The Business Dispute Law Blog by Bill Garrison

Joseph Ratzinger, a defendant in a Texas suit filed before he was elected Pope Benedict XVI, wants to be dismissed from the litigation, arguing he has head-of-state immunity.  The case, John Doe 1, et al. v The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, et al., is pending before the U.S. District Court in Houston.  [via]

1. Cost. A sole proprietorship or general partnership can be set up very inexpensively. A limited partnership and a limited liability company are more expensive to set up. Setting up a corporation can be a very expensive undertaking.
2. Ease. A sole proprietorship is easy to set up; sometimes all it takes is opening up [...]

George writes a great law blog focused on labor and employment law.  He is also tells a mean joke.  Here is his latest:  The Consultant and the Shepherd!
A shepherd was tending his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a dust cloud approached at high speed, out of which emerged a shiny silver BMW. The [...]

Rees Morrison form the Law Department Management Blog reminds us of the ‘most telling and honest benchmark’ for legal departments:  TLS/Revenue
"total legal spending, its inside budget plus what it spends on outside vendors divided by its company’s revenue for the year"

The TLS/Revenue metric is best because it is a ratio that all in-house legal departments [...]

Many Texas businesses (who operate exclusively in Texas) are organized as Delaware LLCs (my good friends at Weblogs Work are organized this way).  The low filing costs are cited as the reasoning behind the selection, but the long term costs quickly outstrip the upfront cost savings.  And as Francis Pileggi from The Delaware Corporate and [...]

Normally located in New Orleans, the Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals has moved the court to Houston.  For the next two months all federal appeals from Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana will be heard at the federal courtshouse in Houston.  In early November the court will move to Baton Rouge (the lack of housing [...]

The Virginia Condominium Law Blog has an interesting Q&A regarding the definitions commonly found in a condo homeowners agreement (these are specific defitions for Virginia – check with a local attorney for your area).  Read the full entry here. 

Common Element:  means all those portions of the property that [...]

You can read his Obituary from the New York Times via The Legal Reader. 

Posts to this blog have basically been suspended since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast (I will start back up next week).   If you are looking for a way to help Wilshire Baptist Church, is going to be taking donations and money to Baton Rouge on Monday.   For more information click here.  Or call/email Mark [...]