The Dangers Of e-Recruiting
The efficiency, ease and convenience of online recruiting and interviewing have made for instant hiring success among companies in all industries employing this effective, low-cost, easy-to-use, flexible staffing method. <br>But, as with all technologically delivered gains, online recruiting can have some drawbacks, and knowledge of these and preparation for dealing with them in the event they pop up will help to ensure e-commerce enterprises a fruitful ' and low-liability ' undertaking.
NY Appellate Court Finds Law Against Unwanted Faxes Constitutional
In the first New York appellate ruling on the constitutionality of a federal ban on unsolicited advertising faxes, the Appellate Term in Brooklyn reversed two lower courts and declared that the law does not impinge on First Amendment protections for commercial speech.
Case Briefs
Highlights of the latest insurance cases from around the country.
The Defense Must Go On: An Insurance Company's Rescission Defense Does Not Pre-empt Its Obligation to Defend Its Insured
Today's headlines are filled with stories about corporate scandals and trials of corporate executives accused of fraud, malfeasance, and incompetence. The natural fallout has been SEC investigations, hundreds of civil lawsuits, and criminal prosecutions. Directors' and officers' insurers ("D&O insurers") have seen a dramatic increase in claims as a result of these events. The initial battleground relating to the corporate scandal claims is whether there is a duty to defend or pay defense costs. The D&O insurers have asserted numerous defenses to providing a defense or paying defense costs. One defense that is being asserted frequently is rescission or "unilateral" rescission (collectively "rescission"). The rescission defense attempts to extinguish the policy by declaring it void <i>ab initio</i>. Recently, the majority of courts that have considered rescission have rejected it or deferred consideration of it, while ordering the D&O insurer to pay for, or provide the policyholder with, a defense. This article discusses recent cases that have addressed insurers' rescission arguments and explores the arguments that rebut the rescission defense.
An Update on the 'Follow the Fortunes' Doctrine in the Reinsurance Context
Reinsurance, the insurance of insurance companies, arose in the 14th century, the same century that saw the rise of the Ming Dynasty and the decimation of Europe's population by the Black Plague. Despite its 600-year history, however, until recently, judicial decisions on reinsurance disputes were few and far between. Instead, "differences [were] often ... settled by handshakes and umpires[.]" <i>Sumitomo Marine & Fire Ins. Co. v. Cologne Reins. Co.</i>, 75 N.Y.2d 295, 298, 552 N.E.2d 139, 140 (1990). But with the flood of mass tort and environmental litigation in the last 20 years, there has been a rise in reinsurance litigation. One historic response to deflect protracted reinsurance litigation is the "follow the fortunes" doctrine. When courts and insurers talk about follow the fortunes, they may mean one of two similar concepts: follow the fortunes or "follow the settlements." While the follow the fortunes doctrine "requires reinsurers to accept a reinsured's good faith decision that a particular loss is covered by the terms of the underlying policy," the follow the settlements clause "requires reinsurers to abide by a reinsured's good faith decision to settle, rather than litigate, claims on that policy. <i>Commercial Union Ins. Co. v. Seven Provinces Ins. Co.</i>, 9 F. Supp. 2d 49, 66 (D. Mass. 1998), <i>aff'd,</i> 217 F.3d 33 (1st Cir. 2000), <i>cert. denied,</i> 531 U.S. 1146 (2001). Typically, the follow the fortunes doctrine is implied in the reinsurance contract whereas the follow the settlements clause is a specific provision in the agreement. While these doctrines share the underlying predicate of "good faith," this article focuses on the follow the fortunes doctrine: the doctrine that requires a reinsurer to indemnify its reinsured whenever the reinsured makes a good faith payment of an insured loss.
Homeland Security and Technology Workers ' The New Age of Export Controls
In a time of heightened government concern over foreign terrorists, tightened immigration reviews are creating long lines at U.S. embassies and consulates all over the world, stalling the vital entry visas needed for foreign scientists, engineers and other technical workers to enter this country. Many foreign students already studying at American universities who are seeking permission to remain in the U.S. upon graduation to work for U.S. companies are likewise stuck in these apparently interminable reviews of their suitability to work in the U.S. Today, these immigration petitions need to involve technology lawyers familiar with the U.S. export control rules as much as HR and immigration counsel. <br>Technology licensing lawyers have long been familiar with the rigors and demands of U.S. export control laws in international deals, including distribution agreements and licenses. Today, such technology transactional lawyers need to work more closely than ever before with their counterparts in the HR and immigration fields to assure that companies will be able hire and retain valued foreign technical workers.
Entrepreneurial Trends in University Tech Transfer
Research universities have long engaged in technology transfer ' most since the 1980s or earlier. Academic researchers are a source of significant innovation. Universities have the right (and in some cases the obligation) to patent and exploit such inventions, and patenting university technology is well accepted by most universities and their stakeholders. The recipe was supposed to be simple: patent a handful of inventions from university labs, license them for a comfortable royalty, and sit back and enjoy the revenue. <br>In reality, the challenges of identifying promising technologies, paying the upfront patent costs, and locating and negotiating with licensees have proven challenging for many universities ' with the result that they never really made it very far down the path to tech transfer glory.
Technology-Based Joint Ventures
Technology-based joint ventures are subject to rapidly changing technical standards, fluctuating markets and an emphasis on intangible services. But with careful legal planning, the joint venture can be an extremely effective vehicle for bringing together technology companies wishing to tap each other's intellectual property assets, often allowing these parties to reach new markets or expand existing relationships.
