Jan
07
2009
This article briefly outlines the historical development of the federal rules relating to expert witness discovery, discusses evolving judicial interpretations of the scope of expert witness discovery, provides a sampling of federal and state court rulings as to various types of expert witness discovery requests, and offers practical advice in respect to managing expert witness discovery.
Jan
07
2009
Surviving spouse was entitled to accidental death benefits under ERISA employee welfare benefit plan where husband suffered seizure before fatally crashing vehicle into tree; while policy excluded coverage for accidental death due to physical illness, car crash, not seizure, was cause of death.
Jan
07
2009
There are ways that in-house counsel can proactively prepare for litigation and regulatory and compliance issues, easing the burden of discovery while increasing the defensibility of their processes and procedures. Developing a data map of an organization?s information flow is one important step.
Jan
07
2009
If you are a U.S.-based IT or litigation support professional, have you ever received an e-mail message that ended like this: "And there are three people in the Munich office"? If you have not, you may very well receive such a message within the next few months. This article provides practical advice for European electronic discovery projects for litigation support and IT professionals.
Jan
07
2009
Supreme Court's recent decision in Traveler's Casualty & Surety Co. of America v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., 127 S.Ct. 1199 (2007), does not preclude recognition of different equities when applying state constructive trust law in bankruptcy and nonbankruptcy contexts; recognizing different equities simply acknowledges that remedies may be more or less appropriate in different contexts, without transforming substantive law, and thus existing Second Circuit authority on issue remains valid law.
Jan
07
2009
Unfiled depositions taken in private litigation and deposited in custody of special master were "received" by district court and thus qualified as records subject to Federal Records Act.
Jan
07
2009
When it came time for lobbyist Vicki Iseman to pick the team that would represent her in her defamation suit against , she turned to the man who wrote the book on suing the press. Really. It's called "Suing the Press." Rodney Smolla, dean of the Washington and Lee School of Law, downplayed the amount of interest Iseman had in him at the outset of her search.
Jan
07
2009
The manufacturer of a medical device used to treat a form of urinary incontinence in women is heralding a recent court verdict as dozens of lawsuits alleging problems tied to the product have been consolidated and head to their first pretrial hearing this month. In the past year and a half, 32 lawsuits have been filed against Mentor Corp., a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based cosmetic surgery device manufacturer that, in 2003, launched the ObTape, a sling that is surgically implanted to treat stress urinary incontinence, which often is brought on by coughing, sneezing or exercise, and is common in women after childbirth. The product was removed from the market in 2006.
Jan
07
2009
There are usually two options in patent litigation: Fight or settle. But RPX, a company that buys and licenses patents for paying members, has presented a third option in a case between patent holder Acacia Research and 20 defendants. Acacia announced on Friday that a subsidiary has reached a licensing deal with RPX, which says that defendants who sign up with RPX get a license to the Acacia patent, letting them out of the suit. Observers and those involved in the fight call this a first in patent litigation.
Jan
07
2009
President-elect Barack Obama began stocking the new Justice Department on Jan. 5, announcing the nominations of four well-known players to key posts, including deputy attorney general, the department's No. 2 spot.
