'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.
Ruling May Increase Age Bias Suits
June 01, 2005
Federal courts most likely will see an increase in age discrimination cases with so-called disparate impact claims, but employers will be able defend themselves successfully in many of them as a result of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. The High Court on March 30 held that disparate impact claims ' those that allege that a facially neutral policy adversely affects a protected class ' can be brought under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
Conference CD: Revenue-Focused Leadership
April 29, 2005
Attention group leaders, marketing partners, department heads, managing partners and marketing professionals. If you are charged with leading the efforts of others to develop more business for your firm, this web audio conference event is for you.
The 'Out of Towners'
April 29, 2005
Public relations or not. If you are a reader of The New York Times, you may have noticed that when journalists quote an attorney for a particular piece, it seems that the quote comes from an expert in a firm outside of New York. What's going on? I will admit that for many years New York law firms shied away from being quoted at all, feeling perhaps that they were above it all and that their clients, for the most part high profile Fortune 500 corporations and large banking institutions would scowl at their outside counsel garnering attention. Now it seems that these firms have been relegated to the occasional quote while the regional/national firms have embraced the media and are truly "out there.
A Look At <i>Production Resources</i>
April 27, 2005
In the current environment of increasing scrutiny of corporate behavior after corporate scandals such as Enron and Worldcom, lawsuits brought by creditors for breach of the fiduciary duties owed to them by officers and directors have increased significantly. The suits are taking center stage on the dockets of bankruptcy courts and state courts alike, and receive much public attention across the country. Against this backdrop, the Delaware Court of Chancery's November opinion in <i>Production Resources Group, L.L.C. v. NCT Group, Inc.</i> is likely to be widely cited. This lengthy and scholarly opinion also is likely to be misconstrued by many bankruptcy practitioners as signaling a retreat from settled law that directors and officers of insolvent Delaware corporations owe fiduciary duties to creditors. This article demonstrates that such a reading of Production Resources is incorrect.
The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005
April 27, 2005
Calling it "a model of effective, bipartisan legislation," President Bush signed the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 on Feb. 18, 2005. To achieve itsgoals, the Act significantly expands federal jurisdiction over multi-state class actions while imposing new requirements on class action settlements in federal court, such as restricting attorney fee awards when class members receive coupons instead of cash in a settlement, and requiring defendants to notify federal and state officials of any proposed class action settlement. Parties involved in class actions initiated on or after Feb. 18, 2005 should fashion their legal strategies with the Act's sweeping changes in mind.
Companies in the Crosshairs
April 27, 2005
Employee discrimination attorneys do not generally give legal advice to employers. But as lead or class counsel in more than 30 of these cases, including the Wal-Mart and Boeing cases, we can offer clues to the workplace practices that cause particular employers to become the subject of careful investigation and, in some cases, the target of litigation.
Bankruptcy Fraud in the Spotlight?
March 29, 2005
As we all know, the feds continue to investigate and prosecute fraud in the financing, accounting and operation of businesses. The Second Year Report of the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force declares that over 500 corporate fraud convictions have been obtained to date and that charges have been brought against over 60 corporate CEOs or presidents. However, executives and their counselors would do well to note that the government's will and ability to prosecute high-level management may not lessen just because a business is in extremis.
Identity Theft: The Next Corporate Liability Wave?
March 17, 2005
The nation's fastest growing crime, identity theft, is combining with greater corporate accumulation of personal data, increasingly vocal consumer anger and new state and federal laws to create significant new legal, financial and reputation risk for many companies.
Falling Stock Prices?
March 17, 2005
Open any major newspaper over the last few months and you will find a surprising number of articles detailing the significant drop in a public company's stock price in mere hours or days after the disclosure that the company has been civilly sued, be it a class action, securities fraud case, or harassment suit. The decline in a company's stock price following the disclosure of a pending lawsuit is not by any means new. Yet, the speed and extent of the decline in a company's stock appears to have greatly accelerated in recent years. As a result, public companies are now faced with a growing number of lawsuits geared principally at obtaining a speedy settlement by leveraging the lawsuit's potential impact on a company's stock value.
