In the wake of COVID-19 and its impact on the American economy, compensation for executives of bankrupt corporations has been heavily scrutinized by laid off employees and the public.1 While executive compensation was already a hot topic of focus for the public and investors in the past decade, recent bankruptcy activity due to COVID-19 has…
Category: Blog Articles
Opioid Litigation: A Class of Its Own
Deaths caused by opioids—both legal and illegal—have been rising since the 1990s, wreaking havoc on communities across the United States.1 In 2017, an average of 130 Americans died from opioid overdoses every day,2 and the United States Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency in that same year.3…
A Case for Statutory Independent Directors
Within corporate law there is a tense awareness of the overwhelming power of controlling shareholders. Oftentimes, such shareholders exert prodigious force over the actions of the company’s board of directors, in part because controlling shareholders may handpick the board.1 Using their connections to the board, a controlling shareholder may influence company action in an interested2…
Google v. Oracle: The History Leading up to this Case and the Potential Consequences of the Upcoming Supreme Court Decision
After almost a decade-long fight between Google and Oracle, two of Silicon Valley’s tech giants, the Supreme Court will finally rule on a case which is considered by many to be the “most important copyright case of the decade.”1 The path which led up to this point is a long and complicated one. This article…
Addressing a supply chain crisis: the looming tidal wave of third-party IP liability lawsuits
The seismic shift Over the last 50 years the fundamental determinants of value in the global economy have changed. Most prominent in this shifting economic landscape is the category of intangible assets of all forms including patents, trade secrets, copy and data rights, and brand value. Over a short period of time, the importance and…
The Duties and Breaches of the CEO President
“[Impeachment] will seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community, and to divide it into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused . . . [T]here will always be the greatest danger that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties, than by the real demonstrations…
Practicing M&A as an Attorney: A Focus on Emerging and Mature Innovative Company Transactions
Interview subjects have asked to remain anonymous in order to feel comfortable providing candid answers. Mergers and acquisitions is a hot practice in business, law, and consulting and one of the most requested banking groups for incoming investment bankers.1 Like any practice or career, however, there are many pros and cons. This blog post will…
Pay to Play: the NCAA Must Use Caution with New Player Compensation Rules
On October 29, 2019, the NCAA announced that it intends to allow collegiate athletes to profit off their own likenesses, opening the door for popular athletes to receive compensation from merchandising and sponsorship opportunities.1. Michael Drake, NCAA board chair and president of Ohio State University, stressed the need for the NCAA to adapt to the…
Assessing the Likelihood of Near-Future Invocations of Section 4A of the Clayton Act
The Department of Justice announced about a year ago that three South Korean energy companies were to plead guilty in a price-fixing scheme that involved supplying energy to US military bases.1 In that announcement, the Department of Justice renewed its willingness to use Section 4A of the Clayton Act to recover treble damages from companies…
Deceptive Trademarks: A Free Speech Issue
Look to your left. Now look to your right. Only one of you will survive. This phrase, which purportedly used to be common in opening addresses at higher-level learning institutions albeit with different wording1 has recently become reality for parts of the statute that establishes rules and procedures for federal registration of trademarks—the Lanham Act…