Many people seem confused by the decision of the US Patent & Trademark Office to rescind the registered trademark "Redskins" owned by the Washington football team. So let's try to analyze it in my usual three paragraphs. For those who don't know, there has been...
An important appeals court this month has us all talking again about SEC settlements with big banks. Several years ago a lower court rejected a $285 million settlement with Citibank over alleged misleading claims in the mortgage business. The federal judge reviewing the settlement said...
The Legal Times tells us that Clearspire started with much promise, but a few weeks ago the "virtual" law firm closed with 25 lawyers on staff. The idea was to have a firm with no office staffed by former big firm attorneys that keep fees low...
Philadelphia had a problem. Only about 13% of folks in the City of Brotherly Love told to show up for jury duty did so on their scheduled day. So the city recently recommissioned its Juror Scofflaw Court and, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, hauled its...
Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) It took until just before Memorial Day, but apropos timing as the House Financial Services Committee, on May 22, officially approved 11 bills to help small businesses with capital formation and growth. Many on the Hill are fashioning this group of bills...
We all know the stories. Zuckerberg, Gates, Jobs, Dell, all geniuses who dropped out of college and become happy billionaires (but are they really happy?). What did they miss? Something important? Would more courses in philosophy or anthropology or psychology have improved their ability to...
The first chapter of my latest book, The Entrepreneur's Growth Startup Handbook (John Wiley & Sons/Bloomberg Press 2013) asks the question above. In my over 25 years as a lawyer and entrepreneur myself, working with hundreds of business owners and watching them make the same mistakes that...
Vive La Difference A classic book, Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus, acknowledges that we are indeed different from each other. In caveperson days, the men were hunters, the women gatherers. This has led to the perception that men tend to do well focusing intensely...
It only took about 46 years, but a surviving member of the barely-known 60s band Spirit has sued rock hall of famers Led Zeppelin claiming the legendary opening riff in the overwhelmingly iconic "Stairway to Heaven" was stolen from a Spirit song called "Taurus." Spirit...
Learning the Value of Time Shifting I have worked with so many amazing women over my legal career. One from a number of years ago stands out. When she came to me early in her career she had a young daughter and was raising her on...