Business divorces are often messy. The reasons for business divorces vary – personality-driven disputes, disagreements over business direction, or timing and distribution of earnings. Whatever the reason, when controlling...more
Situations involving family dynamics, significant wealth, and fiduciary duties can be ripe for conflict. Disputes frequently arise among owners and managers of closely held businesses, family office constituencies, and other...more
Donald Trump’s motion for a new trial and to set aside the jury’s verdict in his defamation case lacks merit, a New York judge recently ruled. Citing the frequency with which Trump has made defamatory statements, the...more
The First Amendment permits employers engaged in artistic expression to disassociate from employees who make inflammatory statements, Disney argued in a recent motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Gina Carano, an actress in...more
With 2024 underway, our team highlights 10 of the most pressing legal issues facing the media and entertainment industry this year.
In 2024, media and entertainment businesses will focus on whether the longstanding tenet...more
3/27/2024
/ Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc v Goldsmith ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Authorship ,
Business Development ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Office ,
Defamation ,
Entertainment Industry ,
EU ,
Fair Use ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Jack Daniels Properties Inc v VIP Products LLC ,
Machine Learning ,
Media ,
MLB ,
NBA ,
NHL ,
SCOTUS ,
UK ,
USPTO
Allegations of defamation and conspiracy to defame alone are insufficient to establish the crime-fraud exception and defeat the attorney-client privilege, the Illinois Appellate Court recently held.
In MacDonald v....more
3/12/2024
/ Appellate Courts ,
Arbitration ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Crime-Fraud Exception ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Defamation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Forensic Accounting ,
Illinois ,
Motion to Compel ,
Privileged Communication ,
Wrongful Termination
A recent $83.3 million verdict against Donald Trump for continued defamatory statements underscores what would seem to be an intuitive best practice to minimize defamation liability: once a defendant has been found liable for...more
A New York court once again declined to dismiss Smartmatic’s defamation lawsuit against Fox Corporation over Fox News’s coverage of Donald Trump’s “Big Lie.”
The court found that the parent company, Fox Corporation, could...more
On January 1, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) went into effect. Among other things, the CTA requires entities organized under state law (“reporting companies”) to provide certain ownership information to the Financial...more
This post explains an exception to the attorney-client privilege that is recognized in many jurisdictions to allow minority owners of LLCs and corporations to attempt to obtain the privileged communications of their LLC or...more
Now is a good time to review your trust instruments, family office documents, or company’s governing documents and succession plans to ensure you are prepared to deal with whatever the future brings before it happens....more
In certain circumstances, shareholders of corporations and members of limited liability companies can obtain confidential communications between corporate management and the company’s attorney that would otherwise be...more
7/18/2023
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Beneficiaries ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Management ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Jurisdiction ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Minority-Owned Businesses ,
Shareholders ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
When corporate management requests or obtains legal advice from corporate counsel, management expects those communications to be protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege, and usually they are. But there are...more
Immediately before opening statements were to begin, Dominion settled its defamation lawsuit against Fox News for its coverage of Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” about the 2020 presidential election for a landmark $787.5...more
This post explains the rules that apply to Illinois corporations and business entities organized in other jurisdictions.
In most jurisdictions, shareholders and LLC members generally do not have the right to obtain...more
Directors owe fiduciary duties to the company. To make informed decisions and satisfy those fiduciary duties, directors generally have broad access to the company’s books and records, with a few exceptions.
A corporate...more
Those with ownership stakes in privately held businesses, partnerships, or family offices need to closely collaborate with and trust others. When disagreements and disputes over rights and responsibilities arise, individual...more
This post explains when minority shareholders may owe fiduciary duties and steps that shareholders can take to eliminate any fiduciary duties they might owe....more
A recent court ruling related to Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election serves as an evergreen reminder that the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine do not insulate documents and...more
Smartmatic’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News for its coverage of Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” may proceed to discovery after a New York judge denied Fox News’s motion to dismiss, citing the “litany of outrageous claims” about...more