Workplace E-mail: Employers Beware!
November 01, 2004
E-mail has become a way of life. Its advantages in the business world are widely known: It is an inexpensive, easily distributed medium, which can be accessed, even wirelessly, almost instantaneously anywhere in the world. In this fast-paced global economy, these features are highly desired. E-mail in the workplace is a double-edged sword, however, and the problems associated with workplace e-mail, particularly in connection with litigation-related discovery, have been recognized with increasing frequency by courts and litigants around the country.
Viruses, Adware and Spyware Attack Legal Framework
October 27, 2004
Back in the good old days, electronic evidence for civil cases could be gathered from a custodian's computer, processed to TIFF, Bates numbered and introduced into evidence. Concerns over chain of custody and authenticity were talked about, but rarely argued in the courtroom. <br>It's not so simple anymore. Viruses, spyware, adware and hijacking are attacking our legal framework for electronic evidence and impacting specific areas of law, such as privacy, attorney client privilege, trade secret, criminal law and products liability.
SEC's New Disclosure Rules
October 14, 2004
On March 16, 2004, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued final rules amending Form 8-K to increase significantly the number of events that trigger the requirement to file and shorten the deadline for filing. The new rules became effective on Aug. 23, 2004 and significantly expand the filing and disclosure requirements applicable to public companies with respect to mergers and acquisitions and other material transactions. The rules are another in a long series of measures adopted by the SEC pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and are intended to improve the dissemination of information regarding public companies to investors in a timely manner.
Problems Proving Infringement of Method Claims When Multiple Actors Involved
October 08, 2004
How many actors does it take to infringe a patent? At least in the case of a U.S. patent, the answer is "One — and only one." This question is more than just a not especially amusing riddle. Rather, it calls attention to an issue that is likely to assume much greater importance in coming years: the need, as a prerequisite to showing infringement of a U.S. patent, to identify a single legal "actor" to whom each and every of the infringing elements of an accused system or process may be attributed.
Reinsurance Arbitration: A Discussion of Neutral Panels and Reasoned Awards
October 08, 2004
Traditionally, arbitration panels in the reinsurance industry have been tripartite panels with each party choosing its own arbitrator and the party-appointed arbitrators choosing a neutral umpire. Courts have recognized that party-appointed arbitrators may be advocates for the appointing party. <i>Sphere Drake Ltd. v. All Am. Life Ins. Co.,</i> 307 F.3d 617, 620 (7th Cir. 2002). ("In the main party appointed arbitrators are supposed to be advocates.") While the industry has become accustomed to the system of advocate arbitrators and there are those who champion this system, there has been a growing consensus that neutral panels may be preferable to advocate arbitrators.
Case Notes
October 06, 2004
Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
Practice Tip: Web Site Hyperlinks as Adoptive Admissions
October 06, 2004
Companies are increasingly communicating with consumers via the Internet. With the explosion of the Internet during the last decade, the company Web site has become one of the most comprehensive and convenient locations to obtain information on a product. As the number of people using the Web has increased, company Web sites have gone from bare-bone sites of basic corporate information to becoming the starting point in any search for information on a company and its products. The swell in the use of such Web sites has increased their importance as a corporate voice and as a resource for consumers. Should a company change its Web site if a governmental or private agency issues a report that presents findings relating to one of its products and a risk of personal injury?
Online: Web Site Advocates Health Care, Prescription Drug Access
October 06, 2004
The Community Catalyst created the Prescription Access Litigation Project ("PAL") in 2001 to use class action litigation and public education to end pharmaceutical price inflation. The Community Catalyst is a national advocacy organization that encourages consumer and community participation in the molding of our health system to ensure quality, affordable health care for everyone. Visit the Web site at <i>www.communitycatalyst.org.</i>
Discoverability of Attorney Work Product Communications Supplied to Experts
October 06, 2004
Federal courts are split on the issue of whether a party must produce all communications and materials that were supplied by the party's attorney to a testifying expert, even if these communications (oral or written) would otherwise be protected as attorney work product. This two-part article will discuss and compare the majority and minority views.
