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<b><i>Clause & Effect</b></i>Challenges in Drafting Clauses to Arbitrate
Parties to entertainment industry agreements often include a provision for the arbitration of contract disputes. This may be motivated by the lower cost and less formality than court proceedings that arbitration can offer, as well as the ability to keep arbitrated disputes out of public view. But the simple language of an arbitration clause can lead to challenges over whether the arbitration process was proper.
Courthouse Steps
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Inside the Taco Bell Case
Competition in all aspects of the entertainment world - from television to movies, to the record industry, to the Internet, to the video game industry - has grown quite fierce over the past decade. The stakes are higher than ever. So is the demand for successful, breakthrough ideas. Consequently, cases alleging the theft of creative ideas are becoming more and more common. A recent case in which this writer served as plaintiffs' co-counsel demonstrates how substantial damages can be in lawsuits over ideas.
Bit Parts
Items of interest in entertainment law.
The Most Feared Battle Waged in Litigation
The following is a primer on the "leniency" standard for FLSA actions, and its interplay with Rule 23 guidelines. Why do we need a primer? Well, if one were so disposed as to survey a sufficient number of well-regarded class action practitioners, the result of that inquiry would most assuredly be a virtual consensus that the quest for class certification is, to a targeted defendant, the most feared battle waged in litigation.
National Litigation Hotline
Recent cases of importance to your practice.
Recent Developments from Around the States
Cases around the states of interest to your practice.
E-mails: 'Smoking Guns' in Employment Litigation
E-mail traffic by employees in the workplace has proven to be key evidence in recent criminal and civil investigations of public companies like Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Merrill Lynch, Citibank and other Wall Street firms.
<b><i>You Need To Know</i>The FTC Safeguards Rule: An Expansion of Gramm-Leach-Bliley</b></i>
Just when businesses thought their privacy policies were finally perfect and that it was safe to assume they had seen the last of the privacy laws, the issue struck again. And this time, it struck where businesses and their legal advisers might least have expected it, turning regular e-businesses into "financial institutions" and requiring implementation of yet another set of rules.
e-Commerce Docket Sheet
Summaries of recent cases in e-commerce.

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