Civil Trials


What Is Negligence and How Do I Defend against a Negligence Claim?

Nov 1, 1999

Introduction Nowadays, million dollar verdicts no longer shock the conscience. Indeed, the $2.7 million punitive damage award in t...  Read story

Tort Liability Basics: Remedy Alternatives for Successful Plaintiffs

Nov 1, 1999

If a plaintiff prevails, he will be awarded damages to compensate him for his losses. Damages may take the form of compensatory damages, punitive damages ...  Read story

Copyrighting Your Software -- Why Bother?

Nov 1, 2000

If you publish computer software, the single most important legal protection available to you is the federalcopyright law. But many software authors don't...  Read story

The Private War Of James Sullivan

By Craig R. Waters |  Jul 1, 1982

More than 1,800 product liability lawsuits have transformed Pacor Inc. into a legal battlefield.  Read story

Small Claims Court

Small claims court is a legal court of law designed to resolve disputes involving relatively small amounts of money in an expeditious manner. Unlike other...  Read story

The New Malpractice

By Craig R. Walters |  Jun 1, 1983

Courts are lending a sympathetic ear to the increasing number of employees who are suing managers for everything from age discrimination to operating in bad ...  Read story

Sue Me

By Daniel Williaims |  Feb 1, 1984

The fire that ripped through Jack Wanamaker's store in 1977 may have dealt him a devastating blow, but he could at least take comfort in the fact that he ...  Read story

Will Doctors Turn Patients Away At The Door?

By Donna Sammons Carpenter |  Apr 1, 1985

Preventive medicine has taken on a new meaning -- to protect the doctor from malpractice suits. Paul Huth, a lawyer in Detroit, founded Physician's Alert...  Read story

Copycat And Mouse

By Lisa R. Sheeran |  Apr 1, 1986

When you file a patent-infringement suit, about the only sure result is the size of the legal bill.  Read story

Changing State Liability Laws

Feb 1, 1987

Not only do states have widely varying laws dealing with liability claims, but these are in flux: some 30 states have made changes in just the past year. Thr...  Read story

How To Control Legal Costs

By Marisa Manley |  Apr 1, 1987

While you can't do much about the hourly fee your lawyer charges, there are other ways to keep your legal bill from bankrupting you  Read story

Victims Rights

By Marisa Manley |  Apr 1, 1989

How to defend yourself against frivolous litigation.  Read story

Contempt of Court

By Steve Solomon |  Oct 1, 1989

How to avoid litigation and cut legal costs.  Read story

Bankers' Suits

By JAY FINEGAN |  Nov 1, 1989

How small companies, victimized by their lenders, are fighting back in court.  Read story

The Year in Court

By Michael P. Cronin |  Dec 1, 1993

A brief look at 1993 court rulings on disability, firing, sexual harassment, and hiring.  Read story

Law and Disorder

By JAY FINEGAN |  Apr 1, 1994

How company owners can protect themselves from employee litigation.  Read story

Blood Feud

By Edward O. Welles |  Nov 1, 1994

The story of a biomedical start-up sued by an industry giant for theft of trade secrets, and how the start-up triumphed.  Read story

NFIB Ramps Up Lobbying Effort Against Lawsuits

By Matt Quinn

June 30, 2004 -- The National Federation of Independent Business is throwing its weight behind legislation aimed at curbing the number of...  Read story

House Passes Legislation That Promises to Reduce Frivolous Lawsuits

By Darren Dahl

Sept. 30, 2004 --Capital Hill delivered some potentially good news to small business owners last week when it passed a piece of legislatio...  Read story

Tort Reform Takes One Step Forward

By Rod Kurtz

September 17, 2004 Though perhaps not as exciting as the recent National Waffle Week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Ref...  Read story

Legal Reform on Bush's Agenda

By Jonathan Steiman

Dec. 17, 2004 --Along with privatizing Social Security and streamlining the tax code, President Bush hopes to stimulate growth by limiting...  Read story

Tort Reform Passes, But Groups Still Oppose

By Jonathan Steiman |  Feb 17, 2005

Feb. 17, 2005 -- President Bush and business groups earned a victory Thursday, as the Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation limiting c...  Read story

More Lawsuits Expected

By Venuri Siriwardane |  Oct 15, 2008

Business owners fear the uncertain climate will spur legal and regulatory disputes.  Read story

Options, Equity, Rancor

By Edward O. Welles |  Jul 1, 2001

Naveen Jain, founder of InfoSpace, is a charismatic leader who has been able to persuade talented people to join his growing company. But now, his critics al...  Read story

Risky Business

By Dimitra Kessenides |  Sep 1, 2004

The right insurance policy can be the best defense against costly lawsuits.  Read story

Fairer Class Action

By Anne Marie Borrego |  Aug 1, 2003

Small-business lobbies are hailing a bill that will make it harder to win a class-action lawsuit.  Read story

Patent Fending

By Mike Hofman |  Dec 1, 1997

A look at some famous legal battles between inventors and the corporations that stole their patented ideas.  Read story

Legal Affairs: Wrongful-Termination Woes

By Donna Fenn |  Apr 1, 1996

Three CEOs who have been stung by wrongful-termination lawsuits tell what they learned from the experience.  Read story

Charges And Discharges

By Marisa Manley |  Mar 1, 1988

If you want to avoid employee lawsuits, a good starting place is to understand recent court decisions about 'wrongful discharge'  Read story

On Ownership And Justice

By Stephen McKae |  Apr 1, 1985

INC.'s story "Feuding Families" (January) referred to Oakland Scavenger Co. as "a company for Italians; no others need apply." In fact, over 41% of the co...  Read story

Tips on Avoiding Wrongful Termination Lawsuits

Oct 21, 1999

Some companies deserve to be sued by an employee for wrongful termination, but a disturbing number of companies are victims of frivolous lawsuits initiate...  Read story

Street Smarts: A Breach of Trust

By Norm Brodsky |  Sep 1, 2002

Despite the recent revelations about high-level corporate larceny, most businesspeople are out to earn an honest buck. So it still comes as a surprise to dis...  Read story

Age Discrimination

Age discrimination is the practice of letting a person's age unfairly become a factor when deciding who receives a new job, a promotion, or other job bene...  Read story

How To Be Your Own Lawyer

By Fred S. Steingold |  Nov 1, 1982

Practical suggestions for using the small claims court for minor business disputes.  Read story

Information, Please

By Marisa Manley |  Jun 1, 1989

How to give useful job references without getting in to hot water.  Read story

Inc. 500 Company Files Countersuit Against Patriots

Dec 22, 2006

Dec. 22, 2006 -- StubHub, a San Francisco-based ticket reseller and a current Inc. 500 company, filed a lawsuit against the New England P...  Read story

Can't We All Get Along?

By Dimitra Kessenides |  Jun 1, 2005

As litigation costs rise, more businesses turn to arbitration.  Read story

House Blocks Attempt to Stall New Overtime Rules

By Allen Roberts

May 20, 2004 -- House Republicans have blocked a Democratic attempt to force a vote on the Read story

Lawsuit Bursts Balloon of Party-goods Chain

By Eric Hubler |  Jan 1, 1999

After losing its bank line of credit, party-supplies retailer K.G. Marx was hit with an unrelated shareholder lawsuit. Competition from discounters finally d...  Read story

The Perils of E-Mail

By Robert A. Mamis |  Aug 1, 1993

Tips for electronic mail users to follow to avoid litigation.  Read story