The Court of Appeals on Tuesday of last week, in Speedway Motorsports Int'l Ltd. v. Bronwen Energy Trading, Ltd., [ lexis.com subscribers may access the enhanced version of this opinion ] unwound a year old decision by the Business Court . In that...
Last summer, United States Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod was forced to resign after conservative activist Andrew Breitbart posted online a speech that she had made 23 years before, when she worked for a nonprofit organization. The...
Internationally, it's long been known that black students are less likely than their white counterparts to apply to work for commercial law firms. It's also known that women lawyers are far less likely to become partners at law firms than men...
Does use of the name "Blingville" by a small game developer from Harpers Ferry , West Virginia, infringe the trademark rights of Zynga, creator of FarmVille? Does Zynga have a monopoly on Facebook applications ending in "ville"? Blingville...
In Virginia, as in other states, potentially defamatory statements made in official government proceedings receive protection from defamation claims . But some such statements get the benefit of absolute privilege, which means that even a knowingly false...
Ken Odza posted about some general issues related to the Center for Science in the Public Interes t's claims against Safeway related to the decision not to use its Club Card data to publicize recalls. Hidden among the claims, however, is a claim...
It doesn't take a defamation expert to see the flaws in the $2 million libel lawsuit filed this week by Redskins owner Dan Snyder against the Washington City Paper. Mr. Snyder took offense at an article titled, " The Cranky Redskins Fan's...
This blog is for all those NYC business owners who are either women or minorities. If you qualify, - M/WBE Certification can help grow your revenues by facilitating bidding for government contracts. Why get this Certification? M/WBE certified businesses...
Excerpt: Ten years ago, the European Commission sought to promote electronic commerce ("e-commerce") by adopting a directive addressing certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal...
During discovery, an examining party has the power to compel the deposition of a corporate defendant's " managing agents ." If the plaintiff's lawyer designates an individual to testify who is not an officer, director, or managing agent...
The Business Court spanked the Department of Revenue again last week, just after a ruling two weeks ago when it said in another case that the DOR's position was "harsh, and potentially fatal. . . ." This time, in Delhaize America, Inc. v...
by Sidney Goldstein Excerpt: There is a commonly held view that individuals and business entities have a "God Given Right" or at least a Constitutional Right to declare bankruptcy to protect themselves from creditor claims. Not being a theologian...
by Sidney Goldstein Excerpt: With the first glimmer of a revival in the credit markets, many of us are quick to forget the tough lessons learned during the crisis period. One such lesson is the havoc that can be created by an aggrieved creditor's...
The burden of proving that the work product immunity, attorney-client privilege, business-strategies immunity, or other privilege or immunity applies to protect information from disclosure lies with the party asserting the privilege. Thus, it is incumbent...
Lawyers representing Ryerson, Inc., a metal roofing company, were called upon recently to defend the company against the claims of two homeowners who alleged that Ryerson failed to honor the warranty on its roofing system and that such failure violated...
I have been puzzling for the last three days on what to write about the Business Court's first opinion of the year, in Technocomm Business Systems, Inc. v. North Carolina Department of Revenue , 2011 NCBC 1. It involves an opinion about the sales...
I was recently browsing through discussions and postings on LinkedIn groups and found an interesting article that I would like to share with you. It was posted on FizzLaw group's bulletin, a group dedicated to providing small businesses with access...
The Option ruled on by the Business Court yesterday in NRC Golf Course, LLC v. JMR Golf, LLC, 2010 NCBC 20 , said that the Plaintiff had the option to purchase a golf course for "fair market value at exercise date validated by an independent third...
President Obama signed the "Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010" (the "Act"). Among other features, the Act extends for an additional year the 100% exclusion from federal capital gains tax...
Companies that sell to consumers, directly or indirectly, are subject to an array of federal and state laws and regulations. Selling goods and services to California consumers is especially challenging because the state has a panoply of uniquely stringent...
The Fourth Circuit ruled today in Albemarle Corp. v. AstraZeneca UK Ltd. that it was required to interpret the forum selection clause negotiated by the parties under English law, which meant that the clause would be read as requiring litigation to be...
On this edition, William A. Mogel discusses the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's opinion in Interstate Natural Gas Association of America v. FERC. He analyzes the ruling's effect on shippers and touches on the current...
The Business Court dismissed a legal malpractice claim right before Thanksgiving last week in Inland American Winston Hotels , Inc. v. Winston , 2010 NCBC 19 . Judge Tennille found Plaintiff's expert, a Duke Law School professor, to be incompetent...
Two news items are our topic today: Ben & Jerry's removed the term "all natural" from its ice cream and was immediately sued by someone; and some people are labelling ordinary onions as "sweet" and charging a premium for them...
Recovering damages for copyright infringement may be difficult in situations where the infringing party is "dummy" or "shell" corporation with no assets that can be used to satisfy a judgment. Sometimes, however, there may be a parent...