March 2016 – Crystal & Giannoni-Crystal

Published On - March 27, 2016

Choice of Law in Legal Malpractice

We will deal here with choice of law issues in malpractice actions and not with choice of law issues in disciplinary matters. This latter is governed by Model Rule 8.5 (and its state equivalent), which provides that in case of litigation matters, the ethics rules of the jurisdiction in which ...

Published On - March 11, 2016

fgiannoni Bridging Common Law & Civil Law, International litigation and enforcement of Foreign Judgements

A “new” trend in the US: the jurisdictions where foreign law is “banned” – Part One

Since 2010 a majority of the US jurisdictions passed or tried to pass bills that to a different degree prohibit courts from applying sharia or more general foreign law if the latter has the effect to deprive the citizens of the state of the rights recognized under the US Constitution or the state c...

Published On - March 10, 2016

fgiannoni Tidbits of ethics

Dealing with foreign counsel and foreign privilege: Don’t forget that foreign in-house counsel generally do not enjoy the privilege

Documents and other data containing client information are transferred daily across international borders. In-house counsel and outside counsel based in the United States who deal regularly with foreign in house counsel need to be aware of two important aspects of such international communications. ...

Published On - March 7, 2016

fgiannoni Tidbits of ethics

In-house counsel’s possible trap: Be aware of the “business advice” risk to the privilege

A fundamental difference between in-house counsel and outside counsel is that a central part of the role of in-house counsel is rendering not only legal but business (or other nonlegal) advice; by contrast, advice giving beyond the legal remains a secondary aspect of the role of outside counsel. Inv...