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Focuses on the case filed by the United Paperworkers International Union against the International Paper Company at the United States Court of Appeals. Grounds for filing the case; Stress on the issue of environmental disclosure and materiality; Court decision on the case.

Focuses on the cases related to commercial paper, bank deposits and collection and letters of credit in the United States. Charge to overdrafts of customers; Comments concerning electronic transfers federal statutes; Involvement of allege oral agreements, oral representations and oral discussions.

Examines the Code for commercial paper in the United States. Inclusion of the Code; Details on the Philadelphia Title Ins. Co. versus Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Co. case; Court ruling over the case of Park State Bank against Arena Auto Auction, Inc.

Each year, the Section of Business Law sponsors the Mendes Hershman Student Writing Contest to encourage and reward law student writings on business law subjects of general and current interest. Essays submitted for consideration must be the work of the submitting student without substantial editorial input from others. The papers are judged on research and analysis, choice of topic, writing style, originality, and contribution to the literature available on the topic. Depending on the topic, whether the paper has been previously published, and other factors, the winning essay is considered for publication in The Business Lawyer. The winning essay for the 2009-2010 contest was submitted by Scotland M. Duncan. M r. Duncan's paper has previously been published in Volume 27 of the Journal of Law & Commerce, so it is not being republished here. M r. Duncan was awarded the Mendes Hershman Student Writing Contest Prize at the Section's luncheon at the Spring Meeting in April 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the relevance of the efforts by the American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law Section's Joint Working Group to provide legal guidance to companies on electronic contracting practices. Topics include the two articles published by the group in 2001 and 2003 on topics like click-through agreements and Browse-Wrap agreements and the case Berkson v. Gogo, LLC about electronic contracts.

As the global economy is increasingly driven by the commercialization of highly mobile assets, several European governments have sought to encourage investment in and retention of such assets within their domestic borders by offering heavily incentivized tax rates on profits derived from patents and other highly mobile assets. Notable among the European and Asian countries to enact such patent-income tax incentives -- colloquially known as patent box tax regimes -- are Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. This paper addresses the primary distinguishing features of these four regimes, including their effective tax rates, their scope, and their general qualification requirements and further addresses the preliminary economic results of the enactment of these regimes. Finally, this paper considers the shortcomings in the four regimes and discusses how the United States can capitalize on such shortcomings to enact a more effective patent box tax regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has implemented a policy that prohibits franchisors from using certain documents, such as questionnaires and acknowledgments, in franchise disclosure documents if anti-waiver or anti-fraud provisions apply. This policy has sparked a debate within the franchise industry. Supporters argue that these documents are often used to bypass franchise laws and protect franchisors from fraud claims, while opponents believe that they serve important purposes and that the policy is based on flawed assumptions. Three states have already taken action to adopt the policy or similar provisions. The article explores the perspectives of both franchisors and franchisees and discusses the potential impact on fraud claims and the divide between registration and non-registration states. The long-term effects and ongoing debate surrounding the use of these documents in franchise sales and litigation are also examined. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the Delaware Supreme Court case Wells Fargo Bank NA v. Estate of Malkin which relates to the Investment Securities part of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Topics discussed include the sale into the secondary market of a stranger-originated life insurance policy which was void ab initio, the court's ruling that the lawsuit was not an adverse claim, and the court's treatment of potential defense relating to Section 8-502 of the UCC.

The article discusses personal property secured transactions law in the U.S. under Section Nine of the nation's Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) as of August 2012, focusing on legal issues involving interests in chattel paper, retail installment sales contracts under Texas law, and debtor consignment agreements. In the case Gibraltar Financial Corp. v. Prestige Equipment Corp., the court deals with a security interest in a lease.

Although the Supreme Court decided the seminal case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. nearly two decades ago, academic discourse about the value of the Daubert standard rages on. This note discusses Daubert in a new context, using the 2008 Indian case of State of Maharashtra v. Sharma as an example of how unreliable, questionable evidence can penetrate the courtroom when admissibility standards for expert evidence do not keep it at bay. This note also analyzes Daubert against the backdrop of rapidly emerging technologies and highlights the fact that courts can expect to confront increasing amounts of technical expert evidence in the future. Now, more than ever, courts must be armed with a mechanism to separate the legitimate from the illegitimate. Addressing Daubert critics, whose arguments are focused mainly on toxic tort cases, this note finds their criticisms do not apply in criminal trials, and thus the vast majority of the dissatisfaction with Daubert is one-sided. It is as a screening tool for expert evidence and testimony in criminal court that the Daubert standard is so valuable. Lastly, this paper argues that United States criminal law is fortunate to have the evidentiary filter provided by Daubert and warns of the potential consequences of relaxing admissibility standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On March 4, 2005, a car carrying Nicola Calipari and Andrea Carpani, members of the Italian Ministry of Intelligence, and Giuliana Sgrena, a journalist who had been taken hostage one month before and who had just been released and was on her way back to Italy, was traveling to the Baghdad Airport. The car was fired on by U.S. forces from a checkpoint, killing Mr. Calipari and wounding Ms. Sgrena and Mr. Carpani. As a result of this tragic event, a joint investigation occurred, but Italy and the United States could not agree on the results. The United States determined that the soldiers involved had acted appropriately. Italy disagreed, and on February 7, 2007, Mario Lozano, a U.S. Army National Guardsman, was indicted by Italian prosecutors who declared that Lozano could be tried in absentia because the case was "political. The trial occurred, and the decision was announced on October 25th. Judge Gargani ruled that the law of the flag, or the law of the soldier's sending state, prevails over a claim of passive personality jurisdiction in a case like this. This paper analyzes Judge Gargani's decision and determines that he is correct. Absent another international agreement, the exercise of passive personality criminal jurisdiction over a combatant for combatant acts is inappropriate when the combatant's sovereign is seized of the case. Rather, because the combatant is acting on behalf of the sovereign, any claim against the combatant should be resolved through political means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the First American Title Company versus Melissa R. Devaugh, a register of Deeds for Lapeer County in Michigan. The First American Titled Company, Transnational Title Insurance Company and etc. collectively referred to as First American are title insurance that do business in the state. Melissa R Devaugh was joined in the suit by the Registers of Deeds for Eaton, Saginaw. The First American alleged that practices including the registers of Lapeer County of constituting anti-competitive conduct in violation of the Sherman Act, in that the register did not give bulk discounts for paper copies. The article discusses the court's ruling on the issue.

The article focuses on the legal challenges arising from Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), particularly addressing copyright protection and data privacy concerns. It discusses issues raised by content creators regarding the unauthorized use of their works in training AI models, leading to debates on copyright infringement and fair use. It also highlights worries about potential compromises of private information by AI chatbots and ongoing legal actions.

The article covers several developments in online contract formation, including cases which demonstrate that courts are focusing on website design and transactional context. Topics include a discussion of U.S. cases Soliman v. Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust and Sarchi v. Uber Technologies wherein the courts ruled that no contract was formed and that websites should do more to make notices conspicuous instead of expecting vigilance on the part of website user and facts of the cases.

The article provides a general framework for courts and agencies to use in confronting practices and transactions in platform cases. It discusses litigation evidence, economic theory to explain why the approach and reasoning of the Amex decision. It offers some practical suggestions for courts and legislators to help Amex behind us and right the ship of platform antitrust.

“Geospatial data” is a term familiar to most geographers but much less familiar to most attorneys, employment law scholars, and workers’ rights activists. In this article, we explain what geospatial data is and provide examples of the types of geospatial technology being used to track employees, including geopositioning system (GPS), radio frequency identification (RFID), and microchipping implants. We illuminate the various ways that unionization protects employees from misuse of geospatial data, such as providing the right to bargain over implementation of new surveillance technologies and protection to be disciplined based on geospatial data only for cause. Examples of contractual provisions, such as those in the Teamsters and UPS collective bargaining agreements and professional sports contracts, that establish joint decision-making processes over the use of geospatial technology are identified. We illustrate state laws that protect against misuse of geospatial technology, such as laws prohibiting microchipping, regulating tracking devices, requiring notice before an employer monitors an employee, and prohibiting termination because of lawful off-duty conduct. We provide examples of cases brought in tort for invasion of privacy and under the Fourth Amendment for unlawful search by employees whose employers were tracking them during their personal time. We discuss and endorse other scholars’ proposals advocating employer implementation of best practices and passage of federal legislation. We conclude by calling for more comprehensive regulation of employer surveillance and use of geospatial data and more legal protection for workers to collectively define the appropriate employment processes and procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent LLC acts adopt the rule developed for public corporations that most owner claims against managers or other owners are merely "derivative" rather than "direct" and give the firm the right to appoint special litigation committees ("SLCs") to decide how to dispose of derivative claims. The imposition of the complexities of derivative litigation upon closely held LLCs imposes significant transaction costs that cannot be spread and that typically serve no purpose. It is also contrary to the presumptive intent of members, who presumably expect to be treated as contracting parties with the normal remedies for breach, as in the case of partners. Legislatures should permit LLCs to "opt in" to the complexities of derivative litigation rather than force them to "opt out" of it when the claim is made against an insider. Short of that, legislatures should amend the rule that permits a majority of derivative defendants to appoint the SLC that resolves the claims against them. Even in the absence of legislative change, courts should adopt the Delaware approach that offers the possibility that the composition, work, and recommendations of SLCs may receive enhanced scrutiny in equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the U.S. Sherman Act and its treatment of monopolies. Topics include U.S. antitrust law development, competition in the U.S., and the government regulation of trade. Information is provided on the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) lawsuit against the Aluminum Co. of America (ALCOA) for monopolistic practices.

The article examines the prospects for convergence of collective redress remedies in the European Union (EU) and the EU efforts to achieve its goal in the context of its own Member State legal traditions. Topics include the differences between the civil litigation principles in the U.S. legal system and those in the legal systems of the EU Member states, the European Commission's efforts to develop its own supranational model for class action lawsuits, and a collective redress scheme proposal.

Effective advocacy depends critically on the ability of attorneys to formulate, analyze, and compare rival courses of action. Whereas attorneys have been doing these things for centuries using little more than their gut instincts and experiences, sophisticated decision aids are now available that can improve the way attorneys assess the value of their cases and the strategic decisions that they make. These aids are proving valuable in medicine and business, but they have not impacted legal practice. This Article seeks to correct this oversight by showing how easy-to-use graphical models provide guidance for strategic legal decisions. Beginning with a paradigmatic example of a plaintiff who must choose between proceeding to trial or settling out of court, the Article shows how decision aids handle the uncertainties and interdependencies that arise when real-world considerations are introduced. In particular, the Article makes the case that influence diagrams, a relative newcomer in the field of decision analysis, should be the decision aid of choice in complex litigation matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the importance of electronically stored information (ESI) in storing business and personal records with respect to the technological automation in searching and reviewing the information. The ESIs are required for litigation discovery in law firms and law suits in the U.S. Information on the role of the non-profit institution RAND Corp. regarding the automation is also presented.

The article focuses on court cases where electronically stored information (ESI) are used as evidence in litigation. It mentions the case of Pension Committee of the University of Montreal Pension Plan v. Banc of America Securities LLC, where the defendant accused that the plaintiff failed to preserve and produce documents and submitted misleading declarations. It states the Vagenos v. LDG Financial Services LLC case, where plaintiff's case was based on an automated message on his cell phone.

The article presents information on the electronic contracting cases. It mentions the courtcase between Appliance Zone LLC v. NexTag Inc., where the plaintiff Appliance Zone LLC accused NexTag Inc., an online comparison shopping website, of ambiguity in mentioning details in its website. The Scherillo v. Dun & Bradstreet Inc. case highlights the issue of forum selection clauses. It also mentions the case of Hines v. Overstock.com Inc., related to misinterpretation of purchasing terms.

The article reports on the scope, formation, and remedial provisions of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) in the courts of U.S. It discusses the court case of a Hong Kong Corp. Ltd. against Innotex Precision Ltd. v. Horei Image Products Inc. where the court found that the CISG did not apply to the parties' dispute because Hong Kong is not a signatory to the CISG.

The article focuses on various problems related to conventional methods of statutory interpretation in court cases as well as offers suggestions to address the issues. It is suggested that courts must recognize that in some cases conventional methods of statutory interpretation are useful but they analytically insufficient. It is also suggested that the courts must acknowledge that conventional methods are indeterminate, statutory interpretation requires the exercise of judicial discretion.

The article discusses the elusive antitrust standard on bundling in Europe and in the U.S. after the outcome of Microsoft Corp. cases. Microsoft in the U.S. faced antitrust cases related to anticompetitive tying and bundling. The European Union (EU) and the U.S. have opposite final resolutions in bundling and tying allegations. It cites that the U.S. pursued the case under a rule of reason standard but the EU convicted Microsoft for bundling Windows with Windows Media Player (WMP).

The article presents the electronic contracting cases during 2007-2008. In Manasher v. NFCC Telecom case, the court refused to find the terms on a web site, which were incorporated into an agreement by reference. Plaintiffs were customers of defendant telecommunications company. The Greer v. 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. case is about alleged breach of defendant's Privacy Policy.

The article presents several court cases on intellectual property. In Dudnikov v. Chalk & Vermilion Fine Arts Inc., Chalk filed a Notice of Claimed Infringement against Dudnikov and her husband with eBay when the couple posted a listing with an image that allegedly infringed the copyright of SevenArts. In KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., plaintiff Teleflex Inc. sued defendant KSR International Co. for patent infringement based on claim 4 of the Engelgau patent.

The article examines the U.S. Supreme Court's lack of clarity about the economic projections of the Penn Central test in contrast to recent decisions from the Federal Claims Court and the Federal Circuit Court to show how those courts have advanced the framework of the test and measurement of damages. Some section of this paper review conducted cases to show how these courts have examined and relied on the economic underpinnings of this test in recent years. The U.S. Supreme Court implies that regulatory takings do not require that all value be eliminated before a citizen is entitled to compensation.

The article focuses on the reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Kelo v. City of New London which involved disturbances around the country. The paper also explores how best to think about Susette Kelo once the initial reactions subsides. The Court invited states and localities to consider carefully the benefits and burdens of using eminent domain for economic development. The Court's ruling that the scope of public use is coextensive with the police power has rejected the argument that private benefits generated by a condemnation render it constitutionally suspect.