What Are Punitive Damages You have probably heard the term “punitive damages” in the news, especially in connection with large civil lawsuits. But what exactly are punitive damages? Basically, punitive damages are civil damages intended to punish a party for egregious behavior. This is a stark deviation from the principle behind most court damage awards, …Read More
Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals – Protected Trade Secret? Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is the use of water, sand, and chemicals to fracture rocks deep in the ground in order to release and collect hydrocarbon products. Fracking is controversial due to its alleged negative environmental impact. One of the key battles between environmental and community groups and …Read More
Electronic Discovery Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure One of the stages of civil litigation in the United States is discovery, which is the pre-trial exchange of information and evidence among the litigating parties. This requires the exchange of all discoverable information, whether in tangible or electronic form. Rules of civil procedure control how …Read More
The Legal Hold and Spoliation of Evidence A legal hold (sometimes referred to as a litigation hold) is a set of procedures an organization follows in order to store and protect information or evidence that may be used or produced in litigation. The purpose of the legal hold is to prevent information or evidence from …Read More
The Pros and Cons of Alternative Dispute Resolution Due to the high costs of litigation, alternatives have arisen to provide a means to solving legal disputes. Some common forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each method of ADR, are discussed below. Arbitration Arbitration is basically a mini-trial …Read More
Piercing the Corporate Veil Basics As many of you probably already know, one of the advantages of running a business as a corporation is the ability to limit the liability of its shareholders (owners). Generally speaking, shareholders are only liable for the amount of money they put into the corporation (in other words, their investment). …Read More
Attorneys Fees and the American Rule When litigating in the United States, the general rule is that each party pays for its own attorney’s fees. This is called the American Rule. This means that the losing party does not pay for the winning party’s attorney’s fees. The reasoning behind this rule is that individuals or …Read More
“Battle of the Forms” Under traditional contract common law, in order for a legal contract to exist, there must be an offer of terms and an acceptance of the exact same terms (referred to as the “mirror image rule”). However, in certain situations, a contract can exist even though the contractual terms made by the …Read More
Written Copyright Assignments Required From Independent Contractors To obtain copyright assignments from independent contractors who perform work for you (including photographers, web or graphics designers, copyrighters, etc.) this copyright assignment must be in writing to comply with federal copyright law. If you do not obtain a writing from the copyright owner assigning you the copyright, …Read More
Statute of Frauds Requirements in Real Estate Transfers Any contract for the sale or transfer of real estate must be in writing in order for it to be enforceable. This is the law in Michigan and most, if not all, other states. Leases lasting longer than one year must also be in writing. This is …Read More
