Insolvencies Created By Bad Actors
July 30, 2007
While the market is swimming with innovative and highly leveraged financial transactions, and many parties are enjoying sizeable gains, some of those involved in these enterprises ultimately will become insolvent. A fraction of these insolvencies will result from fraudulent investment schemes perpetrated by multiple parties acting in concert for their mutual benefit. Innocent victims, including creditors and investors, will bear the financial brunt of the insolvencies, and will be eager to recover from all parties that participated in the fraud.
Did the Delaware Supreme Court Break the 'Directors' Shield'?
July 30, 2007
<i>Credit Lyonnais Bank Nederland, N.V. v. Pathe Communications Corp.</i> stands for the proposition that directors and officers of a Delaware corporation that is either insolvent or in the 'zone' of insolvency owe fiduciary duties to creditors as well as stockholders. In essence, it provided a 'shield' to directors against shareholder suits alleging that directors breached their duties to shareholders by acting to protect creditors. Now, the Delaware Supreme Court may have "broken the shield."
CRM Failure: Old Wives' Tale or Success Story?
July 18, 2007
The latest study on CRM projects (known as the CHAOS Chronicles), conducted in 2006, shows that close to 50% of projects fail, much lower than the over 74% figure that has been circulating for years. This is good news: It means, in part, that many industries are learning to manage CRM as a living entity that changes and grows as an organization does. It also reveals that we are getting wiser about our approach to CRM projects, heeding the advice that the best way to 'eat an elephant' is one piece at a time.
<b><i>Case Study</b></i> Streamlining and Centralizing With Matter Management Software
July 18, 2007
As Director of Technology and Marketing, much of the responsibility of selecting, maintaining and upgrading to the most powerful technology available is mine. My department also helps coordinate the firm's marketing efforts, such as mailings and events. As part of the firm's mission to provide expertise in multiple practice areas, we have come to understand how vital it is to encourage flexibility and mastery of the latest technology among its attorney users. To achieve results efficiently, a firm must have a streamlined approach to stay competitive and run efficiently.
Getting the Most Out of Technologies You Already Own
July 18, 2007
Drafting a document between multiple reviewers can get complicated and frustrating when the available tools aren't used properly ' or not at all. The most common tools for document collaboration in Microsoft Word are Track Changes and Comments. These features are often used incompletely or the proper use of them is misunderstood.
ALM Sold to Incisive Media
July 06, 2007
ALM, publisher of Law Journal Newsletters, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, The National Law Journal and 30 other national and regional publications, will be sold to London-based Incisive Media for $630 million, according to a joint announcement July 5 by the two companies.
'Help, I Need an Attorney'
July 03, 2007
So much is written in our pages about how to capture the ideal client. About how to market to that client, how to win his or her business and, if that client represents a business in turn, how to win and keep that business too. It's a worthy ideal, especially in today's competitive law environment. All you have to do is pick up any copy of Marketing the Law Firm and our nationally known experts will'
Making Sense of Contra Proferentum
June 29, 2007
One traditional rule of contract interpretation is to construe contact terms in appropriate circumstances against the drafter, a concept often referred to as <i>contra proferentum</i>. This doctrine sometimes fits uncomfortably with two other views expressed by American courts. On one hand, many decisions say that insurance contracts are interpreted just like any other commercial contract. <i>See, e.g., Sims v. Mulhearn Funeral Home, Inc.</i>, ___ So.2d ___, (La. 2007); <i>Bear River Ins. Co. v. Williams</i>, 153 P.2d 798, 801 (Utah Ct. App. 2006). On the other hand, some decisions say without qualification that insurance contracts should be construed strictly against the insurer. <i>See, e.g., Carter v. Concord Gen. Mut. Ins. Co.</i>, ___ A.2d ___ (N.H. 2007); <i>Cinergy Corp. v. Associated Elec. & Gas Ins. Servs., Ltd.</i>, 865 N.E.2d 571, 574 (Ind. 2007). And sometimes a single opinion tries to express both at the same time: 'It is well settled that a <i>contract of insurance is no different from any other contract</i> and must be construed in a fair and reasonable manner, having regard to the risk and subject matter of the policy, and that special rules such as liberal construction in favor of the insured and against the insurer who drew the contract apply.' <i>In re New York Cent. Mut. Fire Ins. Co.</i>, 833 N.Y.S.2d 182, 183 (App. Div. 2007) (emphasis added).
Class Certification In Property Insurance Disputes
June 29, 2007
The 2005 hurricane season, including the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina, caused estimated losses of $75 billion. The insured property damage from the five major hurricanes in 2005 reached $52.7 billion. Hurricane Katrina alone caused more property loss than had occurred in the entire prior year, posting $27.3 billion. <i>See http://insurancenews net.com/article.asp?a=top_news&id=73930</i>. In light of these unprecedented losses, a record number of lawsuits have been filed stemming from damage caused by the 2005 storms. Predictably, an equally high number of class action suits have been filed, purportedly on behalf of those affected by the storms. Despite this flurry of class action suits, the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 and its state counterparts clearly limit the use of class action suits to very specific, enumerated circumstances that simply do not include first-party insurance disputes, widespread property damage claims, or claims for bad faith and/or unfair trade practices in the adjustment of insurance claims, even where the damage was due to a common weather event.
