What Your Terms and Conditions Tell Your Customers
September 29, 2008
What businessperson hasn't complained about how lawyers ruin deals? The simple handshake and bar-napkin agreement too often turns into hundreds of pages of fine print, with hourly billing to match. Yet neither party really knows whether it all actually states the deal as each understood it over handshakes. Sometimes the fallout begins because the contracts are unintelligible to the layman ' not good. Other times, the lawyer may have taken far longer than the deal allowed to write a contract, or simply blew the budget ' also not good. Whatever the cause, these problems lead many businesspeople to wonder whether their lawyers are for them, or against them.
Profits Per Me (PPM)
September 29, 2008
Lateral partner candidates need to look beyond PPP and focus on what the authors call PPM ' "profits per me." Averages are great, but how much of the law firm's profits can one fairly expect to get?
Web Site Terms of Use
September 29, 2008
Web site terms of use have taken center stage with the recent press reports of the indictment of Lori Drew by a Los Angeles federal grand jury for violating the federal CFAA. Terms of use are ubiquitous on the Internet. They are created by a Web site owner and purport to restrict how the public can use a Web site to obtain information, purchase goods or services or participate in Web-based social networking.
SEC Guidance on Company Web Site Use
September 29, 2008
Over the past several years, rapid developments in technology and the Internet have significantly enhanced the quantity and quality of information available to investors. Investors are now able to retrieve information from the SEC and many companies instantaneously. Acknowledging the significant technological advances since the SEC last provided guidance on Internet issues relating to the Securities Act of 1933, the SEC issued an interpretive release that provides updated guidance on the disclosure of investor information on company Web sites.
A Look At Disney's International Legal Team
September 29, 2008
For Peter Wiley, the Walt Disney Co.'s European head of legal, these are interesting times. His employer, one of the most iconic companies in the world, is engaged in a drive to expand internationally and take the House of Mouse into the digital age.
'360' Agreements Reflect Industry's Economic Shift
September 29, 2008
During the last few years, recording artists have been entering into so-called "360 agreements" with record companies and entertainment corporations in increasing numbers, changing the relationship that existed for decades among artists and major labels. Instead of focusing solely on sales of recorded music, the record companies now are sharing, through these agreements, in performers' income from a 360-degree range of professional activities. These developments reflect the difficulties encountered in the music industry as electronic transmission of recordings has become dominant and piracy rampant, making the financial returns from sales of records insufficient to justify the cost of creating, marketing and promoting recorded music.
Technology in Marketing: An Experience Management Solution
September 29, 2008
A recent ACC Corporate Counsel survey reports that a lawyer's expertise is the single most important criterion when it comes to choosing new outside counsel. As a result, firms that are unable to quickly prove experience and expertise risk losing business and face competitive disadvantages. Here's what to do.
