How Law Firms Purchase Malpractice Insurance and What it Means for the Future of Legal Practice

First Aid Kit

Insurers have a number of tools at their disposal to change the behavior of their policyholders. This should be relatively unsurprising. Once an insurer indemnifies a policyholder from loss, it is the insurer’s money at risk, not the policyholder’s—if the policyholder suffers a loss, the insurer must pay the cost of the loss. And insurers hate to lose money just like you and me. It is therefore in the insurer’s interest to either demand or encourage policyholders to take more precaution.

SEC Investigations: To Disclose or Not to Disclose-That is the Question

Securities and Exchange Commission

Among the many important decisions a company facing a SEC investigation must make is the decision whether to publicly disclose the existence of the investigation. The decision may depend on the stage of the investigation, what is being investigated, and what is the likelihood of a bad outcome. While the weight of authority suggests that

The Uber Problem

Uber and Taxis

The so-called “ride sharing” service Uber has grown dramatically over the last few years. The company’s business model is actually quite simple: its smartphone-based app connects drivers offering rides and passengers seeking them, passengers pay mileage-based fees through credit cards that the company keeps on file, and Uber then takes a percentage of each fare

What If the SEC’s Administrative Law Judges Have Been Unconstitutionally Appointed?

Securities and Exchange Commission

For the past several years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has brought the vast majority of its enforcement proceedings before its own administrative law judges (“ALJs”). The SEC’s success rate in cases before ALJs has been a startling 90% over the past 4.5 years, compared with 69% in federal court over the same period.

Goodwill Indemnity: Another Approach to “Competition” between Franchisors and Franchisees

Franchising is a growing business model in the U.S. As franchising grows, however, franchisors can compete with their franchisees over the right to goodwill generated by the franchisee. I have recently completed a dissertation in Temple’s doctoral program that examines legal mechanisms to address expropriation of goodwill generated by franchisees, and proposes an alternative solution.