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.
Legal Outsourcing Looks to the Heartland
Piper Rudnick partner Karen McWilliams is not the first busy lawyer to ask an assistant to arrange a birthday party for her daughter. She may, however, be among the first to have called on an assistant more than 2000 miles away from her office in Reston, VA. "I forget they're in North Dakota," McWilliams says. "I just dial the number and they're there." <br>"They" are the outsourced office staff who work for Piper Rudnick and other law firms out of a support center operated by the CBF Group in Fargo, ND. <br>At a time when discussions of outsourcing focus on possibilities in India, companies like CBF want lawyers to remember there is a "near shore" option as well. Renee Rutter, the president of CBF, is hoping her company will find a niche somewhere between the anonymous document processing work that may go to India and the front-line secretaries whom lawyers interact with every day.
Clause & Effect: <b>Reclamation Clauses In Songwriting Agreements
Finding talent and being rewarded for it are common music industry pursuits. After Carl Jackson discovered singer/songwriter Bobbie Cryner while she was waitressing at a Tennessee restaurant, he negotiated an October 1991 songwriting deal for Cryner with the California-based Famous Music Corp., to whom Jackson was also signed. Though Jackson wasn't a contractual party to the Cryner/ Famous Music agreement, with Cryner's knowledge he entered into a separate contract the same day with Famous Music for him to co-produce Cryner and to re-assign him a 50% of the copyrights that Cryner transferred to Famous Music. In 1993, Bobbie Cryner executed a copyright assignment for Famous Music to file with the U.S. Copyright Office.
Courthouse Steps
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Video-Game Biz Is Growth Area For Law Firms
In 2003, the video-game industry generated $7 billion in sales. The continued success of this industry has created opportunities for law firms to expand their services into the video-game field. For example, being on top of developments in the video-game industry is a priority for San Francisco's Morrison & Foerster. The firm recently formalized a 25-lawyer video-game practice in response to its ever-increasing business with the industry.
Bit Parts
Recent developments in entertainment law.
Impact on Peer-to-Peer Cases: Vicarious Liability Claims May Have Their Limits
Vicarious liability is applicable in most areas of tort law. As the U.S. Supreme Court stated in an opinion early last year, "traditional vicarious liability rules ordinarily make principals or employers vicariously liable for acts of their agents or employees in the scope of their authority or employment." Meyer v. Holley, 537 U.S. 280, 283 (2003). <br>In the area of copyright law, however, courts have developed an expanded form of vicarious liability that has been applied without regard for traditional limits on vicarious liability.<br>The question remains, however, whether this expanded application of vicarious liability comports with Supreme Court precedent.
Decision of Note: <b>Copyright Damages Based on Each Work</b>
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decided that, under 17 U.S.C. Sec. 504(c), statutory copyright damages for a single defendant should be based on the amount of works infringed, rather than the amount of infringements of those works. <i>Venegas-Hernandez v. Sonolux Records.</i>
Practice Tip: Try Technology in Trying Cases
Today, television has become the dominant medium for the dissemination of information and entertainment, and the trial lawyer who ignores this basic reality of American life does so at significant peril to his or her case. The effective trial lawyer will continue to rely on the timeless tactics of credibility, emotional appeals, and logic. Nevertheless, in order to persuade a jury effectively, the trial lawyer must deliver the case themes and facts in a way that is consistent with how jurors process information in our high-technology age.
