The Hottest Dish in Real Estate
Television has changed the American city from top to bottom. In the days of Lucy and Ricky, antennas covered apartment rooftops. Then came the cable lines buried under the streets or snaking along utility poles. Now, a device once identified with the countryside is showing up in urban landscapes: the satellite dish."
Patent Infringement Damages: Riding The Wine Railway Can Be Expensive
When the plaintiff in a patent litigation contends that it has never made or sold the product protected by its patent, alarm bells should start clanging in the ears of defense counsel. For the odds are that the plaintiff is angling to take advantage of a little-used aspect of the law of patent damages that can lead to a windfall recovery for patent infringement. It is the <i>Wine Railway</i> exception to the well-known "notice" provision of the patent statute. Created by the Supreme Court in <i>Wine Railway Appliance Co. v. Enterprise Railway Equipment Co.</i>, 297 U.S. 387 (1936), the exception can lead to catastrophic and unforeseen patent damage awards. Such damages are unforeseen (and, some would argue, unfair and undeserved) because they arise without any notice of infringement, actual or constructive.
The Attorney, Unemployed
Ask Lee Feldshon, a 33-year-old entertainment lawyer who lives in New York. He graduated from Columbia University Law School in 1994, worked at New York's White & Case and several other well-established law firms in the 1990s, then landed a job as director of legal affairs for Madison Square Garden in 2001. He got laid off in 2002.
E & O in the New Corporate Environment
Errors and Omissions (E&O) coverage protects policyholders in various professional occupations — such as the legal, medical, architectural, engineering, insurance, and accounting fields — against professional liability claims. This form of insurance, sometimes referred to as professional liability or malpractice insurance, covers economic damages resulting from an error, omission, or negligent act related to the rendering of professional services.
Know Your Billing Software!
Attorneys in larger firms don't have to worry if the bills get out the door each month, if suppliers are paid on time, or if the general ledger is balanced. The administrator and "back office" staff take care of this.
CRM Conversion: A View From The Inside
Experts today say that "good CRM programs aren't for every firm," according to Jayne Navarre, Chief Marketing Officer for Indianapolis-based, Bingham McHale LLP. "If there's a culture in the firm that's really averse to sharing data, or the way the firm goes about getting new business is very individual-oriented, then you need to decide if the firm is actually ready for it." Navarre, who's doing the footwork to convert a second firm to CRM, should know.
Not Just the Next Abbreviation: With CRM, They Got it Right
Over the course of the past 20 years, professional services firms have jumped on the abbreviation bandwagon with a succession of emerging management trends, only to disembark once they discover that the latest three-letter trend doesn't deliver the results they were hoping for. What most firms don't realize is that these trendy MBA or "management by abbreviation" tools ' including total quality management (TQM), management by objectives (MBO), and now, client relationship management (CRM) ' are best viewed simply as ways to operationalize common sense.
How To Get Published: Giving Editors What They Need Is Key To Success
When a lawyer writes an article, he or she has to interact with the editor of the publication in which it is going to be printed. The better the relationship between the editor and the author, the more likely the process is going to flow smoothly for both. The relationship can be improved when you - or attorneys in your firm - understand what editors provide, recognize that editors are paid professionals with a lot to do every day, and treat them with respect from the initial discussion through publication of the article.
