Private Companies Join the Club
July 01, 2003
According to AMR Research, which recently surveyed 60 Fortune 1,000 companies, it is estimated that the Fortune 1,000 will spend $2.5 billion in 2003 alone in costs associated with Sarbanes-Oxley Act (the Act) compliance. How much more will be spent by smaller public companies and by those in the private-company sector is a mystery, but the total costs - in cash, time, consulting fees, lost opportunities, and human resources - will surely be staggering.
Director Liability on the Table
July 01, 2003
Two recent court decisions could have an impact on the future liability of directors at public and private companies.
Flight to Quality: Why Business Plans Don't Get Funded
July 01, 2003
Your business plan is very often the first impression potential investors get about your venture. But even if you have a great product, team, and customers, it could also be the last impression the investor gets if you make any of these avoidable mistakes.
The <i>Ashley Albright </i>Case: A Mixed Message About LLC Business Asset Protection
June 01, 2003
On April 4, 2003, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado rendered its decision in <i>In re: Ashley Albright</i>. In the case of single-member LLCs, the <i>Albright</i> decision seriously weakens an important LLC business organization law feature often referred to by LLC practitioners as "business asset protection." In the case of multi-member LLCs, the decision significantly strengthens this feature. As discussed below, the decision has important implications not only in entity formation practice generally but also for the VC/PE community.
Service With A Smile: Cutting Client Services Means Cutting Profits
May 01, 2003
Faced with the most difficult economic conditions in years, many law firms are looking for ways to maintain a competitive edge ' without negatively impacting cost structures. Investing in client service is a strategy that reaps both long- and short-term benefits.
The Attorney, Unemployed
May 01, 2003
Ask Lee Feldshon, a 33-year-old entertainment lawyer who lives in New York. He graduated from Columbia University Law School in 1994, worked at New York's White & Case and several other well-established law firms in the 1990s, then landed a job as director of legal affairs for Madison Square Garden in 2001. He got laid off in 2002.
Is Your Firm Using Pirated Software?
May 01, 2003
Recently, in selected metropolitan areas, law firms and their clients, began receiving letters from the Business Software Alliance (BSA), an industry watchdog group that cracks down on the illegal use of the world's software. The letter warned its recipients of the risks and implications of pirating software. It may have been dismissed as a veiled threat by some, while others were left scratching their heads, asking, "Can anything really happen to us from pirating software?"
Understanding The Rights and Obligations Of Your Military Reservist Employees Part 1 of 2
May 01, 2003
With the recent conflict in Iraq and the country's ongoing focus on homeland security, many employers find themselves confronting for the first time a significant body of employment rights and obligations imposed by the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). As of April 1, 2003, the Department of Labor estimated that 220,000 reservists and National Guard members were on active duty, and that roughly 280,000 reservists and Guard members had been called up since September 11, 2001, surpassing the total number called to active duty for the first Persian Gulf War.
Miss Your Codes? A CrossEyes Product Review
April 01, 2003
In 1999, two law firms, Piper & Marbury and Rudnick & Wolfe, merged to form Piper Rudnick, a business law firm that today consists of over 925 lawyers. One of the challenges the merger presented was the unification of our word processing applications. Piper & Marbury was using MS Word and Rudnick & Wolfe primarily used WordPerfect. Our internal IT staff was charged with transitioning this newly formed union into a predominately Word organization. To help with the physical conversion, our team turned to Levit & James Inc., a software company that specializes in document conversion and add-in products for Microsoft Word. Levit & James suggested CrossWords, a WordPerfect to MS Word conversion utility.
