Archive for the ‘Litigation’ Category

As companies are generating more and more documents electronically, some going completely electronic for the future and transferring old paper documents to an electronic format, e-discovery is taking priority in litigation, and it will continue to do so. Please click here to read an article I authored for The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, where I discuss the importance of e-discovery, retention policies, and how it is changing litigation.

For more information about e-discovery, please contact Margaret Raymond-Flood at mraymondflood@nmmlaw.com.

Mechanics’ liens can create title claims because lenders request the removal of mechanics’ lien exception from title coverage – by removing the exception, you, the title insurer, are in effect providing coverage. Read the rest of this entry »

Just when you thought your days of paying others’ medical expenses were behind you, Pennsylvania Courts are holding you responsible for your elderly parents’ care.  Please click here to read an article I authored for Lehigh Valley Woman where I discuss the implications of the Filial Support Law.

For more information about the Filial Support Law, please contact Rebecca Price at rprice@nmmlaw.com.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and other similar organizations are actively investigating local sports bars for airing pay-per-view programming without ordering the event through proper channels.  Federal regulations prohibit the unlawful interception of these events and provide for some stiff penalties.  The type of piracy involved in these investigations include using one’s personal DIRECTV account for viewing in a commercial establishment, ordering a pay-per-view event for personal use and then broadcasting it for financial gain, or intercepting a television signal from another authorized user. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law

            Passed two years ago, this open records law shifts the burden onto government officials to show why a record shouldn’t be released, rather than force citizens to prove why it should.  A state Office of Open Records was established to interpret the law and settle disputes.  This law is meant to promote transparency in government.  This month there have been two setbacks to this transparency effort.

Read the rest of this entry »

There is a long line of lawsuits in which the False Claims Act has been used to punish an assortment of billing and statutory violations by medical professionals and institutions – since January of 2009, over $2.3 billion has been recovered for these violations. Please click here to read an article I authored with my colleague Theodore Margolis for MD News, where I discuss how to prevent and succeed with a False Claims Act case.

For more information about the False Claims Act, please contact Sandra Jarva Weiss at sjarvaweiss@nmmlaw.com.

Today marks a significant step toward comprehensive tort reform.  Governor Tom Corbett signed the Fair Share Act after it was adopted by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by a 116-83 vote.  Under the previous law, a defendant who bore any responsibility – no matter how small – was held liable for 100 percent of the damages owed to a plaintiff.  Therefore, multiple defendants were “jointly” liable to the plaintiff.  A defendant who paid a larger share than he was liable for had the burden of pursuing the remaining defendants for their share. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Lindsay Lohan is the ambassador for the attention seeking, the self-destructive, and the spoiled.  As such, she has seen her career slip away like the sands of time and has become the butt of nearly every joke out of the late night comedians’ mouth.  She is what causes seemingly rational, well-to-do fathers to vehemently declare that they are locking up their daughters until they turn 30.

Read the rest of this entry »

We all realize that legal services are not inexpensive.  As cost cutting measures continue, the days of the $1,000 per hour lawyer are probably behind us.  Frankly, I do not know many lawyers who ever commanded such a fee.  (No, I never met Johnnie Cochran.  Anyone who could free O.J., however, may be worthy of four figures per hour.)   Nevertheless, legal services still remain a large budget item for many businesses.  So I am certain that the last thing a business wants is another lawyer at the table.  [Insert lawyer joke here.]

Read the rest of this entry »