Featured Articles

Conflicts Cause Lawyers to Lose Legal Fees.

Gavin Craig
February 25, 2010 19:33

In a very unusual circumstance - I hope - the McGuire Woods law firm lost $12 million in fees for creating a conflict of interest. The short version of the story is that the firm brought a class action against West Publishing, the parent Company of BAR/BRI, and Kaplan. BAR/BRI provided bar exam...

AIG, Bonuses, and Remedies. Where should the Government Look for the Money? What is the Solution?

Gavin Craig
March 19, 2009 15:50

I pointed out in my prior post on this subject, that the employees that ran AIG into the ground must have acted outside of their authority to assume, on behalf of AIG, risks that could (and did) bankrupt the company. Only the Board of Directors could have authorized this activity. Anyone who has...

Lawyers Beware! Be Careful What You Say When You Refer a Client to Another Law Firm!

Gavin Craig
March 16, 2010 13:00

In an interesting case reported by the Contracts Professor, one law firm referred a client over to another law firm, and represented to the receiving firm that the clients guaranteed payment of $75,000 in legal fees. The fees were not paid and the receiving firm sued the client and the referring...

Recent Articles

Does the Risk Of Frivolous Law Suits Justify Shifting the Risk of Paying the Other Parties Legal Fees?

Gavin Craig
May 24, 2011 21:24

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article in today’s edition - May 24, 2011, by Ashby Jones, about the Texas Legislature and a bill that appears destine to pass, that requires the loser in some cases to pay the attorney fees of the other party. Apparently the proposed law would...

Contract Language is Always the Issue. What did the Parties Agree to do or, in this Case, Waive?

Gavin Craig
May 24, 2011 18:42

The Koncise Drafter Blog has an interesting post concerning the interpretation of certain disclaimer contract language. The aggrieved party - a lessee, claimed fraud when the landlord failed to disclose that there was a bad odor in the premises where the lessee planned to operate a restaurant....

Third Party Wins Case Against the USG as a Third Party Beneficiary.

Gavin Craig
April 18, 2011 14:59

It is very unusual for a third party to a contract to be able to enforce the terms of a contract. The first hurdle is that the parties must have specifically intended that the third party benefit from the contract. Usually claims of a third-party beneficiary are defeated at this point because there...

Can I Make All My Employees Managers To Avoid Overtime Pay; and Other Myths. Two Ways to Make Long Term Bad Decisions.

Gavin Craig
April 05, 2011 13:54

The Minnesota Labor and Employment law Blog has an interesting article on another large company failing to pay it’s employees for overtime work as required by the law. The company in this instance was Levi Strauss and Company. The end result cost them well over a million dollars and of course...

Should I Put an Attorney Fee Clause in My Contracts?

Gavin Craig
February 10, 2011 16:05

When preparing contract documents for clients I am occasionally asked if we should include a clause to award attorney fees in case the other party breaches the agreement. When a client brings me a contract and wants to bring an action against the other side, that is one of the first things I...

Can I Read my Employees E-mail, or Tap His Telephone?

Gavin Craig
February 08, 2011 15:08

This is a fairly common question, but it raises a lot of concerns. Each state has slightly different wire taping laws - by which I mean recording telephone conversations. TheWork Place Privacy Counsel Blog has a very interesting article concerning wiretapping and the Federal Wiretap Act. This act...

When are the Terms of a Contract, Unenforceable? Another Arbitration Agreement Case.

Gavin Craig
November 11, 2010 15:56

As the commentator in the Contracts Professor noted, the Supreme Court hears a contract case about as often as the Cincinnati Bengals reach the Superbowl. So in an unusual case - the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that challenged a provision in an arbitration clause in a consumer contract,...