Defense Counsel Journal articles from January 2003

Defense Counsel Journal archives from January 2003

The emperor has no clothes: how courts deny protection for confidential information; litigants' rights to protection of information not used in judicial proceedings should trump any public right to access.
January 1, 2003... THROUGHOUT the centuries, fairy tales have provided valuable lessons about human nature and have given us surprising insights into complex adult transactions. One story, about the emperor's new clothes, sheds significant light on an ongoing...

The brave new world is here: privacy issues and the Human Genome Project: governments and courts must step in to provide protections and regulations for the use of individuals' genetic testing results.
January 1, 2003... SCIENTIFIC discoveries and advances in biological understanding during the 20th century paved the path for the Human Genome Project. "We used to think our fate was in our stars. Now we know, in large measure, our fate is in our genes," said...

Discovery unplugged: should internal e-mails be privileged confidential communications? The concept of appropriate discovery should keep pace with modern communications technology and protect intra-company e-mail.
January 1, 2003... MOST PEOPLE are more comfortable with old problems than new solutions. That notwithstanding, this article argues for the creation of a new communications privilege based on privacy and business policy: An organization's internal e-mail...

The self-critical analysis privilege in the product liability context: if analyzed as a subsequent remedial measure, self-evaluation wouldn't impede discovery, but the information would be protected.
January 1, 2003... IT IS self-evident that any business should emphasize self-critical analysis of its significant operations and products in order to deliver safe and effective products to its consumers. The opportunity to gain increased market share, maintain...

Cybersmear may be coming to a Website near you: a primer for corporate victims; how to respond or combat venomous comments from current or former disgruntled employees presents both legal and non-legal problems.
January 1, 2003... SAMUEL Taylor Coleridge wrote, "Whispering tongues can poison truth." The Internet is no exception to this simple maxim. With one of three Americans logging onto it daily, and at least 350 million users worldwide by 2003, the Internet has the...

Between the devil and the deep blue sea: monitoring the electronic workplace; employers should have detailed, understandable and fair computer, e-mail and Internet usage policies impartially administered.
January 1, 2003... The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; --William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act III, scene 2 I have come to believe that if anything will bring about the downfall of a company, or maybe even...

Romantic relationships at work: does privacy trump the dating police? Courts generally have upheld fraternization policies that balance employer and interests carefully and that are administered impartially.
January 1, 2003... IN TODAY'S work-oriented culture, of fice romances and the related topics of sex and privacy have become important issues confronted by most employers. With more employees working longer days and spending so much of their time on-the-job,...

Privacy issues from the judicial perspective: requirements for protective orders; the frequency with which courts employ protective orders should influence counsel to draft the application with detailed statements.
January 1, 2003... IN THE context of litigation, the anticipated threshold issue--should the court require disclosure to an adversary of private or sensitive information--most often becomes how and to whom the court will permit disclosure of that information....

Protection of personal data: the United Kingdom perspective: the U.K.'s new Data Protection Act sets up a comprehensive and detailed regime to which multinationals must conform for the transfer of personal data.
January 1, 2003... THE EXPLOSION of information power has become a fundamental feature of business worldwide. The operational and commercial success of many organisations depends on their ability to obtain, process and store vast quantities of information about...

Protection of personal data: the Australian perspective; new legislation has applied the information privacy principles of 1988 to the private sector through national privacy principles.
January 1, 2003... THE MAIN data protection law in Australia in relation to privacy is the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). It has been amended by the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 (Private Sector Act), which came into operation in December 2001 and...

The HIPAA privacy rule: an overview of compliance initiatives and requirements; the privacy rule contains a maze of mandates and exceptions requiring that entities covered by HIPAA need the best of health care counsel.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 )
January 1, 2003... THE Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (Pub. L. No. 104-191) was created and enacted in response to the health care industry's request for standardization, as a remedy for increasingly frequent health care...

Annual survey of fidelity and surety law, 2002.(part 1)
January 1, 2003... I. PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION BONDS A. Bonds under Federal Laws Performance bond surety on defaulted federal government contract not entitled to contract funds withheld for violations of David-Bacon Act. Surety that did not give notice...

$290 million punitive award against Ford stands.(California)
January 1, 2003... Voting 4-3 and, according to a story in The Recorder [San Francisco], causing corporations nationwide to issue a "collective gasp," the California Supreme Court declined to review or depublish a California Court of Appeal decision that imposed...

Chrysler fails to reverse $3 million punitive award.
January 1, 2003... In another case involving a much smaller punitive damages award, Chrysler lost out before the Sixth Circuit in its bid to overturn a jury verdict. Clark v. Chrysler Corp., 310 F.3d 461 (6th Cir. 2002). The jury award in this case also arose...

District Court off track in selecting lead plaintiff.
January 1, 2003... A federal district court may get to pick the lead plaintiff in a securities class action, but not that plaintiff's counsel, according to a first impression decision from the Ninth Circuit that reversed the lower court's choice of lead...

Lawyer liable for debt collection violations.
January 1, 2003... A Virginia lawyer who sent dunning letters to Illinois residents to collect on delinquent accounts for a large credit card company is liable under the federal debt collection laws because he did little more than lend his name and firm...

Sidley, Austin firm must turn over more information.(law firm age discrimination case)
January 1, 2003... A Chicago-based law firm must comply more fully with a subpoena in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigation to determine whether 32 demoted partners in fact were employees under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act...

Insurer must defend hospital against defamation claim.(New York)
January 1, 2003... An insurer has to defend a New York-based hospital and its staff in a defamation action brought by a doctor who had risen to the "limited public figure" status with his very vigorous campaign supporting midwifery at the facility. The New York...

Instruction based on store's safety manual improper.(jury instructions)(Indiana)
January 1, 2003... The Indiana Supreme Court reversed a $600,000 jury award because of an improper jury instruction incorporating a Wal-Mart employee manual that set a standard of care higher than the ordinary care required in the negligence suit at issue....

Domain name game goes international.
January 1, 2003... An American-based Internet domain name registration company was not able to overcome sovereign immunity in its suit against the Republic of South Africa in a dispute over the use of a uniform resource locator on the Internet. In Virtual...

Nationwide class action certified for smokers.
January 1, 2003... In a ruling that could have major ramifications for the tobacco industry, a U.S. district court judge in the Eastern District of New York on September 19, 2002, certified a nationwide class of plaintiffs to pursue strictly punitive damages...