Keep from Drowning in the Sea of Mass Torts!
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.
Are Public Nuisance Lawsuits Against the Handgun Industry Gaining Ground?
Much has been written about the many lawsuits initiated by municipalities against the handgun industry. They are premised on the claim that the gun manufacturers and distributors saturate the market and fail to prevent their retailers from selling to persons who might resell to criminals. <i>See, e.g.,</i> Lawrence S. Greenwald, <i>Municipalities' Suits Against Gun Manufacturers ' Legal Folly,</i> 4 J. Health Care Law & Policy 13 (2000). Plaintiffs typically seek both damages and injunctive relief that would change industry marketing practices. The gun industry has challenged the legal sufficiency of the lawsuits on multiple grounds, with the majority of courts that have considered these issues dismissing the lawsuits. Recent developments, however, suggest that the pendulum may be swinging back in the governmental plaintiffs' favor.
Discovery of Trade Secrets: What Constitutes Protected Information?
<i>Part One of a Two-Part Series</i> In a technology-driven economy, the threat to trade secret and propriety information is real and visceral. A recent survey estimated that theft of this information resulted in losses of more than $50 billion to the responding companies, which included Fortune 1000 corporations as well as small and midsized businesses, for the year ending June 30, 2001. The American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) and PriceWaterhouse Coopers, <i>Trends in Proprietary Information Loss: Survey Report</i> (Sept. 2002). It is perhaps only natural that this threat should find its way into litigation, particularly product liability litigation. Discovery in these cases typically involves the production of some of the product manufacturer's proprietary and technical information. More recently, however, claimants have sought the manufacturer's trade secrets — highly confidential information at the heart of the company's business. The responding manufacturer objects to this discovery as causing irreparable harm if disclosed, and the battle lines are drawn.
Executive Committees' New Role: Focus on Integration
Information Resources (formerly called the Library in most firms) and Marketing/Business Development now must form a union to help the firm's senior management with strategic positioning, competitive analysis and revenue generation through firm strategic intelligence. The time for dotting the "I" in Information and crossing the "t" in Marketing has come. It is no longer enough to obtain information about a client.
Road to Large Law Firm Partnerships Getting Longer
The fast track at top law firms is slowing down. Facing increasingly complex matters, an active market for lateral partners and greater pressure to improve profitability, major New York law firms are prolonging the period leading up to partnership. At firms where an associate's first shot at partnership once came 7 years after law school graduation, tracks of 8 years or longer are now far more common.
A Records Retention Policy in the Electronic Era
Every company should have a records retention policy. Due to increased use of e-mail, this policy must address the changing business world by including a clear directive on the retention and destruction of electronic records. (Companies tend to use the term "document retention policy." However, due to the proliferation of e-mail and other electronic data, "records retention policy" is more appropriate.) Most importantly, the policy must provide a directive that ensures that, when the threat of litigation arises, whether civil or criminal, all relevant documents are preserved.
Product Review: Timeslips 2004
Version 2004 has several important new features that should justify upgrades by current Timeslips users, and create interest for new users as well.
Bits & Bytes
Kroll Inc. has announced that it has acquired Oyez Legal Technologies Limited (OLT), the U.K. market leader in litigation support and legal information…
News Briefs
Highlights of the lastest franchising news from around the country.
