Litigation

Litigation Philosophy
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham offers clients a dynamic and aggressive, yet cost-effective solution, to resolving disputes relating to entertainment, media, partnership, employment, unfair competition, intellectual property, insurance and general business matters. We believe that litigation may not always be in the client’s best interests. In some situations, there is no alternative, and in others, litigation offers a tactical advantage. However, in many cases, the client’s best approach may be to control legal expenses and explore alternative ways of resolving the dispute at the outset. If litigation must be pursued, it should be done aggressively but with the client’s financial objectives in mind.

General Business Litigation
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham has expertise in mediations, arbitrations and state and federal court litigation (at both appellate and trial levels), involving issues such as fraud, breach of contract, negligence, employment, unfair competition, business interference torts, electronic transactions, employment disputes, securities fraud, partnership disputes and theft of trade secrets.

Entertainment Litigation
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham represents producers, managers, agents and talent in film, music, television, new media, advertising and video industries in disputes involving film finance, international distribution/licensing, misappropriation of likeness/privacy torts, credits, profit participation/accounting, artist/manager, copyright and trademark issues.

Media Litigation
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham handles cases involving libel, defamation and privacy torts, and counsels clients in crisis management.

International Litigation
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham has maintained a close contacts in the UK legal, financial, insurance, political and government arenas and has litigation experience in many different jurisdictions.

Entertainment/Media
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham offers transactional legal services to both entertainment companies and talent in the music, film, television and digital media industries. This extends to structuring, drafting and negotiating music industry agreements, including recording, publishing, producer and management agreements, structuring motion picture and television finance, production and distribution agreements, representing production companies, studios and others in their agreements with directors, producers, writers and actors, and advising digital media companies and content creators on agreements relating to the development, acquisition and distribution of digital content over web and mobile platforms.

Music
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham offers transactional legal services in all facets of the music business, including music publishing, recording artist agreements, management agreements, production agreements, independent label agreements, composer agreements, merchandising agreements and touring agreements.

Film
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham represents clients in all aspects of motion picture development, financing, production and exploitation, including acquisition and clearance of underlying literary material, copyright advice, drafting and advising on private placement memoranda and business plans supporting a capital raise, structuring financing via debt, mezzanine and equity financing, drafting security agreements and dealing with security filings, drafting loan agreements, inter-party and creditor agreements, collection account management agreements, sales agency agreements, notices of assignment, completion bonds, lab pledge-holder agreements, product placement deals, structuring financing to fit within co-production treaty requirements,  advising on various form of “soft” money such as tax rebates or credits, negotiating actor, writer, director and producer agreements, and acting as production counsel generally, and providing counsel on all forms of distribution worldwide.

Television
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham has expertise in all areas of the television business, from development through production and distribution.  This includes the negotiation and documentation of the acquisition of underlying rights and the hiring of all necessary personnel, whether guild/union or non-union (writer, producer, director, actors and below-the-line personnel), rights clearances, protection of copyright and intellectual property, obtaining production finance by means of coproductions, presales, advantageous tax structures and the like, obtaining E&O and other necessary insurance, license deals with US broadcast and cable networks, domestic syndication, sales to overseas broadcasters, and the domestic and international exploitation of all categories of rights in programs, such as licensing, merchandising, home video, publishing, mobile phones, internet use and distribution via new technology.

Technology, Internet & E-Commerce
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham offers legal services to technology clients, including software, Internet, e-commerce, wireless / mobile, gaming and hardware companies.  These services include: negotiating and drafting all forms of technology agreements, such as complex licensing agreements (including cross-border transactions), OEM agreements, joint venture agreements, work for hire agreements and other independent contractor agreements, software and web site development agreements, web site terms of use, and privacy policies, co-brand and joint marketing agreements, prospect referral agreements, fulfillment services agreements, service and technical support agreements and policies, non-disclosure agreements, advising on copyright law, privacy and data protection law, advertising law (including online contests and sweepstakes), conducting extensive intellectual property due diligence for clients interested in acquiring or selling businesses, drafting and responding to cease and desist notices with respect to copyright and trademark infringement allegations, handling domain name disputes, advising on pre-litigation intellectual property enforcement and antipiracy matters, acting as de-facto general counsel for technology companies, establishing best practices for the protection of intellectual property assets of clients, working with foreign counsel in bringing enforcement actions against infringers of intellectual property rights, and working with US and foreign patent counsel on behalf of clients in preparing and prosecuting patent applications.

General Business / Commercial
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham provides general advice to businesses from start-ups looking to raise capital to mature companies looking to grow through opening new operations or mergers and acquisitions. These services include advising on company formation and structure, drafting operating and shareholder agreements and other governing agreements, conducting legal due diligence on companies (including material contract review, intellectual property due diligence, and opining on pending and threatened litigation), drafting mergers and acquisition agreements and related documents, and negotiating and drafting commercial agreements in the ordinary course of a client’s business. The firm does not provide tax or securities law advice related to the foregoing, but engages and manages counsel on a client’s behalf to provide such advice through its network of outside counsel.

Insurance

Insurance Litigation
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham represents London Market and international insurers in bad faith and coverage litigation, monitoring/settling underlying cases, defending insureds, and subrogation actions.

Insurance Coverage
Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham renders complex coverage opinions to London Market and international insurers regarding general liability, commercial property, inland marine, personal lines (including homeowners), jewelers’ block, fine arts, non appearance/cancellation, AD&D, excess/primary issues, and garage keepers policies.