Navigating the minefield: legal ethics and healthcare law

Practicing law in the healthcare field is a daunting task due to the highly-regulated nature of the field and the increasing scrutiny of the conduct of industry providers, payors, and vendors. Attorneys must provide difficult opinions regarding matters with civil, criminal, and reimbursement implications and often are asked to represent multiple parties in healthcare-related settings. This article discusses some legal ethics issues for the healthcare practitioner and touches on some of the recent changes to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which were adopted by the American Bar Association's House of Delegates at its mid-February 2002 meeting. The authors conduct their analysis by applying the model rules to a number of hypothetical fact situations typical of those encountered in the day-to-day practice of healthcare law.     

Expert evidence: a practical guide

Legal context: expert witnesses now take part in many IP disputesand both experts and practitioners need to know the rules anddecisions affecting them. Key Points: we consider admissability of expert evidence, howto find an expert, appointment, how to change an expert, theexpert's duties, conflicts and the dangers of using an expert.It stresses the importance of finding an expert who knows thefield, will stick to it and communicates well. It is key notoversell or tempt the expert to oversell the evidence. Practitionersshould stay within the procedural rules, as mistakes can affectthe value of otherwise sound evidence. Practical significance: expert evidence is often decisive. Gettingit wrong can present a significant problem. English judges arenot slow to criticise any failure to meet the very high standardsthey expect of expert witnesses.     

船舶融资租赁中备用租约的法律性质和风险辨析

由出租人与备用承租人签署备用租约在船舶融资租赁中十分普遍,但业界对其法律性质和风险缺乏明确和统一的认识。备用租约一般采用船舶融资租赁或光船租赁合同的形式,但其法律性质是光租合同、融资租赁合同抑或为保证则应根据备用承租人在备用租约下承担的义务和责任的具体内容确定,不能一概而论。     

The practical labor lawyer: an employers' guide to strike contingency planning

An employer's capacity successfully to survive a strike will depend largely on the extent to which it has anticipated the strike and taken the steps necessary to defend against it. It is the purpose of this article to catalog the factors employers should consider in approaching an imminent strike and devising contingency plans. It attempts to focus on the types of problems, legal and practical, that frequently arise in strike situations, and suggests certain measures that employers may adopt in preparing for, and defending against, the economic impact of a strike.     

Use of the dead body in healthcare and medical training: mapping and balancing the legal rights and values

By exploring the central legal principles and issues regarding usage of the dead body in healthcare and especially in medical training, this article aims at drawing some general conclusions on the legal status of the dead body and the protection of the deceased's integrity, dignity and autonomy. The article demonstrates that the use of the cadaveric body for scientific and educational purposes involves a redrawing of the traditional boundaries between the decent and the indecent, making these acts acceptable that would otherwise be regarded as assaults on the sanctity of bodily boundaries. This is made possible by the fact that the underlying principle of dignity is not perceived to be of an absolute nature when applicable to deceased persons.