CORPORATIONS: When Traditional Standing Rules Do Not Apply to Shareholder Derivative Actions
Charlene J. Hicks—Senior Attorney
Standing, or the right to pursue a judicial action, is often viewed in black-and-white terms, that is, either a plaintiff does or does not have standing. In some situations, however, the plaintiff’s status cannot be
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ChatGPT, LLMs, and Legal Research
Lawletter Vol 48 No. 3
ChatGPT, LLMs, and Legal Research
Brett R. Turner—Senior Attorney
What Is ChatGPT? What Are LLMs?
ChatGPT is one particular brand of a large language model, or LLM. LLMs are a recent technological advance in how computers and humans communicate with one another. In one direction, LLMs parse…
EMPLOYMENT Disparate-Impact Cases Under the ADEA Are Not for the Faint of Heart
Nadine Roddy, Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
In a most unusual case recently before the federal district court sitting in Nevada, Barnes v. Kijakazi, No. 3:18-cv-00199-MMD-WGC, 2023 WL 3007904 (D. Nev. Apr. 19, 2023), a pro se plaintiff asserted a claim of disparate-impact discrimination against the Social Security Administration…
BANKRUPTCY: Eleventh Circuit Addresses Nuances in Preference Litigation
Charlene Hicks, Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
Bankruptcy preference litigation involves situations in which the plaintiff (normally the trustee) tries to claw back substantial monetary payments debtors make to creditors within 90 days of filing for bankruptcy. Preference cases are deceptively simple in form. However, complications often arise, particularly…
BANKRUPTCY: The Bankruptcy Court's Discretionary Authority Under Rule 1016 to Allow Further Administration of a Chapter 13 Case
Anne Hemenway, Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group, Inc.
It is not uncommon for a debtor who filed a Chapter 11 or 13 bankruptcy case to die or become incapacitated during the life of the bankruptcy proceeding. Under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1016:
If a reorganization, family farmer’s…
BANKRUPTCY: Exceptions to Bankruptcy Discharge for Fraudulently Incurred Debts
Lee Dunham—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
It can be frustrating for creditors when a debtor files for bankruptcy, especially when the creditor has put time and expense into successfully litigating a claim in court and obtaining a judgment. Nonetheless, with limited exceptions, even judgment debts are dischargeable in bankruptcy.…
CONTRACTS: Importance of Carefully Drafting Contractual Choice-of-Law Clauses
Charlene Hicks—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
It is common enough for an overworked attorney drafting a contract to regard a choice-of-law clause as boilerplate and therefore not in need of thoughtful consideration. However, the specific wording of such a clause may well alter the outcome of a future dispute between the contracting…
BANKING: Standing to Enforce UCC Midnight Deadline Rule
Paul Ferrer—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
As part of the check collection process governed by Article 4 of the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”), the “midnight deadline” rule of § 4-302 requires that a payor bank pay or return an item, or send notice of its dishonor, before midnight of the next banking…
CORPORATE LAW: Delaware’s New Universal Test for Demand Futility—A Game Changer?
Charlene Hicks—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
Prior to bringing a shareholder derivative action, the complaining shareholders must normally make a detailed presuit demand on the corporation’s board of directors or show the court that such a demand would be futile. In United Food & Commercial Workers Union v. Zuckerberg, No. 404,…
BANKRUPTCY: TALC Powder Bankruptcy
Anne Hemenway—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
Facing tens of thousands of claims against Johnson & Johnson’s (“J&J’s”) baby powder and other talc products, alleging that the baby powder contains asbestos and causes cancer, J&J put the talc claims into a separate entity called LTL Management LLC, which then filed for Chapter 11…