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The following excerpt is taken from Intellectual Property Deskbook for the Business Lawyer: A Transactions-based Guide to Intellectual Property Law by the Committee on Intellectual Property Law, Copyright 2008 by ABA Section of Business Law. Reprinted here with permission. The material contained herein represents the
opinions of the authors and editors and should not be construed to be the action of either the
American Bar Association or the Section of Business Law unless adopted pursuant to the bylaws of
the Association. Nothing contained herein is to be considered as the rendering of legal advice for
specific cases, and readers are responsible for obtaining such advice from their own legal counsel.
To request reprint permission, contact the Manager, Copyrights and Licensing, at (312) 988-6102.
For the complete excerpt, click here
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Message from the Chair, Charles E. McCallum
A college senior considering law school recently asked me what traits were
important for success in the practice of business law. I named ten traits
that seemed to me important for success in lawyering generally, and five
additional traits important for success in business law. In retrospect, it
is clear to me that my answer to her was simply a description of the
qualities of the many wonderful men and women with whom it has been my
privilege to work in our Section. Click here if you would like to
see my response.
In 2008, we will continue to pursue the themes of globalization and
professionalism in the practice of business law in a broad array of
meetings, programs, projects, and publications. Registration is now open
for the Section Spring Meeting in Dallas, April 10-12. A program brochure
is in the mail to you; the electronic version is available online by
clicking here.
I recently had the opportunity to introduce our Global Business Law Meeting
in Frankfurt, Germany, May 28-30, to the leadership of major law firms in
Copenhagen, Warsaw, Edinburgh, Geneva, and Frankfurt. I told them that we
would be presenting high quality programs in such areas as corporate
governance, corporate compliance, cyberspace law, and negotiated
acquisitions. I said that we hoped to attract many European lawyers and
expatriate U.S. lawyers practicing in Europe, as well as a good turnout
from North American lawyers. They were all keenly interested in our
Section and enthusiastic about participating in the meeting. I hope you
will plan to attend.
January is a traditional time for resolutions. I urge those of you who have
been less active Section members to resolve to get more involved. Start by
joining one of our committees. Committee membership is a real bargain -
there's no charge. Join several. Click here for committee
information.
I look forward to seeing many of you during 2008. My best wishes to you for
a Happy New Year.
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Charles E. McCallum
Chair, Section of Business Law
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Hedge fund investments in Chapter 11 bankruptcy estates and entities headed
for bankruptcy restructuring can present complications in bankruptcy cases.
Lawyers can benefit by understanding the dynamics of hedge fund
involvement, as it is playing out in courtrooms and negotiations, which are
discussed in this program from the Annual Meeting of the National
Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.
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Presented by the Committee on Business Bankruptcy
at the Committee's Fall Meeting, October 2007.
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This program discussed the proposal from the SEC on acceptance from foreign
private issuers of financial statements prepared in accordance with
international financial reporting
standards without reconciliation to US GAAP.
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The crisis in the subprime mortgage market continues to have broad
implications for the banking industry and the economy at large. This
program discussed some of the origins of the problem and the responses of
Congress and regulators to the crisis.
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Presented by the Committee on Banking Law
at the Committee's Fall Meeting, November 2007.
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The panel of distinguished regulators discussed financial privacy
initiatives, with particular emphasis on the investment and securities
fields.
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The Delaware
Chancery Court recently issued an opinion that should be of interest to the
many non-Delaware lawyers around the country who routinely provide advice
on Delaware law to Delaware corporations and their directors.
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The Michigan Attorney General filed criminal and
civil charges against two direct marketers who sent unsolicited messages to
minors whose e-mail addresses were registered under the Michigan Child
Protection Registry Act. The Michigan Act declares that it is the
Legislature's intent "to provide safeguards to prevent certain
messages regarding" gambling ... and other products from
reaching minor children of this state." In reality, the Michigan Act
places a wide variety of lawful
commercial business activity within the gaming industry at risk of criminal and civil prosecution.
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A discussion of the proposals
by the Securities and Exchange Commission largely geared to improving
capital raising and reporting requirements and the comment letters
submitted by various committees of the Section on the proposed
changes.
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A recent Massachusetts decision covered a broad array of borrower/guarantor
defenses to loan and guaranty enforcement. Not only did the court reject
many of them, but it showed a willingness to permit acceleration without
notice, and to use violations of the separateness covenants as a basis to
support the acceleration.
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Courts have been busy issuing opinions on the attorney-client privilege
("privilege") and work product immunity ("work
product") that affect the work of business lawyers. Below we discuss
several that are both recent and significant.
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Committee Spotlight
To learn more about or join the committees that contributed to this month's practice points, just click on the committee name below.
Section members are eligible to join the Section's committees at no
additional cost. Become involved or simply stay in the information
flow. It's FREE!
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