Legal Research

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Bankruptcy Practice
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
By John J. Rapisardi

"John J. Rapisardi, a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and an adjunct professor of law at Pace University School of Law, writes: Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit will hear oral argument in a closely watched bankruptcy appeal in In re Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC. This case has called into question certain well-established secured lender protections typically available in the context of the sale of collateral or other treatment pursuant to a plan of reorganization. If the Third Circuit affirms the district court decision, it will adversely shift the landscape for secured lenders, potentially eviscerating their right to exercise important economic decisions with respect to their collateral in the plan context."

Antitrust Trade and Practice
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
By Neal R. Stoll and Shepard Goldfein

"Neal R. Stoll and Shepard Goldfein, partners at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, write: This past September, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz and DOJ Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney announced the Joint FTC/DOJ Project to Modernize the Horizontal Merger Guidelines. The stated goal of the project is basically the same as it was for the 1982, 1984, and 1992 Merger Guidelines, i.e., 'to determine whether the Horizontal Merger Guidelines accurately reflect the current practice of merger review at the Department and the FTC as well as to take into account legal and economic developments that have occurred since the last significant Guidelines revision in 1992.' The project, however, raises the question of what, if any, marginal utility will be realized by the private sector by revising the Merger Guidelines for a fourth time."

OUTSIDE COUNSEL:

Duty of Honest Services: Past, Present, and Future
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
By Sally G. Blinken

"Sally G. Blinken, a partner at Venable, discusses the honest services provision of the federal anti-fraud statute's wide application in the private sector, the circuit courts' split on how best to limit honest services prosecutions, and the Supreme Court's review of United States v. Skilling and United States v. Black this term. "

TECHNOLOGY TODAY:

Free With Registration: Federal Circuit Lowers Bar For Declaratory Judgments
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
By Kelly D. Talcott

" Kelly D. Talcott, a partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, reviews a recent decision where the Federal Circuit looked at the 'totality of the circumstances' to hold that Acceleron's letters to Hewlett-Packard requesting an opportunity to discuss one of Acceleron's patents could be interpreted as implicitly asserting Acceleron's rights under the patent, noting that '[t]he purpose of a declaratory judgment action cannot be defeated simply by the stratagem of a correspondence that avoids the magic words such as 'litigation' or 'infringement.'"