Features
Leasing Strategies for the Semiconductor Industry
To begin, the semiconductor industry is, of course, enormous. The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) released its end-of-year market indicators, showing a solid growth of 9% to over US $333 billion in sales for 2014 over 2013, driven mainly by double-digit growth in the memory products category.
Features
To Correct or Not Correct Misinformation in Social Media
In June 2014, the FDA issued a draft guidance document on correcting independent third-party misinformation on social media. While the draft guidance is not legally binding, it offers insight on the implications of whether or not to correct misinformation.
Features
Commercial Lease Diligence
This article reviews the recommended due diligence efforts of the purchaser's counsel with respect to leased commercial property, and elaborates on the pre- and post-closing rationales for completing such diligence review. The main focus of this article is the due diligence activities and rationale of counsel to a potential purchaser of all of the stock of a selling entity. Where relevant, it incorporates the alternate considerations that might arise in the context of an asset purchase or merger structure.
Features
Cybersecurity Practices Booming In Era of the Breach
The cybersecurity woes of companies like Target and Sony in 2014 and Anthem last month have meant a busy start to 2015 for law firm data-privacy and security practices.
Features
Castle Defense
The battle over expert testimony on patent damages harkens back to the middle ages when would-be attackers developed new strategies for laying siege to a castle, defensive counter-measures were developed to thwart those siege tactics. As plaintiffs have introduced expert testimony based on novel patent damages theories, defendants have asked courts to fulfill their gatekeeping role by preventing certain types of expert testimony from reaching the jury.
Features
Time Tracker by eBillity
For more than a decade we tracked our lawyers' time and generated bills using various iterations of Sage Timeslips, which ran on a backend server tucked away in our office. But over the last several years, we noticed Timeslips began to slow down. It reached the point that time tracking and billing, an unpleasant and time-consuming distraction at the best of times, became far more painful than it needed to be.
Features
<b><i>Online Extra</b></i>$2.5M Verdict Awarded in First Phila. Risperdal Trial
A Philadelphia jury on Feb. 24 awarded $2.5 million to the plaintiff in the first of roughly 1,250 Risperdal mass-tort cases in the city's courts.
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Features
The Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing Under U.S. Law
When circumstances change, parties to an agreement often find that the agreement does not cover the exact situation they are now facing. Instead, depending on how their contract is interpreted, one of the parties may be able to take advantage of the contractual silence or ambiguity and act in a way that causes detriment to the other.
Features
Viacom and Google Defeat Privacy Claims over Kids' Online Data
A federal judge in Newark dismissed multidistrict litigation against Google Inc. and Viacom Inc. in rejecting claims that the companies' online data collection violates the privacy of children under 13.
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- The 'Sophisticated Insured' DefenseA majority of courts consider the <i>contra proferentem</i> doctrine to be a pillar of insurance law. The doctrine requires ambiguous terms in an insurance policy to be construed against the insurer and in favor of coverage for the insured. A prominent rationale behind the doctrine is that insurance policies are usually standard-form contracts drafted entirely by insurers.Read More ›
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- Abandoned and Unused Cables: A Hidden Liability Under the 2002 National Electric CodeIn an effort to minimize the release of toxic gasses from cables in the event of fire, the 2002 version of the National Electric Code ("NEC"), promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, sets forth new guidelines requiring that abandoned cables must be removed from buildings unless they are located in metal raceways or tagged "For Future Use." While the NEC is not, in itself, binding law, most jurisdictions in the United States adopt the NEC by reference in their state or local building and fire codes. Thus, noncompliance with the recent NEC guidelines will likely mean that a building is in violation of a building or fire code. If so, the building owner may also be in breach of agreements with tenants and lenders and may be jeopardizing its fire insurance coverage. Even in jurisdictions where the 2002 NEC has not been adopted, it may be argued that the guidelines represent the standard of reasonable care and could result in tort liability for the landlord if toxic gasses from abandoned cables are emitted in a fire. With these potential liabilities in mind, this article discusses: 1) how to address the abandoned wires and cables currently located within the risers, ceilings and other areas of properties, and 2) additional considerations in the placement and removal of telecommunications cables going forward.Read More ›
- Guidance on Distributions As 'Disbursements' and U.S. Trustee FeesIn a recent case from the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, In re Paragon Offshore PLC, the bankruptcy court provided guidance on whether a post-plan effective date litigation trust's distributions constituted disbursements subject to the U.S. Trustee fee "tax."Read More ›