The birth of “On Contracts” was a result of the confluence of a series of fortuitous circumstances. In another, earlier lifetime, I had tried my hand at writing poetry on a fairly regular basis. Several of my poems were included in my high school’s literary journal, and I continued my efforts as part of my
A few months ago an attorney whose business development efforts were lagging said to me, “it’s not like they taught me this in law school.” While he was a good lawyer—and certainly wanted to make partner—he was reluctant to reach out to potential clients to develop business. Like many attorneys, he felt the natural tension
It was the day before New Year’s Eve, and my assignment was in Montgomery County. I spent the morning with a reporter from the Associated Press waiting in the lobby of the Magisterial District Court in Elkins Park. We were both there for the same reason: Bill Cosby. One of my colleagues at NBC10 had
Last year we profiled the life and career of alumni Dave Sykes. As a partner at Duane Morris, Sykes spearheaded the development of the practice of bankruptcy law on a national scale. In addition to his work for the firm, he also organized the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference, and the non-profit Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance
When the wolf is literally at your door and an unwelcome offer to buy your company arrives, what is the role of in-house counsel? That situation is playing out in real time on CNBC, trade journals and newspapers as Canadian Pacific Rail and its legendary CEO, Hunter Harrison, along with activist investor Bill Ackman of
For most of us the holiday season is a time of friends and family, lots of food and too many holiday parties. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most difficult times of year for the poor amongst us and one of the reasons I created the Donafy App. Donafy is a free smartphone app
Few groups within our society are as confident in our intellectual abilities as attorneys. After all, we excelled in our primary and secondary educations, attained high honors in undergraduate studies, tackled the LSAT, successfully ran the gauntlet of law school, and now we are trusted advisors to our clients on a daily basis in a
In this country, football is as much a part of Thanksgiving as turkey and pumpkin pie. Increasingly, the tradition of lounging around watching football games while gorging on food all day is also filled with fantasy sports strategizing. No matter which teams are playing, somebody in the room has someone on their fantasy team that
Since the economic crisis, public finance commentators have urged caution in light of the troubles facing Detroit or Puerto Rico. Recent changes in accounting rules for public pensions have raised concerns about risks for managers of those pensions under federal securities laws. The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) sets accounting standards for public pensions. It
In recent years, the percentage of corporate mergers and acquisitions challenged through stockholder litigation has more than doubled. In 2007, 44% of deals valued over $100 million were the subject of stockholder lawsuits; by 2014, the number was 93%.[1] Merger litigation has become both reflexive and ubiquitous; plaintiffs’ lawyers often file complaints on behalf of