Case Notes
February 09, 2004
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
Discovery of Trade Secrets: How Courts Analyze Disclosure Issues
February 09, 2004
The first part of this series, published last month, addressed the definition of trade secrets in the context of discovery. As efforts to obtain trade secret information increase, a clear definition of trade secret is vital for the courts to analyze this issue correctly. This second installment addresses that analysis, and the standards and terminology courts apply to decide whether trade secrets should be disclosed, the arguments and evidence that parties resisting this discovery can present to the trial court, and strategies to limit the potential for additional damage if trade secrets are ordered produced.
Online
February 09, 2004
Web sites of interest to you and your practice.
Court Watch
February 01, 2004
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Pens in the Board Room
February 01, 2004
But these are my personal notes ...." Virtually every litigator has heard this plea from an executive responding to discovery. It is an almost reflexive reaction stemming from the popular myth that "personal" somehow equals "protected," and often comes from the most sophisticated of corporate directors and high-level management. Too often lawyers hear executives boast about their note-taking prowess while pointing to rows and rows of historical notebooks that they assembled over the years. Many executives learn too late that very little of their "personal" board meeting notes are privileged, and the privilege that might attach to some portions does not even belong to them. More and more frequently in this post-Enron environment, privileged materials are being disclosed by the owner of the privilege ' the corporation ' due to stricter standards for company cooperation in government investigations, particularly in civil investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and criminal inquiries by the U.S. Department of Justice.
A Policyholder's Common-Sense Approach to Business Interruption Claims
February 01, 2004
The tragic events of 9/11 brought to the forefront a form of insurance that has great importance for the business community, but heretofore has received relatively little attention from the insurance bar — business interruption insurance. The reason is simple: Notwithstanding the high-stakes litigation over the World Trade Center's insurance claims and other claims arising out of 9/11, business interruption claims have been the subject of infrequent litigation when compared with claims involving general liability, products liability, construction, and directors' and officers' coverage.
Spam Filters Raise Ethical Issues
February 01, 2004
Most attorneys rely heavily on e-mail as a primary form of communication with their clients. The accessibility, speed, flexibility and low cost of e-mail have made it a nearly indispensable tool in the business community. However, these same qualities that make e-mail so valuable have enabled unscrupulous marketers to blanket e-mail users with unsolicited e-mails, such as for mortgage refinancing, prescription drugs, obscene invitations and requests for help from fictitious Third World government officials. Spam is the nemesis of nearly every e-mail user, and as spam exceeds the point of accounting for one of every two e-mails transmitted, many feel that without remedial steps, this medium may be in jeopardy. It would seem then that technological enhancements to e-mail communications, such as spam filters, would be a natural and accepted outgrowth of this permissible communications method. However, attorneys are subject to ethical considerations not present in many other industries. Therefore, the specific manner in which a spam filter operates must be examined in order to gauge whether it is appropriate for a law firm environment.
Keep from Drowning in the Sea of Mass Torts!
January 13, 2004
In order to avoid drowning in the sea of mass tort litigation, drug and medical device companies must aggressively and "offensively" defend these actions -- and do so as soon as the mass tort litigation emerges. Critical to stemming the mass tort tide is an understanding of the factors that drive the filing of these actions against pharmaceutical and medical device companies: 1) the ease with which controversial issues relating to drugs and medical devices can be recognized; and 2) complicated causation issues. Armed with that understanding, the single most important pre-trial goal for any defendant must be the early exposure of frivolous claims based on tenuous causation and junk science.
Case Notes
January 01, 2004
Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
