The new federal electronic discovery rules become effective December 1, 2006. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26, 33, 34, 37, and 45 are being amended to take into account the importance of electronic records in the discovery process.
Here are the pending rules amendments.
Thanks to the Minnesota Business Litigation blog for the reminder.
Lawyers
Many companies have policies covering Internet use, email, cell phones and other technologies. But does your company have a policy covering blogs? If not, you need to consider it. Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog posted an interesting article that appeared in Scotland’s National Newspaper regarding the need for companies to rewrite their employment contracts to cover
In my last post I talked about my reluctance to recommend do-it-yourself solutions when it comes to business contracts, Wills and other documents. I know it is self-serving but I have just seen do-it-yourself solutions come back to haunt business people too many times to count. If you are a business person you can pay
As a business lawyer, I am reluctant to recommend do-it-yourself solutions. I have seen many business people run into problems with do-it-yourself contracts, Wills and other documents. With that caveat, the NOLO Web site is a great online resource.
The NOLO site covers several categories including:
Here is an update to the ongoing Iowa consumer case against Microsoft:
Polk County, Iowa District Court Judge Scott Rosenberg has ruled that Roxanne Conlin is allowed to try the case against Microsoft. Microsoft had filed a motion attempting to exclude Conlin on the basis that she had engaged in misconduct when she persuaded a
Congratulations to Des Moines attorney Steven Zumbach for his induction into the Iowa Business Hall of Fame. In reviewing the list of inductees it looks like he is only the second practicing attorney inducted since 1975. Zumbach is a partner in the Belin Lamson McCormick Zumbach Flynn law firm, a past chairman of the Greater
A blog post by the New Jersey Law Blog discusses the recent trend of franchisors’ attempts to expand the number of persons that will be covered under the non-competition clause in a franchise agreement. Litigator John MacDonald believes that franchisors must have reasonably limited expectations when seeking to enforce non-competition agreements against franchisee spouses
I recently read an excellent reminder on corporate governance issues written by business and real estate lawyer Traci D. Ellis.
Ellis wrote that good corporate governance is essential to running and growing a business. Here are some of her examples of good corporate governance:
Where should I incorporate my small business? I hear this question a lot from would be entrepreneurs in Iowa. The question used to surprise me but after seeing the numerous advertisements for Delaware and Nevada corporations on the Internet I suppose it is a legitimate question.
Delaware has reputation and history on its side. Delaware’s
Iowa patent and technology lawyer Brett Trout recently posted about a couple of cases where bloggers were hit with big verdicts. One of the verdicts included $11.3 million awarded to a Florida woman after being called a "crook", "con artist" and a "fraud" in an online post.
This just points out that businesses must look
