With new technologies comes new businesses and new products—and new insurance issues. As with so much else, the new color in property insurance is green. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Civil Litigation, Environmental Law, Legal Topics | Tagged: green insurance, LEED certified, property insurance | Leave a Comment »
As Americans, we feel comfortable saying whatever we want about public officials and celebrities on our blogs and websites. We’ve got the First Amendment behind us. Unfortunately, the First Amendment doesn’t stretch to cover everywhere our Internet musings may go. Forum shopping has taken a new turn — libel tourism – in which defamation plaintiffs seek a forum that will provide the least protection for statements. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Civil Litigation, Legal Topics | Tagged: defamation, First Amendment, France, libel tourism, U.K. | 3 Comments »
So, you finally get around to preparing and signing powers of attorney for health care, personal care, and financial management. Now, where should you keep them? Should they be at your home? In a safe deposit box? At your attorney’s office? What’s the point of preparing these important documents if you don’t have them when you really need them? (more…)
Filed under: Elder Law, Estate Planning, Legal Topics | Tagged: Financial Management Power of Attorney, Personal Care Power of Attorney, power of attorney, Power of Attorney for Health Care | Leave a Comment »
By now we all have heard about the son that former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered with his married household employee. Many pundits are jumping to assumptions that this child is now entitled to live the luxury lifestyle of his father. Others are labeling Schwarzenegger a deadbeat dad, assuming that he should, and did not, provide for his biological son. It turns out that these assumptions may be off the mark. Under California law, Schwarzenegger may not be the child’s legal father, and may have no parental rights or obligations toward him. (more…)
Filed under: Family Law, Legal Topics | Tagged: conclusive presumption, Family Code, Governor Schwarzenegger, marital presumption, parentage | 5 Comments »
Most of us never think about the distinctions between words like “mudflow” and “landslide” until a storm hits, damaging our home or business, and we are frantically trying to decipher our insurance policy. That’s when we learn how critical policy wording can be — so critical that it can mean the difference between a covered claim and no coverage at all. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Civil Litigation, Legal Topics | Tagged: coverage, excusions, flood insurance, landslide, mudflow | Leave a Comment »
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice are bringing record numbers of actions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act these days, and the trend is likely to continue. In one case (.pdf) Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries are accused of paying bribes to public doctors in Greece who use the company’s surgical implants. Maybe it’s time for businesses to get a refresher course on a very simple rule: You can’t bribe foreign officials to get or keep business deals. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Legal Topics | Tagged: bribery, business, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, foreign official | Leave a Comment »
During discovery, parties often use search terms to separate the wheat from the chaff, i.e., the irrelevant or unresponsive data from the relevant or responsive information. The sheer volume of electronic material makes the use of search terms a necessity, but, as with many conveniences, there is some risk involved. The key may be in agreeing to share search terms that will improve the process without showing your hand. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics | Tagged: discovery, e-discovery, search terms | Leave a Comment »
Consider this scenario: Your corporate client asks you for advice on the legality of a new marketing strategy. You issue an opinion that certain aspects of the plan are marginally legal, but that the audit-risk is low unless your client’s competitors chose to sue. Your opinion letter is reviewed and filed in the company’s general files, and your client decides to accept the risk and goes forward with the strategy. Murphy’s law comes into play and your client is sued by its competitor, which asks for all communications with you about the new marketing strategy, including your opinion letter. Might the corporation be forced to turn over its communications with you? Yes. Could such a result have been avoided? Yes. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Civil Litigation, Legal Topics, Practice of Law | Tagged: attorney-client privilege, confidentiality | 1 Comment »
I am very excited about my first YouTube video — an interview with Tim Sullivan, the contributing editor of CEB’s new book California Property Insurance: Law and Litigation.
This book is a great guide for attorneys who
Just as insurance is a big part of all our lives, this book is important for attorneys practicing in a variety of areas. Think flood, earthquake, toxic drywall from China. Property insurance issues are pervasive and always growing and changing as our world and technology does.
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Filed under: Civil Litigation, Legal Topics, Real Property, Tort Law | Tagged: bad faith, first-party insurance, insurance, practice guide, real property, Tim Sullivan | Leave a Comment »
It’s becoming harder to establish that a peremptory challenge to a potential juror is discriminatory. It sometimes seems that almost any justification for striking a racial minority or a woman from the jury venire will be accepted. And woe to a party who is challenging a trial court’s finding against the existence of discrimination — talk about high hurdles. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Criminal Law, Legal Topics, Litigation Strategy | Tagged: bias, discrimination, jury selection, peremptory challenges, Wheeler motion | Leave a Comment »
