Cutting-Edge Approaches for Managing Mass Tort Litigation in the New Millenium
Kenneth E. Petty and Robert C. Manlowe of Williams Kastner
Mass tort products liability litigation has caused the demise of nearly one hundred U.S. manufacturers in the past two decades. Asbestos litigation alone is believed to have led to bankruptcy filings by over 70 companies. In many cases the failure to recognize the magnitude of a mass tort problem or to timely adopt a sound litigation management plan significantly contributed to a company's demise.
Could Your Sexual Harassmant Investigation be Subject to the Requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act?
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Yes, according to a recent opinion letter from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Why should you be concerned .
Expanding Scope of Attorney-Work-Product Doctrine: United States v. Aldman
Keara M O'Donnell of DLA Piper LLP
This article discusses the opinion in U.S. v. Aldman, 134 F.3d 1194, in which the Second Circuit held that the work-product doctrine may shield business reports from disclosure under the attorney work product doctrine).
Employee Misconduct Defense
Douglas B. M. Ehlke of Ehlke Law Offices
Employers raise employee misconduct as often as any defense to OSHA citations. If proven to exist by the employer, this defense eliminates the citation and penalty related to employee misconduct.
Common Sense Tips For Avoiding Litigation
Brit T. Brown of Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, L.L.P.
Without doubt, there are usually appropriate reasons for litigation, and it is sometimes the best approach for resolving a dispute. For purposes of this article, though, we discuss some of the common reasons why disputes often result in litigation, which, had they been properly managed, could have been avoided.
Health Industry Alert--July 15, 1999
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
The U.S. Department of Justice's war against health care fraud continues to escalate. Vice President Gore recently announced that the Clinton Administration will propose legislation designed to increase the arsenal of weapons used by federal prosecutors and investigators to combat "waste, fraud and abuse" by providers.
Document and Record Management--Its Time has Come...
Michael R Arkfeld of US Attorney's Office, Arizona
Examined are the characteristics of various document and record management systems and methods.
Internal Investigations
Songstad & Randall
It is no secret that employment related lawsuits have increased significantly over the years.
Managing the Intellectual Property Lawsuit
Roderick M. Thompson of Farella Braun + Martel LLP
It is easy to say that successful resolution of Intellectual Property disputes .
Justice Department and EPA Step Up Chemical Security Enforcement
Chris Locke,Deborah J. Schmall,Jon L. Benjamin and Ladd Cahoon of Farella Braun + Martel LLP
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced plans this month for stepped up inspections focusing on companies that fail to protect against possible terrorist attacks on pipelines, fuel storage tanks, chemical plants and drinking water facilities. Owners and operators can minimize both the vulnerability of their facilities and risk of severe fines and other penalties for non-compliance by conducting internal facility audits to identify deficiencies. The results of the audits can be protected from unwarranted disclosure under the attorney-client privilege, the attorney work product doctrine, and (in some jurisdictions) the self-evaluative privilege.
Off on the Wrong Foot
Paul D Fritz of Creative Dispute Resolution
(This article is reprinted from Verdict, 2nd Quarter, 1994, Pages 37-38) Using a "professional neutral" to help.
Amendments to Florida Rules of Civil Procedure
Mark R. Osherow of Osherow & Associates, P.A.
Below are the published amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, effective January 1, 1997, cited at 21 .
Are The Documents Of A Corporate Defendant Plaintiff's Work Product?
Bowman and Brooke LLP
With the explosion of instant communication through the Internet and organizations like the Attorneys Information .
Safe Communication: Guidelines for Creating Corporate Documents That Minimize Litigation Risks
Joseph F. Falgiani of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP
Products liability defense cases are particularly vulnerable to "bad" company documents. A company trying to manage the risks presented by bad documents needs more than a document retention program. It requires an educated work force that understands the risks that are created whenever anything is written down in the workplace, either in paper or electronic form. This article suggests a program to educate employees and raise their consciousness about the litigation risks attendant to the creation of documents.
The Business of Litigation Support
Julius Melnitzer of Lexpert
Litigation support, it turns out, is no more confined to expert witness testimony than the solar system is to Earth. Earth is what we know most about and it's where our understanding begins. However, everything doesn't revolve around us and we're steadily becoming an incrementally smaller part of something much larger that's constantly expanding.
Labor & Employment Update--January 1998
Brobeck Phleger & Harrison LLP
This update contains articles entitled: You Snooze, You LoseÃÂEmployer Loses Right To Arbitrate Because Of Delay; At-Will Employers Have The Right To Unilaterally Change Wage Rate; Workplace Investigations Conducted By Attorneys May Not Be Privileged; EEOC Issues New Guidance for Contingent Workforce; and Cop's Sensitivity To "Noogie" Is Not A Disability.
Revenge of the Tax Lawyers?
Troutman Sanders LLP
The tax departments of most law firms have had a bad run over the last ten years, losing market share and top talent to accounting firms, but there is evidence that change is afoot. To understand the problems facing law firm tax lawyers, you have to understand the market for tax services for large corporations.
Fire Insurance Law II
Rutter & Russin
Part Two Discovery Once the insurance company decides to deny the claim, litigation is the only alternative. .
Litigating Insider Misconduct
Antoinette R. Stone of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
Few aspects of the practice of law are as challenging, frustrating and exhilarating as investigating and litigatin.
Your Obligations as a Client
Leipold, Donohue & Shipe, L.L.P.
A lawsuit is a cooperative venture between a client and an attorney. If either side fails to fulfill his .
Is Selective Waiver of Privilege Viable?
Richard M. Strassberg and Sarah E. Walters of Goodwin Procter LLP
The legal landscape regarding the privileged protections afforded counselÃÂs work has shifted in the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley and the post-Enron crackdown on white collar malfeasance. But the U.S. Courts of Appeals are split on the question of what effect the decision to share privileged communications with the government will have on the ability to protect those documents in the future.
Will Willful Infringement Now Wilt aWay?
The "willful" infringement of a patent enables the plaintiff to collect treble damages, as well as attorneys' fees. On September 13, 2004, in Knorr-Bremse Systems Fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH v. Dana Corp., the Federal Circuit overturned 18 years of precedent on how to establish willful infringement in patent cases. After reviewing about 24 amicus curiae briefs, the virtually unanimous en banc court held that when the attorney-client privilege and/or work-product privilege is invoked by a defendant in a patent infringement suit who had sought advice on infringement, it is inappropriate for the trier-of-fact to draw an adverse inference with respect to willful infringement when the opinion is withheld.
Unleashing The Marketing Power of Extranets
Laurence Bodine
This article reviews the positive impact a firm's extranet can have on client development.
Work Product Privilege Applies To Reinsurance Documents In Illinois
David W. Kenna of Mound Cotton Wollan & Greengrass
The Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, recently decided that correspon.
Environmental Issues in Real Estate Transactions
Barry Needleman of McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, P.A.
Environmental issues routinely arise in all types of real estate transactions, from the sale individual residences to the transfer of large commercial and industrial facilities. Managing the associated risks is almost always possible. The bigger challenge tends be initially spotting environmental issues. Failure to identify and address such issues may result in parties unknowingly assuming substantial liabilities.
Insurance Company Claim Files: Are They Discoverable?
Rick L. Hammond
TABLE OF CONTENTS BACKGROUND SUPREME COURT RULE 201 SUPREME COURT RULE 214 REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF CLAIMS.
Indicting of Lawyers in a Medicare Kickback Case
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
A MAJOR FEDERAL prosecution in Kansas involving alleged kickbacks paid by hospitals to referring physicians has tak.
Your Guide to Fair Employment
Department of Justice
The contents consist of the list of acceptable documents on the inside cover and the Form I-9 on the inside back cover. Other information includes an explanation of what INA is and how it affects employers, information on how to avoid immigration-related problems.
Addressing Toxic Mold Risks in Retail and Commercial Property Transactions
Peter A. Sergienko of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
High profile lawsuits involving claims for property damage and personal injury arising from toxic mold have received significant publicity in recent months. A Texas jury awarded Melinda Ballard and Ron Allison a total of $32 million in damages arising out of toxic mold contamination in their 22-room mansion.
How the Department of Homeland Security Will Change Your Business
Joel Sherwood Summer of Miller Nash LLP
Homeland security is really an amalgam of some 40-plus different federal laws. Many states have their own counterparts. These laws affect plant security, identification of key assets and processes, background checks on new employees, employee access to sensitive areas, cybersecurity, and transportation of products and services.
Dispute Resolution and Litigation
Michael L. Muirhead of Michael L. Muirhead
The term "Dispute Resolution" includes litigation, but is much broader than that. Litigation is the involveme.
Import Compliance--Still A Hot Topic
Margaret M. Gatti of Gatti & Associates
Import Compliance has been a hot topic for U.S. Customs - and for U.S. importers - since 1993 when Congress passe.
Attorney Client Privilege And Lawyer's Role As Investigator
Hughes Watters Askanase, L.L.P.
In recent years, attorneys have taken a more active role in investigating subrogation potential. One purpose of hav.
Recent Developments in the Law
Coudert Brothers LLP
A July 1996 Court of Appeals decision, City and County of San Francisco v. Stacey & Witbeck and Nationwide, 47.
Controlling the Cost of E-Discovery Through Preparation and an Organized Response
Martin D. Beirne,David A. Pluchinsky and Donald W. Towe of Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, L.L.P.
The sending of a "preservation" letter is rapidly becoming the norm in litigation today. The typical preservation letter demands that your client sequester its entire computer network and each employee?s PC at Fort Knox, pending the final resolution of either anticipated or currently pending litigation. Such tactics are clearly designed to raise the cost of litigation while at the same time positioning your opponent to seek a spoliation instruction as well as any other sanction that the presiding court may order against either the client or the attorney in charge.
USG's Legal Team Maximizes Efficiencies With Extranet
Tom Pfeifer of USG Corporation - CGC Inc. (Canada) (Main Office)
The USG corporate counsel department has, at times, had to track as many as 100,000 court cases nationwide. USG needed an efficient way to monitor developments in those cases and share information with co-counsel around the country. They deployed the extranet, West WorkSpace.
Checklist of Documents Required from Associations in Litigation
Thomas E. Miller of Thomas E. Miller Law Office
When an association enters into any form of litigation, whether with a homeowner, a builder or contractor, the .
Must Surveillance Videos Be Disclosed Prior to Trial if Only Used For Impeachment Purposes?
James C. Haggerty and Christine P. Busch of Swartz Campbell LLC
There appears to be a unanimity in the federal and state courts with respect to the discoverability of video surveillance materials. Regardless of whether a defendant intends to use the surveillance tapes as substantive evidence, for impeachment purposes, or for no purpose at all, disclosure is advisable once damages have been explored through deposition.
The Attorney-Client Privilege: Slicing The Lines of Distinction More Thinly
Wendelynne J. Newton of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
The significant cases decided in the attorney-client privilege area in the last year or so clearly reflect an evolu.
Proposed Amendments To U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Portend Significant Changes To Corporate Compliance Programs
Thelen LLP
On April 30, 2004, the U.S. Sentencing Commission approved amendments to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines with potentially significant implications for business organizations that administer compliance and ethics programs. In announcing that the amendments had been sent to Congress for approval, the Commission predicted that the new, tougher Guidelines "should lead to a new era of corporate compliance." The Guidelines will go into effect on November 1, 2004, unless Congress votes to reject them.
Lifting The Vail: Federal Trade Commission Determines That The Fair Credit Report Act Applies To Workplace Sexual Harassment Investigations
Teresa Butler and Bryan L. Tyson of Littler Mendelson, P.C.
This article provides a quick overview of the scope and coverage of the FCRA and its potential effect on sexual harassment and other workplace investigations.
Labor & Employment Update--January 1999
Brobeck Phleger & Harrison LLP
This report contains articles entitled: Court Stays Enforcement of Domestic Partner Benefits Ordinance; Employer's Affirmative Defense That Investigation of Claimed Harassment Does Not Waive Privilege; Tester Posing as Job Seeker Does Not Have Standing to File Lawsuit for Hiring Discrimination; Employment Arbitration Agreements Survive Recent California Legislative and Judicial Challenges; and U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Decide if a Plaintiff's Social Security Statements Bar ADA Claims.
Avoiding the Mindfields when Conducting an Internal Investigation of an Organization
Gabriel L. Imperato of Broad and Cassel
The recent rash of federal and state government initiated investigations of health care fraud, including those agai.
Missouri Paralegal's
Missouri Bar Center
The purpose of this brochure is to help you understand what a paralegal is and the role he or she may play in your case.
Necessary Steps to Protect Your Interests
James Wendell Prevatt, Jr.
Whether you are involved in a contract dispute with a supplier of a product, a purchaser of your product, or have suffered injury to crops or livestock, certain steps need to be taken to protect your interests.
Controlling the Cost of E-Discovery Through Preparation and an Organized Response
Martin D. Beirne,David A. Pluchinsky and Donald W. Towe of Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, L.L.P.
The sending of a "preservation" letter is rapidly becoming the norm in litigation today. The typical preservation letter demands that your client sequester its entire computer network and each employee?s PC at Fort Knox, pending the final resolution of either anticipated or currently pending litigation. Such tactics are clearly designed to raise the cost of litigation while at the same time positioning your opponent to seek a spoliation instruction as well as any other sanction that the presiding court may order against either the client or the attorney in charge.
Willfulness Opinions
John C. Englander of Goodwin Procter LLP
Willfulness opinions are legal opinions that a particular product does not infringe, or that a patent is invalid or unenforceable. The need for willfulness opinions arises from substantive patent law, which establishes treble damages for willful infringement and makes the existence of a legal opinion relevant in defending against a claim of willful infringement.
The Legal Checkup - Preventative Medicine for Good Corporate Health
Tillinghast Licht LLP
Health-care providers generally encourage their patients to have regular checkups to spot potential problems before they develop into irreversible, or untreatable conditions. Periodic "legal checkups," or audits, which draw on preventive law techniques, can help corporations (such as hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, laboratories, physician groups, and therapists) anticipate, and guard against, potential legal problems, liabilities, and excessive costs.
Low-Tech, Low-Cost Document Automation Systems
Norvell E Brasch
This article discusses the best way to manage and retrieve documents through a three-level approach to knowledge management systems.
White Collar Crime: Department of Justice Issues Guidance to U.S. Attorneys Regarding Criteria for Criminally Charging Corporations
J. Michael Nolan of Day Pitney LLP
This article summarizes the Department of Justice's guidance policies relating to whether U.S. Attorneys should criminally charge corporations for white collar crime.
Setting Transfer Prices Wisely
Stephen M. Hudspeth of Coudert Brothers LLP
For companies with operations in the United States, there are new developments in the area of US taxation that you.
Big Guns: Involving Senior Lawyers in Cases from the Outset Leads to Better Results and is More Cost-Efficient.
Barry W. Lee of Steefel, Levitt & Weiss
In this economic climate and in the current competitive legal marketplace, virtually all companies are focused on reducing the expenses associated with retaining outside counsel to handle litigation and transactions. When deciding which law firm to retain, companies are keenly interested in hourly billing rates. Indeed, in some instances the amount of the hourly billing rates is the decisive factor in selecting one law firm over another.
Service Providers and Contracts
Judith A. Silver of Coollawyer.com
As the customer, it is common and expected that you may request a contract for the work. There is no reason to feel guilty or apologetic for making sure that things are clear and you get what you paying for.
Electronic Discovery Under the New Federal Rules
Wayne S. Moskowitz of Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, LLP
Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing electronic discovery took effect on December 1, 2006. Litigators must familiarize themselves with the new rules, which create a procedural framework for addressing electronic discovery issues, while leaving substantive issues for continued development by the courts.