Legal Research

Selections from National Law Journal Daily Headlines April 13, 2009

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com, April 13, 2009.

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Consumer bill sets off a furor
"The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act has lawyers feuding and their clients completely confused. Products liability defense lawyers call it a mess. Consumer lawyers say it's a success. Corporations are flooding the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission with requests for guidance on the new law's demands."

Workplace defamation suits rise
"Defamation lawsuits are on the rise in the workplace as employees take on employers over the right to reputation, suing over being labeled as damaged goods after losing their jobs. Social networking technology like Facebook and Twitter, which can be used to disseminate hurtful information, is among employers' concerns."

 THE PRACTICE  |  As key coverage falls, lawyers' fees at risk
"Limited amounts of directors and officers liability coverage, which defendant companies purchase in order to pay for attorney fees and settlements in shareholder lawsuits, could present obstacles for lawyers involved in those cases, particularly those against financial services firms filed amid the current recession."

IN-HOUSE  |  Many GCs still fighting backdating charges
"After two years during which eight general counsel ran afoul of federal regulators for alleged improper stock-options backdating, four are still fighting charges, three have settled or pleaded guilty and just one was acquitted. SEC enforcers view this as a successful effort against corporate improprieties, while the defense side says it shows the difficulty of linking corporate lawyers to accounting-related misconduct."

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on April 13, 2009 (boomark / email).