Having recently tried a patent infringement case to a jury, I was amused by this article in IP Law & Business pointing out that patent cases are almost never tried and few patent lawyers have actually tried a case to a jury. The key statistic is here, in this line in the article: “there
High Cost Investments, Payments to Sponsors, and the National Education Association
Been away from the desk for a few days, but not away from my reading, and there’s been a whole series of things in the media that may be of interest to those who read this blog that I have meant to pass along and comment on. I am going to try to post frequent
Why You Can Never Generalize When Considering Whether Brokers Are Plan Fiduciaries
A couple of loyal blog readers have commented that I have veered off a good bit on digressions this past couple weeks, and I can’t deny it – maybe it’s a lawyer’s version of a summer fling. Anyway, today I return to a central focus of this blog, ERISA and, in particular today, investment advisors
More Thoughts on Whether the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act is Preempted
Wow, don’t think Massachusetts’ health care reform law doesn’t dictate to employers what type of health insurance to provide, only in a more subtle way than the state of Maryland did with its Fair Share Act based – but unsuccessful, thanks to ERISA preemption- attempted bludgeoning of Wal-Mart? At the risk of picking a fight,
The Difference Between Email and Correspondence and Why It Matters Under the Federal Electronic Discovery Rules
The other thing about electronic discovery and the federal rules that was on my mind yesterday, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, is emails, with the thoughts provoked by this article here on discovering emails from opposing parties. Now one mistake people often make when they are first confronted with the federal e-discovery rules is
Electronic Discovery and the Choice of State Court or Federal Court
A couple of thoughts that are on my mind today about electronic discovery, concerning a couple of articles related to the subject. The first, which I will talk about today (I will return to the other tomorrow, assuming no breaking news pushes me on to a different topic) has to do with some comments in
Leased Employees, Insurance Coverage, and the Fun House Mirror
I have a high school education in physics, but I seem to remember that physics teaches that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. One of the things I like about insurance coverage litigation and counseling is it is much the same; things happen in the real (i.e., non-insurance) world,
Partners, Domestic and Otherwise, and ERISA Preemption
Here’s the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article on Partners Healthcare System v. Sullivan, the case I posted on a couple weeks back involving the question of whether preemption prevented the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination from taking action against Partners over its decision to allow benefits to be granted to its employees’ same sex, but not
The Case for More Patent Infringement Litigation
Well, not really. More like an argument for a little healthy skepticism when it comes to the subject of patent reform, which as pitched on blogs, in the popular media and elsewhere, really consists of proposals directed at two themes: reducing or at least discouraging the filing of patent infringement lawsuits, and restricting the ability
ERISA and Same Sex Marriage
Here’s a great story out of Boston, by means of the Workplace Prof, that touches on several obsessions of this blog – ERISA, the federal arbitration act, and court review of arbitration awards. As the Prof explains in this post here, a federal judge for the District of Massachusetts is seeking amicus briefs related