New England Biz Law Update

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has “reached out” to employee invention assignment agreements, ruling they should be interpreted under federal law, not under the state law that governs other clauses in the same agreement. The decision, DDB Technologies, LLC ...

Can an employer restrict its employees from using e-mail for non-job-related solicitations, such as for union activity, if it also permits employees to use e-mail for other non-business purposes? Unionized and non-unionized employers alike have faced this question all too ...

In more than six years investigating and prosecuting potential securities law violations as an enforcement attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission, I frequently watched companies and their lawyers make decisions in the spirit of zealous advocacy that the enforcement ...

Employers scrambling to prepare this year

Applying the attorney-client privilege to communications to and from in-house counsel can be a vexing problem in managing litigation. Over the years, I’ve increasingly seen numerous disputes in court, as well as arbitral and regulatory proceedings, where internal communications with ...

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 25 adopted new rules to facilitate the operation of electronic shareholder forums for publicly held companies. This development is just one of many changes the SEC has undertaken to conform its regulatory philosophy ...

Last year was probably the most momentous in intellectual property law in decades. Will the rest of 2008 be as dramatic? Here’s what to look for: Patent reform legislation – finally? Patent reform legislation stalled in Congress again last year. ...

An effective non-retaliation/whistleblower policy is essential for all organizations, but it’s especially important for health care providers and for nonprofit organizations in light of industry-specific legal mandates and best practices. An organization’s whistleblower policy does not operate in a vacuum. ...

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently amended Rule 1.13 of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct to correspond to American Bar Association Model Rule 1.13. Among the most notable revisions, Rule 1.13 now requires attorneys to report violations of law ...

Getting the most from your outside counsel can make a big difference to your budget, as well as your effectiveness and success as a key member of your company’s legal staff and as an advisor to the business operations. If ...