Defense Counsel Journal articles from April 2002

Defense Counsel Journal archives from April 2002

The need for class action reform.(President's Page)
April 1, 2002... Class action litigation in the United States has emerged over the last 10 years as a serious threat to the continued existence of corporations ranging across industries from pharmaceuticals to consumer products to insurance. While the over-all...

New York State establishes mass tort cases regime.
April 1, 2002... Mass tort cases filed in New York state courts will be subject to consolidation for pretrial purposes under an order issued by the state's Administrative Board of the Courts in February, which added Section 202.69 to the state's Uniform Civil...

Another New York innovation.(written letters of engagement by attorneys)
April 1, 2002... Effective March 4, New York state lawyers are required to furnish letters of engagement to clients in both criminal and civil representations. The new rule, which makes the letters mandatory rather than simply "best practice," is 22 N.Y.C.R.R....

Dutch bar keeps MDP ban.(multidisciplinary practice)
April 1, 2002... The European Court of Justice has issued two judgments of widespread importance to European Union lawyers and their organizations. In Wonters v. Algemene Raad van de Nederlandse Order van Advocaten, Case C-309/99, decided February 19, it...

Fee schedule not a violation.(minimum fees for legal services)(Italy)
April 1, 2002... In the other case, In re Arduino, Case C-35/99, also decided February 19, the European Court of Justice declined to invalidate the Italian procedure that permits Italian lawyers, with the approval of the government, to set minimum fees for...

America acts: swift legislative responses to the September 11 attacks; Congress moved to stabilize the airline industry, to establish a victim compensation fund and to strengthen airport and aircraft security.
April 1, 2002... THE devastation wrought by the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, as well as the air crash in Pennsylvania, remains difficult to comprehend. Nearly three thousand people were killed and...

Looking at the events of September 11: some effects and implications; while the impact on insurers is large and apparent, there are many other possibilities, even probabilities, of contention and litigation.
April 1, 2002... WITH estimates of financial losses from the attacks of September 11, 2001, at $70 billion or more, the impact on the insurance industry will be profound. There will be numerous disputes at various Levels--cutting across many forms of...

Twin towers: the 3.6 billion question arising from the World Trade Center attacks; was it one "occurrence" or more than one? There are complexities galore that are bound to arise in the insurance context.
April 1, 2002... IN THE aftermath of the September 11, 2002, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, various questions have been raised with respect to the availability of insurance coverage to pay for losses caused by the attacks. Issues have...

Psychological perspectives on juror reactions to the September 11 events; terror management theory would predict more punitive jury reactions, but the more traditional social-cognition approach may still predominate.
April 1, 2002... WHAT effect are the tragic events of September 11 likely to have on juries, especially juries in personal injury cases? There are two responses from a juror psychology perspective. First is a re-examination of a relatively obscure theory...

Viewing the global attack on the global economy from Australia; while the world's economy has globalised, law and the practice of law have not. This means that lawyers in multinational litigation must juggle many issues.
April 1, 2002... THE GLOBALISATION of the world's economy is one of the most important--and most discussed--issues of the day. Countless words have been written and interminable debate has occurred at the highest levels of government and business, while pitched...

Using noncompete agreements to protect legitimate business interests; carefully drafted agreements will prevent former employees from using and disclosing proprietary and confidential information.
April 1, 2002... THE definition of "trade secrets" is broad, and both statutory and common law protect them from misappropriation. While this may appear to be sufficient protection, all organizations and companies have confidential and proprietary information...

Preventive law for the managed care industry: curing the class action disease; class actions bashing managed care organizations will not resolve whatever problems that exist. It's time to take more sensible steps.
April 1, 2002... IN THE new millennium it is important that preventive law, preventive medicine and managed care take center stage as mechanisms to reduce the disease of litigation and the cost of health care, as well as improving the quality of that care. By...

When children refuse medical treatment: role of government and assessments; a standardized test to assess a child's maturity and understanding would help judges in their Solomonic roles to render more uniform decisions.(Canada)
April 1, 2002... THE ROLE and responsibility of government and a child's maturity level and understanding of medical treatment were two issues raised in three Canadian cases decided in the 1990s--Walker (Litigation Guardian of) v. Region 2 Hospital Corp., (1)...

Reviewing the law reviews.(Bibliography)
April 1, 2002... This is a selective bibliography of current law review literature of interest to defense counsel. Main articles are identified by naming the author or authors. The designations "Note," "Casenote," etc. are as listed in the publication, with the...