After Texas Court Avoids Question on Duty to Warn, Can Suppliers Relax?
June 30, 2005
The nation's silica litigation attorneys and their clients kept a close watch on a case decided last year in Texas that was supposed to help define the limits of liability for failure to warn of silicosis danger. It took nearly 2 years for the Texas Supreme Court to finally issue its decision in <i>Humble Sand & Gravel Inc. v. Gomez</i>, 146 S.W.3d 170 (Tex. 2004), holding that flint supplier Humble Sand & Gravel Inc. had no duty to warn companies whose employees used the product for abrasive blasting that there were risks associated with silica dust in the workplace. The reason the court gave for its decision was that the risks of silica dust in the workplace had been known for years and companies that regularly dealt with blasting materials were "sophisticated users."
Book Review: Free Publicity
June 28, 2005
<i>Free Publicity</i> is a concise but substantial look into the mechanisms and motivations of the modern media. The book is full of short and succinct examples of how ordinary people and businesses have been successful using the press to promote their own agendas. As the title suggests, if you know how to work the system, you too can spread your message around the world without spending a cent.
How Not To Get 'Whacked' By Journalists
June 28, 2005
There are those in PR who are just plain annoying. I used to think ' during my live TV days at CNN ' What is their objective? Getting to speak to me, or pitching a story? I think for many, it was the former. If they didn't have their pitch down in 20 seconds, they lost me and got "whacked!" For many, I never returned calls. Nothing personal, I just didn't have time to return all of them; if I had, I would have missed my deadlines and been out of a job! <br>Here are some basic rules for how not to become a public relations flack that's whacked!
Executive Compensation
June 27, 2005
It's no secret that for some time now, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), institutional investors and shareholder services have all been dissatisfied with the opaqueness of required executive compensation disclosure in Proxy Statements under Item 402 of Regulation S-K. In fact, the SEC may soon consider revising the executive compensation disclosure rules, at least in respect of certain types of compensation disclosure that are viewed by critics of current disclosure compliance as particularly lacking in transparency and detail.
'But That Wasn't The Deal!'
June 01, 2005
In the not too distant past, the only way business people could communicate in a real time, convenient and spontaneous way was through face-to-face meetings and telephone conversations. When the all-too-common dispute arose as to who said what to whom, the traditional "my word against your word" battle would play itself out. <br>Fast-forward to the 21st century, where e-mail ' easy, instant, and universally accepted ' has become virtually the default mode of communication. What was once an unverifiable conversation is now a transaction set forth in print. As a result, the "my word against your word" conundrum becomes more of a contest between e-mails, as opposed to a competition between the memories of testifying witnesses.
'Information Security 101'
May 25, 2005
Recent headlines have reported a startling number of security breaches and information thefts. A major university notified 120,000 of its alumni after a computer containing fundraising information including addresses and Social Security numbers was hacked by an unknown intruder; a subsidiary of the Lexis Nexis group announced that the records of 32,000 individuals may have fallen into the hands of thieves using the passwords of legitimate subscribers; Bank of America reported the loss of backup tapes containing the financial records of up to 1.2 million federal employees; payroll outsourcer PayMaxx faced allegations that it had exposed 25,000 customer records, including W-2 information, online; and cell phone provider T-Mobile released information about a hacker who was able to exploit a security weakness in a commercial software package to access customer records, sensitive government documents, private e-mail and candid celebrity photos.
The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege Survives
May 24, 2005
The dangers to the proper functioning of the corporate attorney-client privilege in the wake of recent federal and state law enforcement activities have been well-documented and widely discussed. The year is only half over and already two reports on the issue have been produced and a third major inquiry is underway. A survey by the Association of Corporation Counsel disclosed that 30% of the respondents' corporate clients had "personally experienced an erosion in protections offered by privilege/work product." A similar survey of outside counsel conducted by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers reported 47% of corporate clients had experienced such an erosion. Both organizations have taken up the difficult task of 'debunking the myth' that assertion of the privilege is inappropriate or a sign of guilt.
Bit Parts
April 29, 2005
Recent developments in entertainment law.
Come 'Hell or High Water' NorVergence Causing a Stir over Documentation
April 01, 2005
So-called "hell or high water," "waiver of defense" and lessor favorable "submission to jurisdiction" clauses have long been cornerstones of equipment finance documentation. But, the unfolding debacle over the last year involving a company called NorVergence has cast an unfavorable light on these important provisions and, in doing so, entangled most of the top players in the leasing industry.
