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Archive for April, 2018

Husch Blackwell Beats Suit Alleging It Tried to Silence Critic of Wealthy Client

News
A Missouri ruling is likely to end a contentious nine-year dispute between a local activist who claims that Husch Blackwell LLP, an AmLaw 100 firm — used the legal system to squelch his speech rights, according to Bloomberg Law.

Texas Anti-SLAPP Statute Used in Oil & Gas Lease Dispute

News
The case involves the dispute over whether a petroleum company’s oil and gas lease had expired.

Software Deliverables and Damage Provisions Must Be in Agreement

Insight
One of a court’s most frequent tasks is interpreting ambiguous contracts created by the use of ambiguous language in contracts; however, by the time a court is deciding the issue, costly litigation may have taken years, according to Holland & Knight.

Pay IF Paid: It Means What it Says

Insight
If you are a subcontractor, lookout for language establishing payment from the owner as a condition precedent for payment, warns Bradley Arant Boult Cummings.

Look Before You Sign … the Pitfalls of Personal Guaranties

Insight
Any potential guarantor should read a proposed guaranty agreement carefully and understand each contractual provision. Often the terms can be negotiated, even if a business entity is a startup and has limited assets and income, according to Ward and Smith.

Franchise ‘No-Hire’ Agreement Class Actions and the Single Enterprise Defense

Insight
Franchisor employers should assess whether the joint employer risk is worth accepting in order to pursue the single-enterprise defense, warns Seyfarth Shaw.

Bailey Brauer Co-Founder Alex Brauer Selected to Best Lawyers in Dallas List

News
Trial attorney Alex Brauer, co-founder of the Dallas-based complex litigation boutique Bailey Brauer PLLC, has been selected to D Magazine’s 2018 Best Lawyers in Dallas listing.

5th Circuit Nixes $151M J&J Verdict, Cites Plaintiff Lawyer’s Alleged ‘Deceptions’

News
DePuy Orthopaedics and Johnson & Johnson will get a new trial after the previous one in 2016 ended with the companies having to pay $151 million in damages to five plaintiffs with alleged hip replacement injuries, reports the SE Texas Record.

Merck’s Patent Loss a Cautionary Tale for In-House Attorneys

News
Merck & Co.’s loss of a $200 million jury verdict for patent infringement shows that companies with internal prosecution staff need to observe strict rules for external communications, according to Bloomberg Law.

Ruling on Union Pensions Could Affect Hundreds of Companies

News
The case arose when Just Born announced three years ago that it would no longer enroll new employees in the multi-employer pension it had participated in for decades and would instead divert money into a 401(k) plan for those workers.

DLA Piper Advises Bregal Sagemount in Sale of Remote DBA Experts

News
DLA Piper represented Bregal Sagemount in the sale of its portfolio company Remote DBA Experts, LLC, a leading provider of remote database administration and cloud-managed services, to Madison Dearborn Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm.

Survey Shows In-House Counsel Concerned About Litigation, Brand Equity, Data Security

Insight
Morrison & Foerster–commissioned survey reveals drivers affecting consumer products businesses, an evolving risk environment, and litigation trends in 2018

Ex-Biglaw Partner Said He Shot His Wife By Accident – Jurors Didn’t Buy It

$Ex-Biglaw Partner Said He Shot His Wife By Accident – Jurors Didn’t Buy It$

News
It’s unclear whether the jurors who leaned toward involuntary manslaughter knew they were accepting a deal that would likely send McIver away until death,” the Journal-Constitution reports.