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Expert Analysis

  • A Snapshot Of The New USPTO Dallas Office

    Michael Pegues

    The new U.S. Patent and Trademark satellite office in Dallas is expected to be a place where small businesses and entrepreneurs can learn how to navigate the patent process, meet with examiners and access the USPTO’s comprehensive search databases. It will also serve as a patent examination office for technology developed in the region and throughout the South and could provide an economic boost of over $400 million dollars to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, say attorneys with Bracewell & Giuliani LLP.

  • Sovereign Immunity Analysis In Subscription Credit Facilities

    Zachary Barnett

    Subscription credit facilities have become a popular form of financing for private equity and real estate funds. While sovereign debt concerns have led to increased scrutiny of the credit wherewithal of such investors, the good news is that these facilities have been around for many years and anecdotal evidence from active lenders in the market during the financial crisis indicates that there have been no material governmental investor defaults, despite significant budget issues faced by many governmental investors, say attorneys with Mayer Brown LLP.

  • Beware Interaction Of Federal, State Criminal Sentences

    Rusty Fortenberry

    With prosecutors becoming more aggressive, there is an increased risk of parallel state and federal prosecutions arising out of joint state and federal law enforcement investigations. In these scenarios it is advisable to revisit the fundamental concepts regarding the imposition and computation of federal sentences, says Rusty Fortenberry of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC.

  • Takeaways From Del. Encore And Auriga Rulings

    Kenneth Gerasimovich

    Neither In re Encore Energy Partners LP Unit Holder Litigation nor Auriga Capital Corp. v. Gatz Properties LLC represents a dramatic departure for the Delaware Chancery Court. The decisions are reminders, however, of the degree of care required by investors in drafting the governing agreements for alternative entities, say Kenneth Gerasimovich of Greenberg Traurig LLP and attorney Jennifer Brady.

  • How Healthy Is Your Law Firm? Time For A Stress Test

    Steven Davis

    Performing an annual stress test can help your law firm assess the key areas of firm governance, financial reporting, risk management, fiduciary practices and financial health and prepare your law firm to weather both internal and external threats. This assessment can be a valuable tool to identify potential weaknesses and avoid the pitfalls that have caused the downfall of so many prominent law firms, say members Kaufman Rossin & Co.

  • Insurers Should Expect More Unclaimed Property Suits

    Philip Dehaas

    In September, the West Virginia State Treasurer recently filed suit against 10 insurance companies seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief, contending that the insurers had violated the state’s Unclaimed Property Act. The state has added 10 more companies since then. Although West Virginia’s Treasurer is the first to file a suit of this type, it is possible other states may follow its lead, say attorneys with Troutman Sanders LLP.

  • 546(E) Protects Contracts Beyond The Usual Safe Harbor

    Douglas Deutsch

    While the Fifth Circuit's decision in Lightfoot v. MXEnergy Electric Inc. is at odds with a Fourth Circuit decision on whether a “forward contract” must identify a fixed quantity and/or fixed delivery terms, what appears to be far more important is the growing trend of courts to broadly interpret section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code, say Douglas Deutsch and Joshua Apfel of Chadbourne & Parke LLP.

  • The Importance Of The 5th Circ. Vitro Holding

    Francisco Vazquez

    A United States court may, for public policy reasons, refuse to extend comity to a foreign court’s order or grant relief that would seemingly aid the administration of a foreign estate. Despite a number of decisions on the issue, the scope of the pubic policy exception limitation remains unclear — a problem that may remedied with the recent decision by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas regarding Vitro SAB de CV, says Francisco Vazquez of Chadbourne & Parke LLP.

  • Missing The Class Action Removal Boat To Federal Court

    Gregory Katsas

    Defendants have not made full use of the provision of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 authorizing removal of class actions from state to federal court. Inexplicably, class action defendants litigating in inhospitable state courts have ignored the flexibility Congress gave them, say Gregory Katsas and Jeffrey Mandell of Jones Day.

  • EPA's Additional Fracking Rules May Bring Confusion

    Lawrence Culleen

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may alter the terrain of hydraulic fracturing by issuing reporting rules using its authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act. However, the potential TSCA rules might partially overlap with existing and emerging state reporting rules, creating greater opportunity for considerable confusion, say attorneys with Arnold & Porter LLP.