Financing Payment Obligations for Services: Are 'Hell or High Water' and 'Waiver of Defenses' Clauses Enforceable in Contracts for Future Services?
The primordial cornerstone of financing equipment lease receivables has been the ability of funding sources to rely on the enforceability of two related provisions contained in the underlying lease documentation:1) 'Hell or high water' clauses, where the lessee agrees that its payment obligations under the lease are 'absolute and unconditional' and are not subject to any defense, setoff, or counterclaim that the lessee may have against the lessor, its assignee, the manufacturer or seller of the equipment, or against any person for any reason whatsoever — essentially, it agrees to pay 'come hell or high water.'2) 'Waiver of defense' clauses, where the lessee 'agrees not to assert against an assignee' of the lease payments, any defenses, setoffs, or claims it may have against the lessor, as the original payee under the lease.
An Overview of the New FTC Rule
On Jan. 22, 2007, after more than a decade of study, the FTC released its long-anticipated new Federal Trade Commission Rule on Franchising. This article outlines the key elements of the New Rule. The New Rule changes the coverage of the existing FTC Rule.
Determinants of Patent Value in U.S. Litigation
Although patent enforcement efforts have been historically dominated by the technology-elite, few businesses of the future will be exempt from the impact of patent infringement litigation. Indeed, data published by the USPTO and the federal judiciary reveal that the number of patent applications filed annually and the number of patent infringement litigations initiated annually have both more than doubled since 1990. Simply stated, business leaders of the future are increasingly likely to encounter one of two situations:1) The firm believes others are infringing its patents; or 2) Others accuse the firm of infringing their patents.
e-Lawyering Is Not for the Faint-Hearted
Today, the pervasive role that technology has assumed in business and legal practice, as more and more of our daily lives are lived online, provides a more fundamental challenge to how attorneys practice business law. In an age when 'paper file' has become an anachronism and an oxymoron, business law and the way it is practiced have required more than just tinkering with particular rules.
Making Rain
In today's complex law firm business environment, one might ask, what is Mark or Mary's magic? How do they bring in so much business? How do they make those deals happen? To ensure the long-term 'harvest, life, health and abundance' for the firm, one must ask whether the magic of rainmaking can be developed in new associates, seasoned lawyers or law firm executives.
<b>Practice Building Skills</b>: If You Fail to Plan, Then You Plan to Fail
Achieving success in your business development efforts takes a great deal of goal setting and planning. Would you begin working on a matter without planning for the outcome you would like to achieve? When you think about the successes in your life, did they mostly occur by accident, or did you plan and work hard toward a goal? Our guess would be that most of the successes in your life came to you through your hard work and planning, and sometimes even with some sacrifices. Successful business development occurs in much the same way.
Sustaining a Client Service Initiative
Most client service improvement initiatives fail to produce sustained results. While such a statement may seem harsh, I think that most would agree with it, based on their own experiences. After investing significant amounts of time, effort, and money in service improvement initiatives, most organizations do not attain the sustained results they were hoping for. Failure is usually not due to a lack of creativity or resources, but most often the result of a lack of long-term commitment to the hard work that sustainability requires.
e-Commerce Holds Strong in Fourth Quarter
The federal government last month put its estimate of e-commerce sales for the fourth quarter of 2006 at $29.3 billion, up 6.3% from the third quarter, and up 24.6% from the fourth quarter of 2005, with the increase in total retail sales from late 2005 to late 2006 estimated at 4.6%.
Your Law Firm Web Site
A law firm Web site is an interactive experience ' one that takes place between someone in need of information and someone in the position to provide that information.The total experience a client or prospective client has while visiting a Web site reflects on your firm. A bad experience forms a bad association. A good experience creates a good one.
