Federal judge considers ‘burning’ legal question: Does ‘attorney fee’ need apostrophe and ‘s’? Read more

MERIT A DIFFERENT RESPONSE – Companies respond to lawsuits by saying they are “without merit.” It’s what they do. But a new federal court ruling holding a corporate defendant accountable for making the statement when its leadership knew the suit had legitimacy could make this knee-jerk response a thing of the past. As Law.com’s Chris O’Malley reports, the July ruling involving Cambridge, Massachusetts, software company Pegasystems is fueling worries that companies need to be more cautious about making that statement, particularly involving securities-related matters. “There are going to be a lot of client alerts sent out to corporate law firms,” Adam Pritchard, a professor of corporate and securities law at the University of Michigan, said. ”General counsel of public companies are going to pay attention to decisions like this.”