Call 855-808-4530 or email GroupSales@alm.com to receive your discount on a new subscription.
As we discussed in the Part One of this article, available at http://bit.ly/1IRj11p, defense attorneys are increasingly finding themselves faced by opposing counsel bent on using any means possible to harass them and their clients, leading to a more contentious litigation environment than is really necessary. We continue herein with a review of some of those tactics, and we consider how they may be addressed.
File First, Investigate Later
Overly-aggressive opposing counsel may show their true colors as early as the pleading stage. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 requires an attorney to conduct an objective and reasonable inquiry into the facts and law before filing a complaint. Consequently, the “Rambo” attorney's complaint lies vulnerable to a motion to dismiss. A fine example of this arose in the Western District of Pennsylvania, where the court dismissed plaintiff's negligence action against multiple pain pump manufacturers as impermissibly speculative because her allegation only stated the “possibility” that her chondrolysis diagnosis occurred after a pain pump was implanted in her shoulder, and the plaintiff did not identify the actual manufacturer or product ID in her complaint. Kester v. Zimmer Holdings, Inc., No. 210-CV-00523, 2010 WL 2696467 (W.D. Pa. June 16, 2010). The Kester court determined that allowing the plaintiff to “file first and investigate later” was contrary to FRCP 11(b). Id. (internal citation omitted).
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at customercare@alm.com or 877-256-2473
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
In Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?