Congratulations Mitch Jackson

I'd like to give a shout out to my friend and fellow attorney, Mitch Jackson, for his selection for a 2013 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year Award (CLAY Award).  Every year, the California Lawyer gives these awards to attorneys who made significant contributions to the law or the legal profession.  This year, 60 attorneys were selected.

Mitch is a litigator and the senior attorney at Jackson & Wilson in Laguna Hills.  Mitch helped secure a precedent-setting victory for pet owners when a court of appeal upheld a jury award to a married couple for emotional distress they were caused by the injury of their dog.

Mitch and I grew near each other outside Tucson.  We attended the same elementary, junior high and high schools.  We are both graduates of the University of Arizona and Western State University, College of Law. 

Congratulations Mitch!

Interviewed regarding Lance Armstrong case

I was recently quoted in an article in Lawyers.com regarding the civil suit filed against Lance Armstrong over his book. 
http://blogs.lawyers.com/2013/01/lance-armstrong-sued-for-lying/

As I say in the article, I'll be interested in the outcome.  

New Litigation System Is Working

We are pleased with the way our litigation system is working out.  Have a project management style approach to business litigation.  We keep the client informed of the progress of the case and meet once a month to discuss the case and the fees and costs anticipated for the next month. The client decides the course of the case and what actions to take.  The system is also a pay as you pay approach since the client decides what actions to take and pays each month in advance. Of course, the other side cannot be controlled but we can anticipate what it might do.

We are presently in a business litigation matter representing a large firm.  We were served with a large amount of written discovery earlier in the month.  We might have been overwhelmed.  Instead, we met with our client and developed a plan to respond.  We hired a law clerk and a contract attorney to help with the discovery and some research we needed.  We carefully briefed them and added them as user to our online management system.  They uploaded the documents they drafted for review and revision. Our client was fully informed.  We will respond fully and on time, and at considerably less cost than a traditional firm would have charged.  Our ability to expand as necessary to meet the needs of a case are a real strength for us.

We are still working on our systems but we believe that we can developing a new way of litigating.

Newsletter for October 2012

Published the October 2012 edition of the Morton Memo.

Articles on contract clauses and why you really need a trust.

The Morton Memo July 2012

Just published a newsletter. Articles on estate planning and telecommunications.

Click here for The Morton Memo July 2012

Indemnification Clauses - legal boiler plate that can hurt you!

I recently finished litigating a case in which my client had to provide a defense for another party. This situation arose from an indemnification clause in the contract between my client and the other party (the owner of a large project) in a construction contract. When a third party sub-subcontractor sued the owner, my client had to provide a duty to provide a complete defense and indemnify. Needless to say, this was very expensive for my client. Furthermore, my client wasn't aware that this indemnification clause was in their contract until my client received a demand for defense from the owner.

While indemnification clauses are common in construction contracts, they are also found in many other types of agreements. Indemnification clauses are often found in intellectual property agreements such as license agreements.

I have seen several in my career and they can be a serious trap. Often companies will slip indemnification clauses into contracts they draft. The terms can be egregiously one-sided.

I have read indemnification clauses that provide that one party must indemnify the other party for any legal action and arises from or is related to the contract or the subject of the contract. This means that if any third party sues the party that drafted the contract, then the other would be obligated to hire attorneys to defend that first party and pay any court costs and judgments - even if the indemnifying party had nothing to do with the legal action.

We always change those clauses to read that our clients only have a duty to indemnify if the legal action is something they caused. Furthermore, we always change the terms so that the duty to indemnify is mutual. The other party must also indemnify if the fault is that party's.

If you are signing contracts that have extensive legal terms, there is a good chance that one of those terms is an indemnification clause. Have an attorney review those contracts before you sign.

What business owners should know before going online - Spreecast

Had a great time today with my old friend Mitch Jackson on a Spreecast broadcast about the legal implications of going online.  We discussed websites, privacy, social media, protecting copyrights and avoiding copyright infringement.