Read All About It: JD Supra Unveils Comprehensive Online Repository of Legal
Analysis on the Financial Crisis
Rich online collection of attorney articles, client alerts, analysis, and
commentary covering all aspects of new economic regime - from bailout bill tax
provisions to FBI/SEC probes and proposed regs of credit default swaps;
contributing law firms include Morrison & Foerster, Duane Morris, Manatt
Phelps
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- In recent weeks, as the U.S. financial
crisis has reached crescendo-level intensity, perhaps no group of
professionals has been more prolific with commentary and analysis than
America's lawyers.
The nation's leading law firms -- both large and small -- have been working
overtime to keep clients on top of fast-moving developments, with white
papers, e-alerts, practical checklists and conference calls explaining the ins
and outs of the Treasury Dept.'s $700 billion rescue plan, along with the
Troubled Asset Recovery Program, the Temporary Liquidity Guaranty program, and
dozens of other key initiatives and remedies, not to mention the workings of
credit default swaps, collateralized stock loans, covered bonds, naked short
sales and various other financial machinations.
Anyone trying to stay current with the scope of legal intelligence on the
crisis can either wear themselves out scouring hundreds of law firm web sites,
or get instant access to a current repository of insight by visiting JD Supra
(www.jdsupra.com).
The first site to offer free, user-generated and aggregated content by the
legal profession, JD Supra has just launched an open resource of timely legal
analysis focused on the global financial crisis. With a click on JD Supra's
home page (www.jdsupra.com), users are directed to a constantly updated
section (http://www.jdsupra.com/news/analysis/financial-crisis/) with links to
more than 100 articles written by leading practitioners in a variety of legal
disciplines -- securities, tax, banking and finance, SEC enforcement, real
estate and mortgages, employment and ERISA law, even the environment and
energy.
Each article comes with a summary introduction, link to the contributing
firm's profile, and links to any related documents. All of the content is
free and interested users -- from business owners to in-house counsel, law
students, journalists and others -- can opt-in to receive regular updates on a
monthly basis.
Among noted law firms contributing commentary to the Financial Crisis site:
Morrison & Foerster; Duane Morris; Manatt, Phelps; Littler Mendelson; Lane
Powell; and Clark Wilson.
A few of the published titles currently available include:
-- TARP and the Various Federal Tent Poles: Will it Be Enough?
-- Bailout Bail Tax Provisions -- An Executive Summary
-- What Next for Distressed Commercial Mortgages -- Lessons Learned
-- Executive Compensation Restrictions Under the Emergency Economic
Stabilization Act
-- NASDAQ Suspends Minimum Bid/Minimum Value of Public Float Rules
-- Credit Default Swaps as Insurance -- One Regulator or Many?
-- FBI Probes Role of 26 Firms in Financial Crisis
-- Fair Value Accounting and the Recent Market Turmoil
-- Summary of Cleantech Provisions and Tax Incentives for Renewable
Energy
in the Bailout Bill
-- Avoiding Lender Liability in Subprime Loans
-- Federal Reserve Board Liberalizes Rules for Investments in Banks
And like a good referral source, JD Supra's Financial Crisis site offers
recommendations for additional reading that go well beyond the law. Some of
the pieces suggested for general interest:
-- Proactive Steps to Consider in a Down Economy
-- Take Stock in Your Own House: Responding to the Subprime Crisis
-- Buying and Selling Financially Distressed Businesses
-- Hanging on to Your Building -- Working Out in the Post-Bailout Era
In a short time, JD Supra's collection of content pegged to the downturn has
drawn enthusiastic buzz among the legal technorati. "A must read of key
documents related to current upheaval in the financial industry," posted an
attorney blogger from Indiana. Rick Horowitz, a JD Supra contributor and
criminal defense lawyer in Fresno, offered his own unsolicited take in a
twitter posting: "JD Supra can't solve the financial crisis, but they can
provide excellent legal analysis on it."
"Even before the bailout plan was hatched, many law firms were ratcheting up
their output of written commentary tied to economic news -- but the pace and
volume of material has exploded in the past two months in response to
unprecedented moves by the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and numerous
government agencies, which have radically altered the regulatory and
enforcement environment," said Aviva Cuyler, who launched JD Supra earlier
this year.
"Our contributors have shared their best thinking and advice on current
financial events, representing the whole spectrum of legal practice and
reflecting differing points of view not generally available from any single
law firm," Ms. Cuyler continued. "This is exactly the sort of open exchange
for high-quality, primary source documentation and work product we envisioned
when conceiving JD Supra." She added that the company will continue to
showcase and update its bank of crisis-related content for as long as
appropriate -- material will also be archived for future access.
"As important as JD Supra is for providing universal document search across
all areas of the law, our crisis site shows how effectively lawyers are
exploiting user-generated content for business development purposes," Ms
Cuyler said. "Credentials and attorney bios are important, but there is no
substitute for informed commentary and freely offered legal smarts to
demonstrate capabilities -- especially in a crisis."
Note: JD Supra is the first Website to allow free, user-generated posting and
aggregation of content for the legal community. The company promotes the open
exchange of legal documents -- including court decisions and attorney-written
material -- to benefit legal professionals and purchasers of legal services,
as well as academics, the media and the general public. JD Supra is based in
San Francisco. For more, visit www.jdsupra.com.
Contact: Allan Ripp 212-262-7477 arippnyc@aol.com
Ivan Alexander 212-262-7488 ialexandernyc@aol.com
SOURCE JD Supra
Allan Ripp, +1-212-262-7477, arippnyc@aol.com; or Ivan Alexander,
+1-212-262-7488, ialexandernyc@aol.com, both for JD Supra
