Law, Politics and Business Trials – the Myth of the McDonald’s Coffee Spill Case

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I attend a numbering of professional networking and bar events. At one recent event a speaker representing foreign clients discussed his clients’ desire to negotiate arbitration clauses to avoid the U.S. court system, which they view as exemplified by the “McDonald’s coffee spill” case.

I encourage clients to negotiate arbitration clauses where they wish to assure a private and more nimble resolution to business disputes. (See “Jay Spillane Delivers Update on Business Arbitration to ProVisors’ Valley LLP Group.”)  But, the idea that a case over spilt coffee teaches negative lessons about the U.S. court system has me diving head first into the fraught intersection of law and politics. read more

Lessons from Little League: Keep Your Feet in the Batter’s Box and Swing

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Last season my youngest son, at age six, played Farm Division in Little League. In Farm Division the coach lobs a few soft pitches to the batter. If the batter does not hit safely, the ball is put on a tee and the batter swings until hitting a fair ball. Every batter reaches base safely, even in the (unlikely) event that the first baseman catches the fielder’s throw and steps on first base before the batter.

Apparently Little League felt that boys who were reaching the World Series in their final year were getting too large and mature. So they changed the age cutoff for determining division placement. read more

That’s My Name and You Can’t Use It: Trademarks Battles Over Personal Name Marks

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There was snickering recently in the blogosphere about efforts by Kylie and Kendall Jenner to register their names as trademarks in relation to various goods and services, including “entertainment in the nature of providing information by means of a global computer network in the fields of entertainment, fashion and pop culture,” trademark-speak for a gossip website. Apparently these sister/models were guests on the Kardashian reality show and have garnered their own spinoff series. The dig was that spoiled teenagers want their names to belong to them and them alone. https://www.tmz.com/2015/05/04/kylie-and-kendall/.

There may be excellent philosophical reasons to bemoan the unearned fame of people who garner attention and riches for no reason other than that they are young, attractive and were birthed by famous and wealthy parents. read more

The Snore of the Century: Mayweather-Pacquiao Promoters v. Streaming Services

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The promoters of the recent Mayweather-Pacquiao boxing match took one on the chin for raking in big dollars promoting the “Fight of the Century,” which instead was a technically masterful but tedious defensive performance by Mayweather, marred by reports that Pacquiao was fighting with an undisclosed injury. Not content with being knocked on the canvas for the quality of the fight, the promoters are sticking their chins out for another knockdown punch by threatening to sue those who pushed bootlegged streams of the fight, possibly including streaming apps Periscope and Meerkat.

Copyright owners have spent decades and millions of dollars taking technology companies to court over alleged facilitation of infringement through technology, with choppy results. read more

Advances in E-Discovery Allow Smaller Firms to Successfully Litigate Cases Once Only Handled by Their Larger Counterparts

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In almost any lawsuit, after the initial pleadings are filed, and before the trial, the parties engage in an extended period known as “discovery,” where each side demands and receives information about the other side and its case. In business cases parties typically ask for all of the contracts, communications and financial information that pertain to the issues in dispute. Businesses are generally quite reluctant to share internal business information with any third party, especially a litigation opponent. However, the law favors broad pretrial disclosure of information that has any potential relevance, and thus the volume of information exchanged in the discovery process could be great. read more