Virtual intellectual property owners are facing increasing licensing and infringement issues – the same issues, in fact, that are faced by intellectual property owners in the real world. The virtual world has recently become a popular place for business transactions. ...
Read More »Retaining privilege despite losing control of your subsidiary
In corporate families, the legal department of the parent often provides advice to the subsidiaries. That arrangement can lead to headaches if later there is a change in control of the subsidiary. Consider the following example. The scenario You are ...
Read More »Mass. companies face new privacy obligations
Two new laws in Massachusetts require any person or organization with access to records containing personal information about Massachusetts residents to protect those records.
Read More »Notable 2007 Jury Verdicts: Private plane crash yields $54 million verdict
In a trial where the defense seemed to fold its case after two unsuccessful witnesses, a flight instructor and his student won a $54.5 million verdict for debilitating injuries they suffered in a private airplane crash. The plaintiffs claimed the ...
Read More »Notable 2007 Jury Verdicts: Exploding water heater brings $50 million verdict
An Alabama jury awarded $50 million to the family of a man who was killed by an exploding water heater. Richard Krantz, a 55-year-old real-estate broker in Daphne, Ala., was critically injured on July 1, 2005, when he attempted to ...
Read More »Notable 2007 Jury Verdicts: $50M punitive award sidesteps high court ruling
In the first major punitive damages award since the U.S. Supreme Court placed new limits on punitive damages last February, a Los Angeles jury ordered DaimlerChrysler to pay $5.2 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitives to a ...
Read More »Notable 2007 Jury Verdicts: Nevada woman wins $47.6 million in hormone therapy case
Award is part of a $134 million verdict to three women
Read More »Notable 2007 Jury Verdicts: $47.5 million Vioxx verdict helps prompt global settlement
Nine months before Merck reached a global settlement with thousands of Vioxx plaintiffs, a New Jersey jury awarded one man $47.5 million for a heart attack caused by taking the painkiller drug for just two months. Frederick “Mike” Humeston lost ...
Read More »No Surprises Please! Early case evaluation and cost-benefit analysis
(Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a six-part series on litigation management. Barry Weiner is a dean of the Massachusetts trial bar, having tried many cases over his 40-year career. He also has extensive experience in resolving cases ...
Read More »Changing the paradigm: Going in-house means altering your view
What changes when lawyers go in-house? Much of it boils down to how you approach legal decisions. Below are perspectives from three lawyers whose experiences in going in-house may guide new in-house counsel. (The names and some of the facts ...
Read More »