From the monthly archives:

June 2004

Siebel in Reg FD Trouble Again — What Were They Thinking?

June 30, 2004

You probably saw in the business news that Siebel Systems has gotten itself into Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) trouble again. See the Securities Litigation Watch for a trenchant summary, along with links to the primary SEC documents. My own take on it is in the extended post.

0 comments Read the full article →

Contracts: Are Fewer Physical Pages Better?

June 29, 2004

From a paper I co-authored for an American Corporate Counsel Association panel discussion: 16. The fewer physical pages a contract has, the more aesthetically acceptable it will be to your management and to the other side. This is true even if you crowd in a lot of text with a small font. (Microsoft’s contracts are [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

New Series: Pointers for New In-House Counsel (from an ACCA paper)

June 29, 2004

I’ve done a lot of bar-association CLE presentations [continuing legal education] over the years. One of my favorites was at the 2001 annual meeting of the American Corporate Counsel Association (now the Association of Corporate Counsel). My friend Bob Robinson and I did a panel discussion on “Ten Things I’m Glad I Knew — or [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Bibliolatry versus Trust in God

June 25, 2004

On my other blog, The Questioning Christian, I’ve posted comments (and no, they weren’t supportive comments) about a recent essay by a traditionalist Episcopal priest. For those who don’t know, in recent years there’s been an on-going battle in the Episcopal Church, of which I’m a member, about the proper role of Scripture. I would [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

The Symphony as Fighter Squadron

June 19, 2004

Fascinating NYT article by a reporter and amateur clarinetist who gets to play with the New York Philharmonic. . . . As a reporter, I was getting the chance to experience what it felt like to play in a great orchestra, an organism that at its best has the might of a jet engine, the [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Hang Up the *#*$ Speakerphone

June 18, 2004

From Securities Liltigation Watch‘s description of a California appeals court decision: Three Marvell employees–Marvell’s general counsel; its VP of engineering, and in-house patent attorney–gathered to call a person at Jasmine, a company with which Marvell was negotiating to purchase some technology. Using a speakerphone, the three left a message on the Jasmine employee’s voicemail. However, [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

ABA Project: Model Case Management Orders for Patent Cases

June 16, 2004

Several years ago, I chaired a special committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Intellectual Property Law. We set out to develop some model orders for implementing “best practices” in managing patent litigation cases. (Of course, many of the model orders could be used in non-patent litigation as well.)

2 comments Read the full article →

Corporate Governance Changesas Settlement Currency?

June 15, 2004

An article by Stephen Taub in today’s Compliance Week ($) gives some examples of how companies seem to be using their executive compensation and other corporate-governance policies as “settlement currency” to help resolve shareholder lawsuits. The article’s list of companies includes Cendant, Citrix, Enterasys, MCI, Sprint., and Siebel Systems.

0 comments Read the full article →

Civil War Among the Educated Class?

June 15, 2004

Fascinating NYT column by David Brooks. He postulates that the educated elite in this country can be divided into two subclasses: Knowledge workers, and managers. These two classes, he says, “happen to be engaged in a bitter conflict about everything from S.U.V.’s to presidents.”

0 comments Read the full article →

Counseling an Employee for Poor Performance? Consider Getting a Signed Written Acknowledgement

June 14, 2004

In an age-discrimination lawsuit against American Airlines by a former employee, the court recently denied American’s motion for a summary judgment dismissing the case. The court’s reason offers a lesson for managers and HR personnel.

0 comments Read the full article →

That $1.45 Million House May Not Look So Great Now

June 14, 2004

You’re a public-company officer. Your company’s been having — or will soon have — financial troubles. You’ve had a hankering for a million-dollar home in Florida. You might want to think twice about buying that house. A former officer of Homestore, Inc., who is now a defendant in a variety of securities lawsuits. recently learned [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

← Previous Entries