CM Report: Business Practice Group Report (2007)
2007
Business Practice Group Report
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Articles in this report
Making Your Intentions Clear: Drafting Contracts Involving Potential Third Party Beneficiaries
Clausen Miller attorneys William P. Pistorius and Tiffany J. Tracy were recently successful in securing dismissal with prejudice of a breach of contract action against a client filed by an entity claiming third party beneficiary status. While it may have seemed obvious to the third party who brought suit against our client that it was intended to benefit from the contract, the court disagreed.
“Boilerplate” contracts are not usually mentioned in the negotiations leading to a final agreement, with the buyer and seller often not paying attention to the reality that the offer and acceptance do not mirror one another. Generally, this situation doesn’t cause a problem unless or until one party is alleged to have not performed up to their side of the bargain. Then, the difficult issues surface - was there a legitimate contract in the first place? And, if so, whose terms control?
Negligence and the Americans With Disabilities Act: Plaintiffs’ Use of ADA Violations as Evidence of Negligence in Premises Liability Actions
It has long been established in jurisdictions across the country that, in premises liability actions, an alleged statutory violation on the property may be used as evidence of negligence where the statute at issue is a public safety statute. In 2001, however, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals added the Americans With Disabilities Act to the list of public safety statutes, the violation of which may be used as evidence of negligence in “garden variety” premises liability actions.
OSHA Investigations Are Your Safety Audits Protected
The self evaluation or self critical analysis privilege is intended to encourage candid self evaluation without fear that your safety audits will later be used against you. However, courts do not apply this privilege to requests by governmental entities, such as OSHA, for safety audits.
Proselytizing In The Workplace: Is This Religious Freedom?
Prohibiting workplace proselytizing may be risky for an employer. Federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their religion. And, court decisions illustrate that employers must allow their employees to engage in certain religious observances or practices even if they conflict with the employers’ policies.
Trilogy of Secrets Part 1 - Can You Keep a Secret? Tips for Protecting Your Proprietary Information
Every company, including yours, has some proprietary information that gives it a competitive edge in the marketplace, even if it’s only a customer list. How you treat that information can be the difference between keeping and losing that competitive edge.
Trilogy of Secrets Part 2 - Keeping Trade Secrets Off the Internet
Today, practically every work station enjoys internet access. Information which once would have taken file cabinets to contain, and later a stack of CDs, can now be hung on a key chain. In light of these advances in data transfer, companies must be increasingly vigilant in protecting their trade secrets, or they will see such protection gone for good.
Trilogy of Secrets Part 3 - Protecting Trade Secrets: A Long and Winding Road
The Illinois Trade Secrets Act defines a “trade secret” as “information . . . sufficiently secret to derive economic value . . . not being generally known to other persons . . . and . . . is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy or confidentiality.” While the definition seems straight forward, the process in protecting a trade secret can be daunting and expensive.
