Manufacturers Beware: Liability When Warning Labels Are Ignored or Disobeyed
Manufacturers may be surprised to learn that a growing number of courts are awarding damages to plaintiffs who have ignored or failed to follow product warning labels and instructions. Courts have often barred plaintiffs from recovering in such cases by applying a presumption that product warnings will be read and heeded. This has provided a safe harbor from liability for manufacturers and sellers.
Multi-State Firms Take Advantage of Illinois' Limited Liability
Effective July 1, 2003, pursuant to rules recently adopted by the Illinois Supreme Court, law firms with Illinois offices will be able to practice as limited liability partnerships (LLPs). In addition, co-owners of law firms organized as limited liability legal entities (ie, as members of LLPs or limited liability companies (LLCs), or as shareholders of professional corporations (PCs)) will be able to avoid exposure to vicarious liability for malpractice committed by other lawyers in their firms, if their firms meet and maintain specified minimum amounts of malpractice insurance or other proof of financial responsibility.
Are Law Firm 'Partners' Really 'Employees'?
Law firm management often assumes that some attorneys, such as partners, shareholders and of counsels, are not covered by various civil rights statutes, <i>eg</i>, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). As firms which have been sued by such attorneys or which have faced broad Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigations have learned, however, such assumptions are often not well founded.
Development
Recent rulings of importance to your practice.
Federalizing Real Estate Transactions
Most real estate transactions are governed by state law and local custom, not federal law. But a massive federal law enacted shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks raises the specter that the federal government may intrude into commercial real estate transactions in ways heretofore thought unimaginable. Known as the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism ('USA Patriot Act'), the legislation has led the federal government to propose rules designed to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in these types of transactions.
