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Free: The Rankings, Deconstructed and Examined

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

By Richard D. Geiger

"Richard D. Geiger, associate dean of enrollment and communications at Cornell Law School, writes: Whether a school openly embraces the ranking of law schools or publicly decries it while working feverishly behind the scenes to climb above its peers, no one can credibly dispute that rankings are now fully ingrained as part of law school operations and culture. What connection the criteria used in those rankings has to the sensible goal of holding law schools to high standards is another question."

Wills, Estates and Surrogate's Practice

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

By Susan Peckett Witkin

"Susan Peckett Witkin, a partner at Blank Rome, writes that every attorney who drafts wills and trusts knows how important it is to draft an instrument's tax apportionment clause carefully, both to avoid imposition of an inadvertent additional tax liability and to avoid a potentially unfair - or at least unintended - allocation of the tax burden among the estate's beneficiaries. As two recent cases illustrate, she cautions, a will's tax apportionment clause can raise both expected and unexpected controversies."

New York Court of Appeals Roundup

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

By Roy L. Reardon and Mary Elizabeth McGarry

"Roy L. Reardon and Mary Elizabeth McGarry, partners at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, write that juries were the subject of two of the cases that they discuss this month. In the first, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court's refusal to poll a civil jury upon request is never harmless, and in the other, the Court reversed a conviction due to the imbalanced nature of the improvised deadlock charge given by a trial judge whose similar instruction in another case also resulted in reversal of a conviction."

OUTSIDE COUNSEL:

Insurance for Sexual Abuse Claims In Light of Pending Legislation

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

By Stephen A. Dvorkin

"Stephen A. Dvorkin, a partner at Dickstein Shapiro, writes that with the political make-up of the state Senate having changed, some are predicting that the previously-defeated legislation creating a one-year window for civil suits by alleged victims of sexual abuse will pass. If so, religious institutions and schools that are named as defendants for the conduct of clergy or teachers will need to take a close look at current "claims-made" insurance policies, and expired "occurrence"-based policies that covered the period when the alleged abuse occurred."

REAL ESTATE TRENDS:

Free With Registration: Beyond the Workout: Taking Control of Troubled Properties

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

By Jeffrey B. Steiner and Zachary Samton

"Jeffrey B. Steiner, a member of DLA Piper, and Zachary Samton, counsel to the firm, examine the use of a friendly-foreclosure alternative that some lenders are employing to take control of defaulted properties during the pendency of a foreclosure. The friendly-foreclosure route combines elements of both standard foreclosure and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions and thereby offers lenders a good option for taking ownership of real property collateral burdened with subordinate mechanic's liens, subordinate mortgages or other impediments to title".