February 2012

– Derek Allen, Attorney –

When I first started working in the legal profession, I was struck by the tone many lawyers used in their correspondence.  While many fighters claim that they’re going to let their fists do the talking, lawyers tend to let angry-sounding adverbs do the heavy lifting.

If you’re doing something our client doesn’t like, you better cease-and-desist.  When? Always “immediately.”  And if you don’t?  You better believe that our client is ready to defend her rights.  Maybe the reader doubts this, so we make it clear that our client is prepared to do so “vigorously.”  On the off chance that our reader is still standing after the well-placed immediately-vigorously combo, we land a haymaker – demanding that you respond “promptly.”

My initial reaction to receiving this type of letter often involved the words “immediately,” “vigorously,” and “promptly,” but those words usually described what I thought the writer could do with the letter (I’ll leave it to the reader to figure out the verb and noun).  Recently, however, I’ve come across two better responses to those ubiquitous demand letters.  Dare I say, they are a perfect blending of creativity and the law.  (Warning: contains some slightly NSFW language):Continue Reading How to respond to demand letters

Steve with wife, Debbie, and son, Max

If I may interrupt for one moment…

It’s not every day that we get to sing the praises of our wonderful bloggers, so I’m intruding long enough to let you know that Steve Baird was named an “Attorney of the Year” for 2011

—Alan Bergstrom, Brand Insights

The explosion of social media and its accessibility via the internet and mobile devices have given rise to a number of products that allow people to share a variety of things, including photos, websites, locations, and activities with their friends, family and others.  Two of the more recent social sharing products

The Stop Online Piracy Act (“SOPA”) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (“PIPA”) have been put on hold.  But the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (“OPEN Act”) is moving its way through the U.S. House of Representatives.  The OPEN Act would allow copyright holders to file complaints about copyright infringement on foreign websites

–Susan Perera, Attorney

Just announced yesterday, Minneapolis based Malt-O-Meal has changed its name to MOM Brands.

Malt-O-Meal which has been making cereal for almost a century, manufactures private label brands for a multitude of grocery retailers (as well as their own lines of hot and cold cereal and oatmeal) and today stands as one of