Will internal email die

Friday, December 2, 2011 by Chris Stephen
Initially, I will state for the record the apologies of your friendly, neighborhood Indiana Technology Lawyer for not posting a blog in a while.  I know that you, my loyal readers, have been waiting with bated breath in the hope that I would again grace cyberspace with my knowledge and wit.  And, alas, I have failed to deliver.  In my defense, this little technology law firm has been experiencing exponential growth and prosperity, which has dictated more work for yours truly.   But, that is...Read More »

Funding Law - Don’t Post Your Private Offering On The Internet – PLEASE!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 by David Castor
All securities offerings fall into one of three classes:

1.    Registered,
2.    Exempt, or
3.    Illegal.


Private offerings of securities are just that – “private”.  The key for any private offering is that the offerer may only solicit investors through private methods.  There are all sorts of rules around what constitutes private solicitations and to whom the solicitations can be made, but in general "private" means that which is not public.  If a business attempting a private offering makes a...Read More »

Entreprenuers Must Understand Cash Flows

Thursday, February 17, 2011 by David Castor
I have said it a million times since learning the lesson myself in a failed entrepreneurial effort a couple of years ago, the CEO of any entrepreneurial venture must understand the importance of managing cash flows and how to use cash flow analysis for the strategic growth of the company.

Trust me, I am all into the Six Sigma approach of throwing a couple of innovators together, rolling out a v1 product as quickly as possible, and slowly scaling the company from hobby phase to a successful...Read More »

New York guarantees lawyers to foreclosure debtors

Wednesday, February 16, 2011 by Chris Stephen
 The first caveat is that I'm sorry I haven't posted anything recently.  Work here at Alerding Castor Hewitt has been going like gangbusters and yours truly has been up to his distinguished eyeballs in work.  Trust me, however, I'm now dutifully committing myself to continue providing insight and humor as your Indiana Internet Litigation guru. 

Second caveat is that this post actually has nothing to do with privacy litigation, software litigation or really any other technology law issues. ...Read More »

TECHNOLOGY LAW FIRM – THE SEASON OF CELEBRATION

Monday, December 20, 2010 by Scott Kreider

Your friendly neighborhood litigation attorney at Alerding Castor Hewitt, LLP with a final post for the year to all of our business, Indiana internet litigation, and technology law clients.  Saturday, December 25th will no doubt be a date of celebration in many homes.  As you spend time with your family, remember how special the day is and all of the changes that have taken place in the last 20 years.

Some of you might wonder what I mean exactly.  I’m not referring to Christmas.  And for those...

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Two interesting non-Indiana internet litigation rulings related to 47 USC 230 protection

Monday, November 29, 2010 by Chris Stephen
I hope that you all had a thankful and fulfilling turkey day.  Your friendly neighborhood technology legal counsel stuffed himself horrendously.  But, I digress.  I know that I owe you all part 2 of my discussion of the legal landscape of corporate blogging, and I promise that I will get that posted in the near future, but two recent opinions in some non-Indiana Internet litigation piqued my interest and I had to talk about them.  Both rulings involve application of the liability...Read More »

Funding Law - Know Your IRR

Monday, November 22, 2010 by David Castor
It has been said a million times already on this blog – a CEO, especially one which is seeking funds from private equity investors, needs to understand finance.  Often a basic knowledge of sources and uses and cash flow analysis is enough, but in many early stage investment rounds, savvy investors expect the CEO to know the company's internal rate of return (IRR) - and why it matters. 

I meet many entrepreneurs who have served as VPs or middle managers before embarking on their entrepreneurial...Read More »

Techpoint's 2010 Innovation Summit

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 by Janet Monroe
techpoint summitAlerding Castor Hewitt, LLP is a business law firm that works with many technology start-ups in their formation stages and in assisting with the legal aspects of dealing with private equity investors.

The entrepreneurial spirit of our clients is inspiring, and I am looking forward to attending Techpoint's 2010 Innovation Summit that will be held in downtown Indianapolis today.

An annual event that Alerding Castor Hewitt is proud to sponsor, it will feature keynote speaker Nicholas Carr who is a...Read More »

Funding Law – TechPoint Innovation Summit

Thursday, October 21, 2010 by David Castor
Next week I am moderating the plenary panel at TechPoint’s Innovation Summit entitled Funding Innovation

Check it out: TechPoint Innovation Summit
 
Also check out the sponsors page.  I counted today, and nine Alerding Castor Hewitt clients are sponsors of the Summit.  That is awesome. 

This year’s panel members represent private equity investors, angel investor groups, successful entrepreneurs and grant funding organizations which look for funding and investment opportunities in Indiana...Read More »

FIRM GEARS UP FOR MUCH ANTICIPATED INNOVATION SUMMIT

Wednesday, October 20, 2010 by Lainey Scheetz

FIRM GEARS UP FOR MUCH ANTICIPATED INNOVATION SUMMIT 

Alerding Castor Hewitt, LLP is no stranger to the technology community - here in Indianapolis and in other domestic and international markets.  The firm highlights its position in the Indianapolis market by a commitment to this year’s Innovation Summit as the Plenary Panel Sponsor for the second year in a row.  The Summit is taking place on October 27th in downtown Indianapolis. 

David Castor, Founder and Partner of the firm, will serve...

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I Am Still Here

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 by David Castor
So I have been a bit behind in blogging these past few weeks.  With the new addition to my family (my 3rd son), life has been hectic.  But, I am back and ready to role.

As a general update, Alerding Castor Hewitt continues expand as technology legal counsel in SaaS law, funding law and entrepreneurial law fields.  We have some exciting new Internet-based and SaaS clients.  This month we helped a client negotiate a stock purchase deal and have handled no less than thirty SaaS or software licensing...Read More »

The interesting privacy litigation issues raised by a Duke student's sex-ploitation

Monday, October 11, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Ok, I'll admit it.  I was in a rut.  Although I found numerous interesting tidbits through-out cyberspace, I could not find anything that piqued my interest enough to put aside the billable hours of a technology legal counsel for a few moments to blog about it.  But, lo and behold, a college student with a sense of panache, an aspiration for humor, decent journaling skills, and access to PowerPoint and the Internet has become my muse. 

For those of you that don't know,  2010 Duke graduate...Read More »

Entrepreneurial Law - The "Must Haves" of a Good Business Model

Sunday, September 19, 2010 by David Castor
I guest lectured at Purdue’s Entrepreneurship Capstone course again last week.  I love it – for an hour I talked about my experience in entreprenuerial law, business law and funding law to Seniors in Purdue's entreprenuership concentration program on issues consider when structuring a new company.  Honestly, I thought I had them bored out of their minds (yes, there was that one Greek letter wearing frat guy who was asleep about 10 rows back), but I was impressed when we got to the Q&A time...Read More »

Memo from Uncle Sam: Die Hard 4 wasn't all that impossible; let us help you

Monday, August 30, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Another post that doesn't quite fit neatly into Indiana Internet litigation or privacy law, but that intrigues me.  BusinessWeek, passing along a Tim Greene article from NetworkWorld (found here: www.networkworld.com/nwlookup.jsp), is reporting that the U.S. military has issued an essay in which it urges its expertise in defense be put to use in protecting civilian networked infrastructure, such as power grids, financial institutions, etc.  The essay from Foreign Affairs sets out the concept...Read More »

Repost: Internet Rewards Program Class Action Survives Initial Motion to Dismiss -- In re Easysaver Rewards

Sunday, August 29, 2010 by Chris Stephen
I don't often blanket repost other blogs that I see, however, in this instance, I think it is appropriate.  Venkat, writing for Professor Goldman's blog, writes an excellent analysis of the recent ruling in the In re: Easysaver Rewards Litigation(S.D. Cal. August 13, 2010).  This is a very interesting case in that it covers several different, more traditional causes of action and analysis.  I'm interested to see what ramification this case is going to have on SaaS law and privacy litigation....Read More »

FTC settles case with paid reviewer

Sunday, August 29, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Back in October, 2009, I posted about the new endorsement / testimonial rules set out by the Federal Trad Commission (blog.alerdingcastor.com/blog/alerding-castor/0/0/ftc-makes-changes-to-blog-law).  There has been some development since that time, but mostly everyone is still watching and waiting.  The FTC did threaten to pursue Ann Taylor back in April, but otherwise, it has been relatively silent.

That is, however, until now.  On August 26, 2010, the FTC reached a settlement with Reverb...Read More »

Business Law - Hire Good, Smart People To Ask Good Questions

Sunday, August 29, 2010 by David Castor
I was reminded today of something told to me by a friend last year:

Good people who are smart ask good questions

Bad people who are smart ask bad questions

Good people who are not smart ask bad questions

 
In business we are always looking for answers – but what we really want are good answers.  Today the issue is never whether we have enough data (we arguably have too much), it is whether we can properly utilize that data to make better decisions.  I see this especially in my Internet Law /...
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Business Law - Consider Your Social Media Policy

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 by David Castor
I probably hate the word "policy" as much as any word in the English language, but I think company policies can be helpful - in both giving employees information on what is available to them and what conduct is expected of them. 

In the last couple of years I have noticed a rise of social media policies in company employee handbooks.  Most larger companies have Internet use policies stating that employees may not use company time or computers for personal Internet usage.  The main goal here is to...Read More »

ALERDING CASTOR HEWITT LLP: OUR CLIENTS, OUR PARTNERS

Monday, August 23, 2010 by Scott Kreider

I recently caught a glimpse of the logo for one of our SaaS Law clients, ExactTarget, while flipping through the television channels.  It was an episode of TLC’s “American Chopper” that first aired last Thursday for a bike built for Window World.  The bike was unveiled during the ceremonies surrounding the Indianapolis 500.  ExactTarget’s logo appeared briefly on the side of the pavilion and again on one of the race cars.

As cheesy as it might sound, I was excited to see one of our client’s...

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Never underestimate your staff, but rather, allow them to envision and strive for excellence

Sunday, August 22, 2010 by Chris Stephen
The ACH litigation team had its first ever (as far as I'm aware) litigation retreat this weekend, and as I reminisce on our time, I am struck by the realization that to be a successful business, you have to allow your team to envision and strive for excellence with you.  This weekend we had some great discussion and "vision-casting" on the areas of privacy litigation, Indiana probate litigation, business law, Internet litigation, banking law, SaaS litigation, and several other areas where we are...Read More »