Background On February 13, 2018, the New York Court of Appeals held that an individual’s private social media account receives no special protection from discovery.1 In the case, Forman v. Henkin, the plaintiff fell off a horse and sued the owner of the horse for negligence.2 The plaintiff claimed severe injuries including spinal damage, brain…
Year: 2018
Amazon and the Uncertain Future of American Healthcare
Healthcare spending accounted for close to 18% of the U.S. economy in 2017, far more than in any other developed nation.1 “Compared to 35 other [developed] countries, Americans have spent more on their health every year since 2000.”2 But in spite of all that spending, the U.S. continually ranks below even its most frugal peers…
Uber-Waymo Settlement
The Uber-Waymo1 trade secret dispute was one of the biggest intellectual property disputes of the last few years, with overarching ramifications for the race to bring autonomous driving technology to market. In the summer of 2015, it was reported that Anthony Levandowski, a self-driving-car engineer, began asking other Google employees to join him at…
Both Valuable and Troubling: Virtual Annual Shareholder Meetings
When thinking of annual shareholder meetings, one may be tempted to think of lavish, fun-filled annual get-togethers like the type Berkshire Hathaway puts together.1 But in reality, most annual meetings are not nearly as exciting or glamorous.2 That is not to say, though, that they are not important. Annual shareholder meetings are valuable for a…
Bitconnect: A Case Study in the Government Regulation Paradox
Within the past year, cryptocurrency has undoubtedly become the hottest topic of discussion in the investing world. A “collective insanity” over cryptocurrencies has spurred something akin to a 21st century gold rush.1 This is clearly reflected in the valuation of the cryptocurrency market as a whole. The cryptocurrency market cap increased by over 3,300%…
Wells Fargo’s Punishment: A New Approach to Corporate Governance or Just a Mirage?
Wells Fargo Co., one of the largest banks in the United States, has been punished by multiple government actors for its allegedly deceptive banking practices dating back to 2011.1 From 2011 to 2015, the bank’s employees opened roughly 1.5 million new bank accounts and applied for 565,000 credit card accounts that may not have been…
Avoiding an IPO: Spotify’s Unique NYSE Entrance
Startup unicorns, defined as those nascent companies with valuations greater than $1 billion, are increasingly undergoing IPOs and listing on national exchanges.1 Following the high-profile failures of the Snap2 and Blue Apron3 offerings, the next unicorns to turn public are being intensely scrutinized. At the end of 2017, digital music giant Spotify announced that it…
The IP of IPAs: The Trademark Litigation of the Craft Brewing Industry
On the same day that he sued MolsonCoors Brewing Company (“MCBC”), Stone Brewing Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Greg Koch released a video on Stone’s YouTube channel explaining the lawsuit. “They know they can’t buy Stone. They can obfuscate, they can co-opt our brand and our good name.”1 The lawsuit states claims against MCBC for federal…
PEM Entities v. Levin, Does a Circuit Split Really Matter? – Analyzing Competing Approaches to Debt-to-Equity Recharacterizations in Chapter 11.
Corporate reorganizations through bankruptcy can be a messy business. When the parties who have loaned money in an attempt to rescue a company have multiple interconnected relationships, it can become even messier and the job faced by bankruptcy courts can be daunting. That is why PEM Entities v. Levin, which was granted certiorari in 2017 only…
Help or a Hindrance: Long-running Debate over Dual-class Stock Continues
It’s a question almost as old as the stock market: should public corporations be able to use a dual-class share structure that preserves a key shareholder’s influence. A number of well-known companies including Ford Motor Company, Facebook and News Corp. maintain dual-class structures that grant outsized voting power to one person or a small number…