We hope you are enjoying your summer. Despite the recession's insistence that business comes to a halt, we have found hints of light in the global business environment that point to an uptick in commerce. As such, litigation also continues to offer more complexity. In this issue of GLOBALitigation we offer you insight into the judge's questions in In Re Parmalat Securities Litigation, as well as a helpful piece on litigation holds with respect to electronic discovery. As always, keep your comments coming. Thanks for reading.
- August 3, 2009
Parmalat: Liability for the Acts of an Affiliate
A few months ago in In re Parmalat Securities Litigation, 594 F. Supp. 2d 444 (S.D.N.Y. 2009), the federal District Court in New York City issued an interesting decision that deals with when a company may be liable for the acts of an affiliated company in which it does not have an equity interest. This article analyzes the Judge's question as to whether there was a genuine issue of material fact requiring a trial as to whether those firms had a principal-agent relationship with the defendant.
Richard E. Donovan, Michael H. McMahon - August 3, 2009
Meeting Your Electronic Discovery Obligations Through Effective Implementation Of A Litigation Hold
In a recent edition of our newsletter, we discussed the rules governing electronic discovery in U.S. civil litigation and offered some guidelines for companies to meet their electronic discovery obligations. See “Practical Tips for Handling Electronic Discovery U.S. Civil Litigation,” GLOBALitigation U.S.A.: Vol. 1, No. 4. In this article, we focus on a specific aspect of those e-discovery rules: instituting and enforcing compliance with a “litigation hold” when a company is faced with pending or actual civil litigation or regulatory investigation in the United States.
Nicholas J. Panarella, Wook Kim - August 3, 2009
Department of Justice Obtains Foreign Evidence Brought Into the U.S. During Civil Litigation
In June of this year, over the objections of Toshiba Corp., one of the defendants, the Court granted the DOJ permission to receive copies of evidence that was brought into the United States as part of discovery in the civil case.
Richard E. Donovan - August 2, 2009
India Business Law Journal Selects Kelley Drye as a Top 10 Law Firm
Kelley Drye has been selected in the India Business Law Journal (June 2009) list of "Top 10 Foreign Firms of 2009." The publication noted that more than 200 law firms worldwide have worked on India-related deals, transactions, litigation, arbitration and cases during the past two years. - August 1, 2009
"Educating The Court: From Scientific Tutorials to Court Appointed Experts”" For The Defense, publication for Defense Research Institute
We examine the challenges litigants face in cases involving complex scientific or technical issues and the need to provide courts with scientific instruction to minimize the likelihood of prejudicial, substantive and procedural rulings. We also discuss the merits of “educating the courts” through court-appointed experts and scientific tutorials.
Stephen A. Wood - July 31, 2009
Securities Plaintiffs Running Low On People to Sue, Begin Looking Abroad
Federal securities class action activity has slowed in 2009, according to a report by the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse and Cornerstone Research. Securities filings declined by more than 22% during the first half of 2009 compared to the same period last year, when there was a surge of litigation against financial services firms.
