Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel

The FDCC promotes scholarship among its members to benefit the defense community. At each of our semi-annual meetings, over twenty papers and programs are presented on a wide range of legal topics. In addition, for over half a century, FDCC members have published law review style articles in the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel Quarterly.

This month's featured article...

Rebecca Levy-Sachs

This month's article by FDCC member Rebecca Levy-Sachs of Robinson & Cole, LLP, Sarasota, Florida is a reprint, initially printed in Florida Investor Green Book. With permission to reprint the article is entitled "Green Building and Property Coverage"

Article archive...

Winter 2009
"Saying Goodbye: Ending the Employment Relationship Without Getting Sued" by Latha Raghavan, Goldberg Segallas, Albany, New York. This article deals with the often uncomfortable reality of having to terminate an employee. This article is a valuable reference for law firm managers who are faced with the prospect of having to terminate one of the firm's employees.

November 2009
"Classification of Law Firm Employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act", by David M. Fuqua, Esq., Fuqua Campbell, PA, Little Rock, Arkansas. This article discusses the various wage and hour classifications and exemptions that may apply in a typical law firm. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of potential wage and hour issues that may arise in a law firm.

October 2009
W. Ray Persons of Atlanta, Georgia's King & Spalding LLP in "Responding to a RFP" offers advice and various "dos" and "don'ts" in preparing a response to a request for proposal.

September 2009
"Winning the Beauty Contest" provide fundamentals from both in-house and outside counsel on how to win assignments from clients. This month's article was submitted by Cindy Williams, David Bertschi, Craig Neckers, and Reid Manley.

August 2009
This month's article was prepared by Rebecca Levy-Sachs of Robinson & Cole, LLP, Sarasota, Florida along with Wystan Ackerman and Howard Zandman. "Defending Against Lost Profits Claims in Business, IP, and Insurance Litigtation" was presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting by the Technology & E-Commerce and Intellectual Property Sections.

July 2009
"Paperless Office: Myth or Reality", Michael K. Kiernan of Abbey, Adams, Byelick, Kiernan, Mueller & Lancaster, LLP in St. Petersburg, Florida and William E. Vita of Westerman Ball Ederer Miller & Sharfstein LLP of Mineola, New York, explore how attorneys, including litigators, have to rethink their reliance on maintaining paper documents and files in the face of the availability of electronic documents and files. Electronic filing, led by the Federal Courts, is the wave of the future.

June 09
"Indecent Exposure: Can the CDA Protect Your Website from Liability?", by James B. Thompson, Jr. of Thompson Goodis Thompson Groseclose & Richardson, St. Peterburg, Florida. Submitted by the Technology and E-Commerce Section.

May 09
"The Impatience of the Judiciary" by Kile Turner, Norman Wood Kendrick & Turner of Birmingham, Alabama, is an excellent article about the growing impatience of the judiciary with lawyers who abuse the rules of practice and do not reign in their clients who want to play fast and loose with the judicial system.

April 09
"Key Workplace Documents: What Every Employer Should Know" by Elizabeth F. Lorell, Gordon Rees LLP, Morristown, New Jersey, is an article that was a part of a presentation at the 2008 Annual Meeting titled "The Law Firm as Employer-What you Need to Know to Keep You and Your Firm Out of Trouble". In this article, Elizabeth gives an excellent review of the key documents and systems that every employer, including law firms, should have in place as part of good employment practice.

March 09
"Retaliation" by Marc H. Harwell, Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, PLLC of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the featured article this month. This article was part of a presentation during the 2008 Annual Meeting titled "The Law Firm as Employer-What you Need to Know to Keep You and Your Firm Out of Trouble", Marc covered the subject of employment retaliation, and his article is an excellent source of information to understand how to identify and prevent work-place retaliation.

February 09
"Mediation and Arbitration in the 21st Century" by Anthony M. Lanzone of Johns Island, South Carolina is a very handy primer on the benefits of mediation and arbitration. This can help you prepare your client for mediation and help the practitioner develop successful mediation practices.

January 09
This month's article, featured in a recent copy of the FDCC Quarterly, is by Leslie O'Toole of Ellis & Winters, LLP of Raleigh, NC. The article, entitled "Admitting That We're Litigating in the Digital Age: A Practical Overview of Issues of Admissibility in the Technological Courtroom" demonstrates how the introduction of technology is transforming the process of litigation.

November & December 08
The featured article this month is from the 2007 Winter Meeting and was prepared by three FDCC members - Timothy F. Hughes, Essex Insurance Company of Glen Allen, Virginia; Jean M. Lawler, Murchison & Cumming, LLP of Los Angeles, and Gerald A. Melchoide, Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith of New Orleans. This article, entitled "Unusual Forms in the Surplus Lines Insurance Industry", is a good treatment of some common endorsements, such as to exclude liability for assault and batter, used by surplus lines insurers to limit coverage exposure for unusual types of losses.

September & October 08
This month's featured article is by John R. Woodard, III, Feldman, Franden, Woodard & Farris of Tulsa, Oklahoma. John's presentation at the 2007 Winter Meeting entitled "Voir Dire in Transportation Cases-Speaking Up for the Knights of the Road"is an excellent primer for practictioners about how to use voir dire to create sympathy and understanding for your client at an early stage of the case.

August 08
The featured article this month, "Guns, Law Enforcement and the ADA: A Recipe for Disaster?", is by Kathleen L. Wieneke, a partner in Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, Phoenix, Arizona, who presented her paper at the 2007 Winter Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona.Kathleen’s paper deals with the difficult subject of how the Americans with Disabilities Act impact police officers and their employers with regard to the ability of the employer to restrict the officer’s ability to carry a gun when the officer becomes disabled.

July 08
The 2007 Winter Meeting featured this article by FDCC member Scott T. Dickens of Tachau Maddox Hovious & Dickens PLC of Louisville, Kentucky. The article, entitled “Reaching The Limits Of Liability: Tort Immunity For Asbestos And Other Toxic Torts" outlines the possible protection against tort liability, particularly in asbestos personal injury claims, afforded to employers by the applicable workers’ compensation laws pursuant to so-called “up-the-ladder” or “statutory” employer defenses. These defenses may allow a property owner to enjoy the same immunity from tort liability as the claimant’s direct employer.

May & June 08
The author, Roger L. Hillman of Garvey Schubert Barer, Seattle, Washington, provides in his article, “Defending Alternate Health Care Providers,” an excellent outline for the defense of professionals who provide health care services through alternative practices such as chiropractic, naturopathy, and acupuncture.These alternate health care providers have liability issues particular to their practices, with defense issues that require a defense tailored to the alternative health care practice.

February & March 08
This month’s featured article was presented at the 2007 Winter Meeting by FDCC member Seth G. Gausnell of Rabbitt, Pitzer & Snodgrass of St. Louis, Missouri,and was co-authored with Allison E. Stoll of the same firm. The article, entitled “Overcoming Objections to Digital Evidence,” outlines the various issues that arise as to the admission of digital product and computer-enhanced images and provides guidelines for counsel to utilize available technology to effectively present a case, while overcoming objections to the admission of evidence prepared using such technology.

January 08
For January, our article is from Charles J. Baker III of Buist Moore Smythe McGee P.A., Charleston, South Carolina, at the 2007 Winter Meeting entitled “Avoiding Burnout – Law Firm Sabbaticals.” This article describes the personal and professional reasons that lawyers and firms might want to adopt a sabbatical policy and addresses practical questions about how to prepare your practice to leave for sabbatical and accommodate the needs of clients in your absence. The article also contains a sample sabbatical policy.

November 07
Joshua C. Borenstein of Spiegel Sohmer Inc. provides this month’s featured article “Canadian Perspective on Inherent Risks, Actions and Remedies for the Sale of Unauthorized Insurance Products". This article, which was presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting in Sun Valley, Idaho details life and health insurance fraud perpetrated by agents and brokers as well as policyholders and providers.

October 07
Geralyn M. Passaro, of La Cava Hoffman & Puya, P.A wrote this month’s featured article entitled "Representing the Insurance Professional in the Sale of Unauthorized Products" which was Presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting in Sun Valley, Idaho. This article focuses on the proliferation of unauthorized and often questionable health plans that are marketed by unwitting insurance professionals. The article gives practical advice about how to identify a suspect plan and how to limit the potential damage exposure once a plan collapses.

September 07
This month, we feature an article presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting by Kimberly D. Baker entitled "Preparing the Company Witness in a Drug or Medical Device Case". This excellent article takes a step-by-step approach to preparing a company witness for deposition and contains important insight into the difficult task of preparing busy executives as well as 30(b)(6) witnesses. In addition, the article discusses the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on depositions of corporate officers and employees.

August 07
This month, we feature an article published in the Spring 2007 Quarterly written by FDCC member Robert D. Kolar of the Chicago office of Tressler Soderstrom Maloney & Priess LLP entitled "Scientific and Other Expert Testimony: Understand It; Keep it Out; Get it In". In the article, Mr. Kolar examines how trial and appellate courts consider the admission of expert testimony under the Daubert and Frye standards, offers advice on how to get expert testimony into evidence or keep it out in federal and state courts, and other practical tips for the trial lawyer. In the appendix, Mr. Kolar presents a fifty state survey of the standards governing the admissibility of scientific expert testimony.

December 07
The featured article in December, entitled "Strip Search Exposure for the Public Entity", is by Latha Raghavan, a partner in the Albany, New York office of Goldberg Segalla LLP. Latha presented her article at the 2007 Annual Meeting, detailing the potential liability issues facing municipalities on account of strip search policies and practices in detention facilities.