Category Archives: General Interest

Recall that the current vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court is having an impact on both a variety of business interests and agricultural issues (click here and here for more detail). With respect to recent political developments on the vacancy, USA Today writer Gregory Korte reported yesterday that, “President Obama met with top Senate leaders Tuesday… Continue Reading

Ruth Simon reported in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal that, “Crowdfunding websites, such as YouCaring.com and GoFundMe.com, are for-profit businesses that make it easy for people to raise money for a variety of causes, such as funeral expenses and medical bills. The sites are gaining in popularity, raising $1.9 billion last year through campaigns, with giving… Continue Reading

Joshua Jamerson and Brent Kendall reported last week at The Wall Street Journal Online that, “The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has cast a cloud over the outcome of class-action lawsuits that target businesses, leading Dow Chemical Co. to pay $835 million to settle a case rather than risk an appeal without the… Continue Reading

David Lazarus noted in the business section of today’s Los Angeles Times that, “If you’ve got a credit card, you’ve been forced to kiss away your constitutional right to sue the card issuer. But it’s looking increasingly likely that this is about to change. “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is examining so-called arbitration clauses in… Continue Reading

Linda A. Friedman penned an article in the February edition of the ABA’s Business Law Today (“Online Use of Third Party Trademarks: Can Your Trademark Be Used without Your Permission?“) where she noted that, “The explosion of user-generated content on the Internet, not to mention the proliferation of domain name registration options and the competition… Continue Reading

Brent Kendall reported this week at The Wall Street Journal Online that, “The Supreme Court considered whether to make it easier to win larger financial damages in patent-infringement cases, an issue that has split the Obama administration from a number of leading technology companies. “The justices during an hourlong oral argument spent much of their… Continue Reading

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal reported that, “Investor Jeffrey Osher sat on his holdings in prepaid-debit-card issuer Green Dot Corp. for three years before he lost his patience. “In December, after a string of disappointing earnings reports that left the company’s shares down sharply, the hedge-fund manager met with the board and asked… Continue Reading

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that, “The odds of businesses owned by women winning a federal contract are about 21 percent lower than for otherwise similar companies, and years of effort to increase those chances have barely made an impact, according to a new report from the Commerce Department.” The Times article explained… Continue Reading

A recent Wall Street Journal article pointed out that, “Companies might add something new to their annual reports: a rating of their workers’ health. “A group of employers, including International Business Machines Corp., PepsiCo Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, are weighing how to publicly report—and measure—the health of their workforce. Such ratings would give shareholders,… Continue Reading

A recent update (“Supreme Court Again Confirms That Class Action Arbitration Waivers Are Valid”) at Business Law Today, a publication from the American Bar Association, stated that, “In DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, No. 14-462 (Dec. 14, 2015), the U.S. Supreme Court faced yet another case involving the arbitration of consumer disputes. The court in DIRECTV… Continue Reading