Posts on ‘July 27th, 2009’

Advertising lawyers are warning retailers about selling products that make bogus advertising claims, stressing that they can be held liable even though they didn’t make the product. Their warning comes on the heels of a settlement in which Rite Aid agreed to pay $500,000 in refunds over claims that its Germ Defense tablets were falsely promoted as being able to prevent and treat colds. Ronald Urbach of Davis & Gilbert said retailers being held liable for the advertising claims of a third party is a growing trend.

Internet accessibility of images amassed by governmental organizations, commercial entities and individuals is the basis of novel privacy violation claims. However, Internet distribution of images of both individuals and private places collected from public places remains lawful.

Even the judge overseeing the suit blaming Pfizer for Susan Bulger’s suicide has noted how hard it will be for plaintiffs lawyer Mark Lanier to win, given Bulger’s “personal history.” But the perpetually optimistic Lanier, who on Monday begins the first trial to test claims that Pfizer’s anti-epilepsy drug Neurontin increases patients’ risk of suicide, says that just puts more pressure on Pfizer’s lawyers: “If I lose it’s no big deal, but if I win, it’s like, ‘Holy Toledo, is the case that bad or are the lawyers that bad?’”

Microsoft Corp. said Friday it will offer European consumers a choice of Web browsers with Windows in an effort to settle an antitrust probe by the European Union. The software giant also promised not to take punitive actions against companies such as personal computer makers that install rival Web browsers. Microsoft has been accused of using its dominance to unfairly push its own browser, Internet Explorer, on consumers by tying it to Windows. The European Commission opened an investigation in January.

ABA membership isn’t growing at the same rate as the profession, according to its incoming president, a White & Case partner, who notes that the association doesn’t even represent half of all U.S. lawyers anymore. Tracking member revenue on a daily basis, the organization so far expects a decline of between 2,000 and 4,000 members this year. When the ABA gathers for its annual meeting in Chicago on Thursday, its board of governors will weigh a key question: How does the association get membership climbing again?

Although the underlying facts in the cases against executives differ from those against athletes, executives can gain some valuable insights into their own risks, and into ways to protect against those risks, by reading about the prosecutions of athletes, especially the highly publicized prosecution of Barry Bonds, says attorney Michael J. Shepard. However, few executives get the level of hero worship that 762 homers brings, so they should appreciate that their road may be rougher than his.