Special Report on e-Discovery: Defensible Legal Hold Process
January 29, 2008
If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then the road to legal sanctions can be paved with intentions to show good faith. That's particularly true when it comes to implementing a legal hold process. Companies with lawsuits on the horizon must be extremely careful with the technology they use and the processes they follow regarding e-discovery in order to avoid sanctions and maintain defensibility.
Special Report on e-Discovery: The Revised Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
January 29, 2008
The 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ('FRCP') were anticipated by some corporate counsel with Y2K-like gloom and doom predictions. In particular, many wondered aloud whether the rules would have the effect of placing reasonable limits on electronic discovery, or whether instead they would open the floodgates and drown us all in a sea of electronic document production. However, the past year has shown that, like the Y2K hysteria that went out with a whimper, the fretting over the negative impact of the amendments may have been overblown.
Bell Atlantic v. Twombly and Its Aftermath
January 29, 2008
One of the most important decisions that corporate counsel must make in any case is whether to file a motion to dismiss. While a motion can put an early end to the case, it can also prompt a judge to make damaging pronouncements about the law, without the benefit of a fully developed factual record.
'You're Fired!'
January 29, 2008
For Donald Trump, 'You're fired!' has become a money-maker. But for Human Resources managers and in-house counsel, 'You're fired' is a dreaded phrase that will bring not an increase in ratings, but an increase in lawsuits. A poorly executed termination exposes the employer to significant liability; even a simple discrimination claim can cost the employer $100,000 in defense costs.
Majority Voting in Director Elections
January 29, 2008
Majority voting for the election of directors has been transformed from a fringe concept to the prevailing election standard among large public companies in the brief span of three years, as demonstrated by the November 2007 edition of the <i>Study of Majority Voting in Director Elections</i>. Statistics and examples drawn from the Study underscore that majority voting has become a relatively mature, as well as widespread, movement.
What Is a 'Risk Assessment' and How Do You Perform One?
January 29, 2008
There is an an alphabet soup of acronyms, programs and initiatives suggesting, encouraging, cajoling and, in many cases requiring formal, written codes of ethics and business conduct. This article endeavors to make sense of it all and provide some practical advice on to best protect your company by focusing on the one common thread found in virtually all of the new statutory, regulatory and enforcement guidance: 'Risk Assessments.'
e-Battling Demons and Other Woes
December 21, 2007
When the same entertainment network that gave us Family Guy and American Idol (and soon, The Wall Street Journal) does a multi-million dollar buyout of a self-proclaimed 'spiritual Web site,' www.beliefnet.com, no one can deny that the selling of religion online has become big business. Although the Bible and the Pope may have both condemned mixing commerce and worship, today the temple appears to have firmly established itself in digital form in the e-commerce marketplace, rather than the marketplace having been set up ' and pitched out of ' the temple.
Foreign Nationals and the Unfair Employment Practices Claims
December 21, 2007
Today, a great number of U.S. companies will hire foreign national workers, scrupulously check work authorization, and maintain heightened awareness about the potential for race/nationality claims. Gone are the days when only a limited number of multinational corporations had to deal with foreign labor issues. Far from being a remote consideration for organizations, complying with the nation's immigration laws and avoiding liabilty are of growing concern.
DNA in Civil Cases
December 21, 2007
The future of DNA evidence in civil cases is now upon us. DNA evidence is the most powerful forensic tool available to litigants today. During this decade and beyond, gene expression data developed in connection with the mapping of the human genome will provide causation proof in toxic tort cases and workers' compensation claims that epidemiology studies cannot match. Corporations and their insurance carriers are beginning to reap the financial benefits of toxicogenomic science, which tells them at an early stage whether a toxic exposure has caused an injury to a claimant.
