Editor's Note
January 31, 2007
A note from Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Anne "Betiyan" Tursi.
e-Lawyering Is Not For the Faint-Hearted
January 31, 2007
Today, the pervasive role that technology has assumed in business and legal practice, as more and more of our daily lives are lived online, provides a more fundamental challenge to how attorneys practice business law. In an age when 'paper file' has become an anachronism and an oxymoron, business law and the way it is practiced have required more than just tinkering with particular rules.
Who You Gonna Call? Ghostwriters!
January 31, 2007
One of the best ways for a lawyer to show clients and prospects that he or she has 'the right stuff' is to write stuff ' for legal trades, B2B publications, consumer magazines and, of course, all those content-hungry Web sites. Every legal marketer knows this ' a nd so do most lawyers. The problem is that many attorneys are too busy doing paid work to perform this marketing must, while others may be phobic about writing for a publication (a fear similar to that of public speaking), or simply lack a talent for writing or the know-how to structure an article that motivates businesspeople or consumers to pick up the phone. While partners with associates at their beck and call may be able to palm off the task, all too often associates are too busy trying to meet their quota of billable hours, or pro bono work, or too wet behind the ears to produce something that a partner would want to put under his or her name. So what to do?
You Thought You Had a Radius Clause: Wells Fargo v. Diamond Point Plaza May Change Your Mind
January 31, 2007
A landlord secures an anchor tenant with a big-name, stable, and successful chain store. The landlord negotiates that a percentage of this successful tenant's gross sales out of the landlord's location will constitute a portion of the rental payments. In order to protect his percentage rent, the landlord ensures that the lease contains a provision that (it thought) would forbid the tenant from opening another store in close proximity to the landlord's property. Therefore, the landlord has sufficiently guaranteed not only a base rental payment, but also a portion of the tenant's success, and it is confident the tenant will be very successful in the area. The landlord is thrilled, right? Maybe not. New case law indicates that courts may interpret the landlord's lease provision protecting against a new store, a radius clause, in a manner different from the way the landlord had intended.
Compliance with Non-U.S. Environmental Health and Safety Regulations
January 31, 2007
Most U.S.-based companies have fairly sophisticated environmental, health and safety ('EHS') programs that are designed to ensure compliance with applicable EHS rules and regulations. The reasons for such programs are obvious: EHS compliance represents the floor for most, if not all companies, and non-compliant companies are likely to experience adverse financial, environmental, health and safety impacts as a result of non-compliance.
The McNulty Memo
January 31, 2007
On Dec. 12, 2006 the U.S. Justice Department issued new guidance that will require federal prosecutors to seek approval from senior DOJ officials before requesting a waiver of attorney-client privilege and work product protection in corporate criminal investigations. The new guidance supersedes the existing language on waiver in the 'Thompson memo,' issued by then-Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson in January 2003.
Voluntary Disclosures Under the FCPA
January 30, 2007
<i>' ' [A]lthough nothing is off the table when you voluntarily disclose, I can tell you in unequivocal terms that you will get a real benefit ' '</i> Despite these heartening words by Assistant U.S. Attorney General Alice S. Fisher at a recent conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), an attorney representing a corporation cannot recommend voluntary disclosure of potentially criminal FCPA activities without weighing the promise of a 'real benefit' against the very real risks.
Stock Trading Injunctions in Chapter11
January 30, 2007
The implementation of restrictions on stock and/or claims trading has become almost routine in large Chapter 11 cases involving public companies on the basis that such restrictions are vital to prevent forfeiture of favorable tax attributes that can be triggered by a change in control. Continued reliance on stock trading injunctions as a means of preserving net operating loss carry forwards, however, may be problematic, after the controversial ruling handed down in 2005 by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in <i>In re UAL Corp.</i>, 412 F.3d 775 (7th Cir. 2005).
Pension Plan Protection Act Leaves Door Open
January 30, 2007
Legacy costs, the common term for worker pension and health care benefits negotiated in past collective bargaining agreements, are rising at a rapid pace ' driven by weak projected returns on pension portfolios, strong growth in health care costs and aging baby boomers tipping the scale between the number of workers supporting each retiree.