Higgs, Fletcher & Mack LLP

QUARTERLY E-NEWSLETTER

Volume 1 Spring 2002

"Growing With San Diego"

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

» Special Legal Considerations for Large Commercial Property Acquisitions

» Planning for a Chapter 11 Reorganization

» Building and Protecting e-Commerce Business

» Protect Your Work: Copyright Your Clothing Designs

» Doctor-Patient Pain Management: When Doing the Job Becomes a Crime

» HFM Attorney, Family Man Leads National Group of Mortgage Attorneys

Welcome to Higgs, Fletcher & Mack LLP's first edition of its Quarterly e-Newsletter. Through the e-Newsletter, we hope to keep our clients and friends current on legal issues and developments affecting their businesses or personal estates.

Higgs, Fletcher & Mack, established in 1939, continues to grow with San Diego. The Firm has more than 60 attorneys, who specialize in more than 20 different practice areas. Higgs, Fletcher & Mack, consistently known as one of the best law firms in the region, has expanded its expertise in a variety of legal areas including real estate, bankruptcy, corporate law, tax law, family law, and business and tort litigation. The Firm will draw on its diverse base of expertise to give you the most current trends in particular areas of law or industry.

We hope you find the information in this particular edition of the e-Newsletter useful. This edition focuses on diversifying your investment portfolio, planning for a potential bankruptcy reorganization, starting an e-commerce company, protecting your property through copyrighting, and minimizing physicians' liability for undertreating pain. In future editions of our e-Newsletter, the Firm will address other issues and topics of interest.

If you have any follow up questions on issues raised in the e-Newsletter, or have suggestions for future topics, please do not hesitate to contact the Firm through its web site address www.higgslaw.com or by calling 619.236.1551.

Very truly yours,

John L. Morrell, Chairman

Special Legal Considerations For Large Commercial Property Acquisitions

Diversification of an investment portfolio often includes investments in real estate property. For individuals looking to purchase commercial real estate, David Warren Peters, a partner within the HFM real property transactions and litigation group, provides a level of expertise to guide purchasers through the process of acquiring large real estate holdings with the least amount of liability.

For individuals and corporations considering purchase of commercial real estate, a variety of tools are available to lawfully limit liability in transactions. Special considerations exist in structuring larger transactions. Solutions which might otherwise be cost prohibitive should be considered. Unlike a smaller transaction, where the principals will usually be personally and actively involved in the transactions, those arranging a larger transaction may not be those who hold the most at stake. Click here to read more…

Planning for a Chapter 11 Reorganization

Business financial troubles are usually not sudden, and according to HFM partner Martin Eliopulos, filing for bankruptcy or a Chapter 11 reorganization should also be a carefully planned choice rather than a sudden decision. While the current drop in the United States economy has put strain on many businesses, with the right legal advice, a company can survive from a well-thought-out Chapter 11 filing.

In the wake of a waning economy, we are already seeing signs that it may take a while to fully recover. In the meantime, many businesses are already finding it difficult to make ends meet as a result of losing out on much needed and much relied upon revenues in the wake of this decline. Indeed, any business in this predicament will be faced with many difficult obstacles to overcome in order to keep its doors open. One of the many options to be considered in overcoming those obstacles is whether the business is a good candidate for a Chapter 11 reorganization. Click here to read more…

Building and Protecting e-Commerce Business
Avoiding the Legal Pitfalls of Business on the Information Superhighway

Thinking of starting your own e-commerce company? While working out of a home office seems like a fast and easy way to start a company that will propel the entrepreneur toward the elusive American Dream, a number of legal considerations should be addressed. Many e-businesses find out too late that they should have utilized legal assistance to provide themselves the same protection as many brick and mortar companies. HFM legal counsel, Michael Hoisington, a member of the Firm's intellectual property practice group, gives his advice for the e-startup dreamers.

The Internet and e-commerce world is fraught with legal pitfalls. From domain name issues to bankruptcy litigation after the dot-com crash of 2001, the industry has seen its fair share of the inside of the courtroom.
While some companies that open for business on the information superhighway are e-versions of traditional brick and mortar companies, the majority are backed by small businesses and entrepreneurs who see e-commerce as their path to the American Dream. While larger companies are equipped with a battalion of attorneys to protect their interests, few of the small guys have that luxury. Yet it is equally important that they seek the advice of legal counsel. Click here to read more…

Protect Your Work: Copyright Your Clothing Designs

A little known area of expertise of the HFM intellectual property practice group is fashion copyrighting. Located just south of the West Coast fashion mecca of Los Angeles, San Diego is home to the Fashion Design Institute and attorney Charles F. Reidelbach and his HFM staff who have the expertise to help the future Ralph Laurens of the world protect their ideas and designs.

How often do you see knock-offs or imitations of pricier designer clothes? The piracy of design is commonplace in the fashion industry today, partly due to advances in technology and mostly due to inconsistencies in the law. However, protections in law do exist. Federal Copyright Law separates clothing into two categories, fabric design and dress design, though they are often referred to by the same name. Fabric design is the image imprinted on a fabric, for example, a sunflower. The sunflower design or pattern can either appear once on the fabric or multiple times. On the other hand, dress design graphically sets forth the shape, style, cut and dimensions for converting fabric into a finished clothing garment. Click here to read more…

Doctor-Patient Pain Management: When Doing the Job Becomes a Crime

From dress designs to medical malpractice defense, the HFM team provides a wide variety of expertise. Maintaining a knowledge of current events and decisions within the practice group industry can affect the successfulness of any defense. Clients of HFM partner William Miller and the other attorneys within the Firm's healthcare law and litigation practice group are serviced by some of the most knowledgeable and active attorneys in San Diego. Miller is former Chairperson of the San Diego County Medical Society and San Diego County Bar Association Joint Medical-Legal Commission and he provides insight to the newest form of medical malpractice cases taking shape under the Elder Abuse Act.

Experts in the field of pain management have long held that the undertreatment of pain is a major public health problem. Because of its subjective nature, an effective system for measuring and monitoring what physicians should be doing to relieve their patients' pain has yet to be developed. However, a recent decision by a California jury may spur doctors and others in the health care profession to fast track the adoption of standards, in order to avoid costly liability. Click here to read more…

HFM Attorney, Family Man Leads National Group of Mortgage Attorneys

With nearly 30 years at Higgs, Fletcher & Mack LLP (HFM) and a 15-year stint in one of the top professional groups in the legal industry, you might wonder how Tim Konold had time to raise a family of seven.

His reputation as a real estate finance attorney led to his induction to the American College of Mortgage Attorneys over 15 years ago. This trade organization, which consists of just 400 specialists in real estate mortgage law across the United States, is dedicated to furthering the relationship between lenders and their counsel, encouraging professional responsibility, and influencing legislation related to the industry. Click here to read more...