Cybersecurity Legal Strategies
September 02, 2004
For good reason, cybersecurity has become a vital risk-management concern, and legal-based strategies, procedures and controls are essential parts of today's all-encompassing cybersecurity risk-management programs. <br>It seems a given. <br>Unfortunately, although many companies have written preparedness and cyberattack-defense plans, many have overlooked crafting the shielding armor of a well constructed legal layer. <br>And that's a big mistake waiting to happen ' again and again.
Fulbright & Jaworski Takes Pulse of 300 Corporate Counsel for Survey of U.S. Litigation Trends
September 02, 2004
What are the biggest litigation concerns right now in corporate America? What industries face the highest incidence of legal action? How do corporate law departments regard their litigation firms? And by what criteria do general counsel select the firms that litigate on their behalf, and what areas of legal service do they feel need the greatest improvement?
Expanding Law Firm Operations Globally
September 02, 2004
The June edition introduced numerous accounting-related issues that firms confront when they use foreign currencies. This new article raises additional accounting-related challenges of international compensation and taxation, while also highlighting the broader planning issues associated with a law firm's decision to expand its operations globally.
IP News
September 02, 2004
Highlights of the latest intellectual property news and cases from around the country.
Reducing Frivolous Litigation
September 01, 2004
In the first installment of this article, published last month, we discussed the problem of frivolous lawsuits against drug and medical device firms and how state legislatures have been moving to curb frivolous suits in another arena - professional negligence - through the introduction of a requirement for an affidavit of merit. This month, we look at how the lessons learned in the case of professional negligence suits could be applied to reduce the filing of unfounded complaints against drug and medical device makers.
Resolving Mass Torts with Bankruptcy Funds
September 01, 2004
The ongoing effort to resolve globally the problem of overwhelming mass-tort liability continues this year through legislation. A Senate bill to create a trust administered by the Department of Labor, funded by industry and insurance contributions, was voted down in April. Whether this proposed resolution ultimately fares better than those preceding it remains to be seen. In the meantime, however, the Rand Institute for Civil Justice reports that by the end of 2002, at least 56 companies had turned to bankruptcy to find the resolution and finality they needed to get back to their business. Others will undoubtedly follow before any global solution is ultimately reached.
Internal Information Controls: Corporate Accountability
August 31, 2004
The swift enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) in the wake of numerous corporate scandals brought at least as many questions as solutions for executives charged with ensuring corporate compliance with SOX's many provisions. As the various compliance deadlines for SOX draw near or expire and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to release rules and guidelines, even more questions emerge, requiring executives to quickly gain familiarity with otherwise unfamiliar topics in order to avoid the potential liability associated with violations of the law. One such topic is the security and control of financial information.
