Reexamination As An Alternative To Litigation
One of the main concerns of many companies is the ever-increasing cost of patent enforcement. The probative costs of patent litigation can have a chilling effect on innovative businesses and can result in forced settlements, ie, entering settlement rather than incurring attorneys' fees, costs and lost employee time. So the question is: if your company faces the prospect of defending a patent infringement action, is there an alternative to the expensive and time consuming process of litigating a patent in federal court?
10 Reasons Why Americans Should Arbitrate in Canada
Choosing the right place to arbitrate disputes concerning international commercial transactions is of fundamental importance. The choice has significant legal and practical implications. Fortunately for American corporate counsel and their clients, an ideal place of arbitration lies close at hand, just north of the 49th parallel. Canada should be the preferred place of arbitration for U.S.-based organizations involved in international commercial disputes.
When Diversity Works
Of the top litigation firms in the country that boast a blue-chip roster of Fortune 100 clients, how many are composed of more than 50% women lawyers, 25% gay or lesbian lawyers, and a Native American shareholder? I only know of one: Caldwell, Leslie, Newcombe and Pettit (CLNP) in Los Angeles.
Challenge and Change
There is not a single statistic that says that women lawyers have achieved equality in terms of pay, position, power, or prestige ' not one. From its roots in 1987 as the brainchild of ABA President Robert MacCrate and its first chair, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession has worked to assess the status of women lawyers and support efforts to help them achieve full and equal participation and opportunities in the legal profession. The Commission's lodestar has been that organized and concerted efforts could make a difference in combating the causes and effects of gender bias, stereotypes, harassment, and inhospitable work environments that have impeded the professional careers and aspirations of women in the bar.
The 'Best Of' Women in Law Programs
Women in Law initiatives and programs are not a new phenomenon. Many firms nationwide have programs that afford their women attorneys business development, mentoring and career counseling. In writing this article, we spoke to 10 different firms to learn the how's and why's of their women's initiatives. In Part 1 of this article we have profiled the first five firms.
Offshore Outsourcing: Trends and Issues
It's no longer sneaking up on anyone that outsourcing is not only here to stay, but on the rise. A key part in outsourcing ' whether it's help desk or other IT functions or more involved business operations ' is the transfer and/or licensing of intellectual property and technology. Part One looked at where outsourcing is headed and why, the different business models outsourcing companies use, and how to keep quality control over the outsourced functions. In Part Two, the author details how to protect outsourced intellectual property, along with security, jurisdiction and tax implications.
Open Source Goes Mainstream: How to Manage the Risk
In recent years, numerous articles have been published in legal journals warning of the inherent risks of using open source code in the development of software ' the fear of pirated code, the possible threat of infringement claims, the "viral" effect of the redistribution provisions of the open source license on proprietary code, just to mention a few. Arguments that such risks are merely academic were trounced when SCO Group launched an infringement claim against IBM and its customers. <br>Notwithstanding the dire warnings from lawyers and risk managers alike, companies continue to use open source code for their internal use, and to develop products to be sold or licensed to customers.
Specialized Health Care Courts
America is in a health care crisis -- a "perfect storm" of needless errors, unaffordable cost increases, declining access, inadequate accountability, and fearful and frustrated professionals. Some of the problems are unavoidable. No one can change, for instance, the fact that the baby boom population needs more health care as it ages. But our legal system is part of the problem, too: It imposes needless costs, deters safety improvements, and fosters widespread distrust among medical professionals. Changing the way medical malpractice lawsuits are decided would go a long way to improving health care for patients and providers alike.
