FDA Web Site Provides Treasure Trove of Information
November 21, 2003
If you are seeking information about adequate warning labels, go to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Web site (<i>www.fda.gov</i>) and type in "adequate warning labels." Information will appear in milliseconds, covering everything from correspondence with manufacturers to FDA Public Health Advisories and sections from the Federal Register.
Addressing the Conflict: FDA vs. Torts
November 10, 2003
Our legal system supports two regulators of the safety of prescription drugs ' the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and courts applying the tort liability regime. The FDA's mission, while narrowly circumscribed in its early years, grew dramatically over the last half of the twentieth century. Today, the FDA administers the most comprehensive drug regulatory system in the world.
Antitrust Goes Global
November 10, 2003
Billions of dollars in potential awards, a new map for antitrust litigation, and what many say is a likely spot on the Supreme Court docket; <i>Empagran v. F. Hoffman-LaRoche</i> has it all. What could it mean for U.S. pharmaceutical (and other) companies? "Corporations in this country and all over the world are really scared of this," says Paul Gallagher, a Washington D.C.-based Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll partner who serves as lead plaintiffs counsel in the case.
The Off-Label Divide
November 10, 2003
Is it ever appropriate for a drug manufacturer to disseminate information about an off-label use of a drug? If so, when is it inappropriate? Is the dissemination of such information commercial speech protected by the First Amendment that cannot be proscribed by the FDA? Can manufacturers be held accountable for this speech by the FDA or in a products liability action?
Selling a Law Practice: Prospects and Pitfalls
November 01, 2003
Large firms have long had well-defined methods for transferring ownership interests in a practice via "mergers," "retirements," "breakups," etc. Attorneys in larger firms have also always had mechanisms in place that provided them and their heirs with funding for the value of their individual interests in the firm. By contrast, the outright "sale" of a law practice from one attorney to another was prohibited for decades. In 1991, however, the ABA dropped its opposition. California had already permitted such sales since 1989, and more states have now followed suit; so the mechanisms for selling a practice have been developing, albeit slowly. These changes are economically vital for small-firm and sole practitioners. Many of these attorneys tend to conclude their law practice without any transfer of ownership, by just closing their office doors one day and never returning. By doing so, an attorney forgoes "cashing in" on a valuable asset that has taken many years to build. That no longer has to happen. Like their counterparts in large firms, sole and small-firm practitioners ' and their heirs ' can now reap the rewards of years of effort. This levels the economic playing field for retirement and estate planning.
Improving Law Firm Profitability Without Working Longer Hours or Raising Rates
November 01, 2003
Last month, in Part One of this article, I discussed three major approaches to enhancing law firm profitability: expanding your client base; assertively managing billing, receivables and payables; and unbundling operating costs from bills for fees. Previously, in the August 2003 edition of this newsletter, I described a fourth major profitability approach: management of alternative billing strategies. This month's article concludes my overview of profitability improvement methods by summarizing 10 more techniques.
Product Review: ProLaw
November 01, 2003
After considerable analysis of our firm's existing software and case management practices, we went shopping. We chose tradeshows like the ABA Techshow to familiarize ourselves with software options. Anyone who's ever attended a tradeshow knows how overwhelming the vendor presentations can be, and how after a while all products appear to blend in one's mind. It's inevitable, given the amount of information every vendor attempts to convey in each short, intense demo session. We solved that by picking up demo disks wherever possible, and then looking them over in the comfort of our own offices once we'd returned. ProLaw stood out for many reasons, including its ability to integrate all firm practice management functions under one database - something nobody else at the time was doing well, if at all.
