Saturday, April 27, 2002
Medtronics, Edwards Settle Patent Dispute
Denise Gellene -- LA Times -- 4/26/02
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said rival Medtronics Corp. agreed to pay $20 million to settle patent litigation. As part of the agreement, Medtronics will license two Edwards patents used in heart valve repair, and pay Edwards unspecified royalties on sales of products produced under the license
Read more . . .
The Enron Effect on Insurance Litigation
The Recorder -- April 25, 2002
Insurers count themselves among the victims of Enron's collapse. Companies' claims that they were misled about the underwriting risks posed by exotic surety bond offerings and directors' errors and omissions policies highlight a growing trend to aggressively assert fraud and misrepresentation defenses against corporate policyholders. Enron's failure has also put surety bonds in the spotlight. What are they, and why do they matter?
Read more . . .
The Gold in Enron's Collapse
For firms, giant bankruptcy is a fee frenzy. The tab: $18 million and counting
Legal Times -- April 2, 2002
Read more . . .
National Plaintiff Lawyer Network Gears Up for Mercury Litigation
Two Miami lawyers launch attacks on vaccine makers, saying mercury component leads to autism
Julie Kay -- Miami Daily Business Review -- April 29, 2002
Miami plaintiffs' lawyer Louis Robles, who got involved on the ground floor in mass tort litigation over asbestos, fen-phen, Rezulin and Norplant, thinks he's found the next big thing: lawsuits brought on behalf of autistic children who received mercury-containing vaccines. Robles is part of a network of some 25 lawyers nationwide who've joined forces against the makers of the vaccines.
For a primer on the alleded causal link between Thimerosal (mercury) and autism, click here.
Read more . . .
Friday, April 26, 2002
The Mass Tort Mess -- Proposal for Curbing Costs by Capping Awards and Using Administrative Settlement Funds
Michael Freedman -- Forbes -- 4/12/02
Article
Sidebar
Charts
Thursday, April 18, 2002
Boston Firms Chop 1st-Year Pay
New York Lawyer -- April 10, 2002
Thursday, April 11, 2002
A Cowboy's Guide for In-Housers Who Manage Litigation
Steven M. Zager -- Texas Lawyer -- April 11, 2002
Most cowboys have a good sense of right and wrong. In the same way, it's important for in-house counsel to approach every decision in managing litigation with the utmost integrity. Steven M. Zager applies pearls of cowboy wit and wisdom, such as "always drink upstream from the herd" [and "Big hat, no cattle,"] to advice for in-house counsel on managing litigation.
Read more . . .
Sunday, April 07, 2002
Brobeck Rolls Out Legal Knowledge Management System
Ashby Jones -- American Lawyer Media -- April 8, 2002
About six weeks ago, San Francisco's Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison rolled out what may well be the most advanced legal knowledge management system . . . the result of five years of work and an untold amount of money.
The system ties into every piece of work product that's ever resided in [the firm's] document management system
Client and financial data dating back to the mid-1970s is also on the system -- who brought in what clients, who worked on what matters, and, of course, who made the most rain in [any given year].
* * *
Most off-the-shelf document management systems can retrieve documents by client and matter number. But [this] system [is] made up of several hundred topical categories. * * * [The firm] put years into building a sophisticated taxonomy.
* * *
Read more . . .
Defining Knowledge -- Setting up a System
Daniel Evans and Storm Evans -- Law Technology News -- April 8, 2002
Managing Knowledge Adds Value at the Firm
Frances G. Durako, Cherylyn J. Briggs, Hollye R. Mann and Joanna K. Therway -- Legal Times -- March 25, 2002
Survive and Thrive With Knowledge Management
Sally R. Gonzalez (Hildebrandt International) -- Law Technology News -- February 4, 2002
The Power of Knowledge Management
Corporate Counsel -- April 16, 2001
Knowledge Management: What's the Fuss About? -- System can offer all employees access to the information resources of an organization
Steven Lauer -- The National Law Journal -- November 9, 2000
Thursday, April 04, 2002
San Francisco's McCutchen Doyle (323 lawyers) talking Merger with Boston's Bingham Dana (514 lawyers)
Boston Law Tribune -- April 4, 2002
Bingham Dana's spokesman confirmed last week that the firm and McCutchen (50% plus are litigators) are embroiled in merger discussions. Bingham -- which has grown substantially in recent years through mergers with Hartford's Hebb & Gitlin and New York's Richards & O'Neil, among others -- is looking to expand out West. Currently, the three lawyers in Bingham's Los Angeles office make up its sole West Coast foothold.
Read more . . .
Wednesday, April 03, 2002
Philip Morris Light Cigarette Trial Yields $150M Verdict
Lawyers say low-tar suits the 'new wave'
Margaret Cronin Fisk -- The National Law Journal -- April 3, 2002
A massive $150 million punitive jury verdict in Portland, Ore., against Philip Morris to the estate of a smoker who died of lung cancer may be a harbinger of a new wave of judgments against the tobacco industry. The verdict included $115 million in punitives on the plaintiff's charge that Philip Morris had committed fraud in its marketing of "light" cigarettes by claiming they were safer than regular cigarettes.
Read more . . .
