Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

The Law of Unintended e-Consequences

By Stanley P. Jaskiewicz
December 18, 2009

Everyone who has ever worked on a tech project, whether in e-commerce or general business, has probably seen situations in which an assumed solution creates a bigger mess than the original problem. The military even coined a now widely used term for this situation ' SNAFU ' with which many people are familiar, but maybe not of its origins or full meaning (see, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAFU).

Scholars have created a more formal statement of the same law of human ' and machine ' nature: the law of unintended consequences. Best-selling author Stephen J. Dubner and economist Steven D. Levitt have discussed this behaviorial principle extensively in their books and New York Times columns (see, www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/magazine/20wwln-freak-t.html?_r=2&ref=magazine&oref=slogin, and www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/01/the-law-of-unin.html).

Read These Next
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later Image

The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.

Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations Image

This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.

The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs Image

The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.

CLE Shouldn't Be the Only Mandatory Training for Attorneys Image

Each stage of an attorney's career offers opportunities for a curriculum that addresses both the individual's and the firm's need to drive success.

A defendant in a patent infringement suit may, during discovery and prior to a <i>Markman</i> hearing, compel the plaintiff to produce claim charts, claim constructions, and element-by-element infringement analyses.