowed roughly 50 drug cases to remain in Philadelphia County. More importantly, with approximately 12,000 diet drug cases still pending in Philadelphia, the decision means that thousands of other litigants will likely not have to face dismissal and refiling in their home states.
Online: Discover Technical Standards Online
January 26, 2005
ASTM International, originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), was formed more than a century ago. One of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world, it is a trusted source for technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services. For more than a century, ASTM has met the technical needs of commerce. ASTM International provides a forum in which stakeholders from both the supply and demand sides of the marketplace come together and produce documents for trade and best business practices that are used around the globe. ASTM's market extends over 100 industrial and management sectors, ranging from construction materials and environmental assessment to medical devices and property management systems. More than 100 nations are represented in ASTM International. It's worth a visit to the Web site, <i>www.astm.org</i>, on a periodic basis, to see what's new.
Litigation
January 26, 2005
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
International Family Law
January 26, 2005
International marriages and personal relationships place special demands on family lawyers whose clients require dependable advice about complex international family law issues. This has led to an increasing role for international family law counsel. Today, it would hardly be unusual for an American man and a French woman living in New York to marry in Bermuda, move from New York to Singapore on business, own real estate in Canada and a business in England, and have children in school in Switzerland. If they separated and one spouse unilaterally returned with the children to live in New York, both parties might well require legal advice regarding many matters, each of which might have a significant international component, concerning divorce, custody, equitable distribution, child support, spousal support and child abduction.
Family Trust Planning: Back to Basics
January 26, 2005
While many clients establish trusts and execute estate plans to eliminate or reduce the estate tax burden of their estates, there are non-tax benefits to creating trusts that are especially relevant to the clients of family lawyers. With the possibility of estate tax repeal on the horizon, the timing is right to focus on these non-tax benefits and remind ourselves and our clients of the valuable protections and control available through the use of trusts. Regardless of whether or not the federal estate tax is permanently repealed, the possibility of such repeal allows us to put aside many of the complexities of tax planning and focus on the key family issues and concerns that motivate clients to initiate trust planning.
Supreme Court Discusses Gay Adoption Rights
January 26, 2005
The Supreme Court considered gay rights at the justices' first private conference of the new year on Jan. 7. The Florida gay adoption case, <i>Lofton v. Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families</i>, is one of dozens of cases the Court discussed at its conference with an eye toward granting or denying review.
Defining Income for Child Support Purposes
January 26, 2005
It has become important to keep track of national trends with respect to the definition of income for support purposes. More often than not, your state will not have decided the specific question with which you are struggling, ie, whether or not a particular item constitutes income. The odds are increasing that other states will have dealt with the issue. This article presents some examples of cases over the last few years.
Significant Changes in Delaware Business Laws
January 26, 2005
Effective July 1, 2004, the Delaware General Assembly adopted significant amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act, and the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act as part of its periodic amendments to these Acts for the purpose of keeping them current and maintaining their preeminence among U.S. business laws. <br>This article summarizes the most pertinent of those changes.
Survey Shows Diversity Increasing At Big NY Firms
January 26, 2005
Slightly more than 2% of the lawyers at 23 of New York City's largest firms identify themselves as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a New York County Lawyers' Association survey. The survey, the first of its kind, also found that the participating firms prohibit discrimination against employees because of their sexual orientation or identity. Those firms also uniformly reported extending family benefits coverage they provide to married couples to same-sex couples registered with the city as domestic partners.
