Letters of Intent to Lease: Valuable for Landlords and Tenants
Landlords and tenants occasionally ask whether they should bother to negotiate and execute a letter of intent to lease. Many wonder whether it might be more efficient to launch right into negotiating the lease itself. The investment in negotiating a letter of intent to lease will almost always pay quick dividends for landlords and tenants. The dividends may be in the form of an early discovery of a lack of agreement on an important issue that will allow the parties either to resolve it quickly or decide to terminate further negotiations and part ways. The more details sorted out during the letter of intent phase, the greater the likelihood of a smoother and successful consummation of the lease. Finding the proper balance of detail to include at the letter of intent phase is often a function of the nature and size of the transaction and the sophistication and leverage of the parties involved. This article is intended to help landlords and tenants consider what they may want to include in their letters of intent to lease.
Discount Stock Options As Deferred Compensation
Recent legislation has heralded a dramatic shift in the United States federal income tax treatment of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements. One of the potentially more far-reaching aspects of the legislation is its effect on individuals who receive certain non-statutory stock options for their services. This article focuses on the circumstances under which the Act treats compensatory stock op-tions as nonqualified deferred compensation for federal income tax purposes, the consequences of such treatment, and the resulting practical considerations in dealing with the treatment of certain stock options as nonqualified deferred compensation.
Board Tech Committees Mean Business
In today's information-driven society, businesses rely heavily on technology and knowledge. Because of that, just as corporate boards have long relied on committees to focus on such key areas as audit and finance, many have come to establish a tech committee as well. But does the average corporate board member understand today's technology well enough to serve competently on a tech committee? Indeed, should directors even try to provide guidance on technology issues, when the state of the art changes from day to day?
The Best Little Warehouse in Missouri
At least two large law firms have now decided to implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages (in both cases, software from SAP AG), and are now in some stage of implementation. Anyone who reads the business press is aware that ERP implementations can lead to catastrophic results, as happened not long ago when a well known chocolate company found itself unable to fulfill orders following an ERP implementation. There are also many accounts of companies, especially manufacturing companies, successfully implementing ERPs, with attendant benefits. Clearly, ERPs present a risk/benefit choice for the businesses implementing them. The question I address here is whether the benefits of ERP outweigh the costs and risks for law firms.
CD: PR and Marketing on the National and Global Level
PR and Marketing on the National and Global Level Directories, Journalists and Campaigns With over 100 US law firms with operations in London, and many of the AmLaw 100 have offices dotting the globe, there will be no slow down of law firms that continue to follow clients into national and global markets. This creates a fiercely competitive market for local firms against national and global law firms that are well-resourced and make substantial investments in their'
Improving Information Flow with LegalKEY Practice Support Solutions
One of the oldest full-service national law firms in the United States, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, has now installed one of the newest conflict management systems available. With the addition of several new offices over the past few years, the firm has grown to more than 425 lawyers in 10 locations with further growth on the horizon. <br>In order to deal with the rapid growth of the firm, it was necessary for us to implement a system that would meet our future needs, maintain and improve the functionality of the firm, as well as fulfill all of our requirements. After researching the market, we chose Hummingbird's LegalKEY Practice Support Solutions, including LegalKEY Records Manage-ment and LegalKEY Conflicts Management. The conversion to LegalKEY combined disparate records sources into a single database, allowing the firm to work as one entity with synchronized firm-wide records management, paper and digital retention policies and a streamlined conflicts management system.
Perez v. Wyeth and Direct-to-Consumer Ads
Six years ago, in <i>Perez v. Wyeth Laboratories Inc.</i>, 161 N.J. 1 (1999), the New Jersey Supreme Court enunciated a novel exception to the learned intermediary doctrine intended to address the rise of direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals. The learned intermediary doctrine is a common law principle, codified in many states, that shields prescription pharmaceutical manufacturers from liability for failing to warn consumers of the potential side-effects associated with their products as long as they have adequately warned prescribing physicians. The <i>Perez</i> court, however, held that when pharmaceutical companies employ DTC advertising, there is an additional duty to warn consumers of potential risks.
New PhRMA Policy: Not Everyone Satisfied
When the Pharmaceutical and Research Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) announced it was instituting a new policy on direct-to-consumer advertising, PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin stated, "With these principles, we commit ourselves to improving the inherent educational value of advertisements. Patients need accurate and timely information and should be encouraged to discuss diseases and treatment options with their physicians. These principles will help us reach that goal."
CD: Lawyers and Their Clients: A Balancing Act of Understanding and Managing Expectations
Law firms are rapidly gaining an understanding about how much of a competitive advantage is achieved when they truly understand their clients' needs and align their services with those needs. But this is often easier said then done. This Web Audio Conference will be presented from a variety of perspectives -- a General Counsel of a major corporation, a partner in leading regional law firm who manages significant client relationships, and nationally known consultants from Hildebrandt International who serve both constituents (law firms and law departments).
