Business and Corporate Law

• Business Disputes
  Ipso facto clauses in contracts. The article was just published by the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section in its online publication...
• Intellectual Property
  Bob has developed a national reputation for helping clients deal with the intersection of intellectual property and bankruptcy law, representing licensors, licensees and others on these complex issues. He has served as Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Technology-Oriented Bankruptcies of the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section, has testified before the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11, and is a frequent speaker on the interplay between bankruptcy and intellectual property law, as well as other aspects of bankruptcy law. He is also a regular commentator on bankruptcy issues in the press, having been quoted in
• Unfair Competition
  McCarthy on Trademarks & Unfair Competition § 18:48 (5th ed. 2017) (“Thus, not only does the trademark owner have the right to control quality, when it licenses, it has the duty to control quality.”). Trademarks, unlike patents, are public-facing messages to consumers about the relationship between the goods and the trademark owner. They signal uniform quality and also protect a business from competitors who attempt to profit from its developed goodwill.

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
  Companies in financial trouble are often forced to liquidate their assets to pay creditors. While a Chapter 11 bankruptcy sometimes makes the most sense, other times a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is required, and in still other situations a corporate dissolution may be best. This post examines another of the options, the assignment for the benefit of creditors, commonly known as an "ABC."
• Foreclosure
  Forced But Voluntary Bankruptcy. When a company is "forced" into bankruptcy, often what actually has happened is that the company filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition under Chapter 11 (reorganization) or Chapter 7 (liquidation) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in response to creditor actions. For example, a secured lender may have declared a default under its loan documents and commenced foreclosure proceedings, or an unsecured creditor may have filed a lawsuit or obtained a judgment against the company. In response, the company filed bankruptcy.