Eric Davis Nationally Recognized in October's Issue of The ABA Journal

Friday, October 7, 2011 by Bree Meadows


Success StoryEric Davis

One of our very own, Eric Davis, is being nationally recognized for his success in the October issue of The ABA Journal. Eric has long  been a leader in entrepreneurial expertise and business law, and is a strong exterior source contributing to our firm, Alerding Castor Hewitt, LLP. The article discusses about how Eric jump-started his career and the many roads on which it has taken him.  In the article, Eric considers himself a "hybrid" because he does not necessarily fit in just one firm....

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Indianapolis: The Midwest Silicon Valley (or is it Silicorn Valley)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011 by Chris Stephen
I don't often re-post articles in full glory, but I couldn't resist with this one.  This is a great article from the OMMA (a magazine of online media, marketing & advertising).  There are some great quotes from quite a few movers and shakers in the Indiana technology area.  As a technology legal counsel located in Indianapolis, it warms my heart to see this kind of great press for the area.  Personally, I think all technology firms should move or open offices here.   

Big hat-tip to Jay Baer for...Read More »

Seventh Circuit decides SaaS litigation case

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 by Chris Stephen

There is a new Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals opinion that is likely to have a significant impact on SaaS providers.  In Digitech Computers, Inc. v. Trans-Care, Inc. (link here), the 7th Circuit focuses on a SaaS agreement for Digitech to provide certain management software licensing components for Trans-Care (an ambulance and medical transportation service).  The Court ultimately upheld a breach of contract claim in favor of Digitech, significantly reduced Digitech’s damages award, and...

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Slingshot SEO raises the bar again and again

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 by Meg Shireman
Slingshot SEOOn Friday, May 6th, Slingshot SEO announced in a meeting with Governor Mitch Daniels and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard that the company will create up to 114 new jobs by 2013.  As one of Alerding Castor Hewitt's most beloved clients, we could not be more thrilled to see how far the search engine optimization firm has come since its 2006 founding.

In just three short years, Slingshot has seen a dramatic increase in employees from 9 to its current 65, and the companIEDC Press Conferencey plans to invest upwards of...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 »

You knew it would happen. Government wants its share of the Net

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 by Chris Stephen
Dollar SignVery interesting article from CNet regarding the proposal to be made by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill).  The article can be found here.   Basic point of the article is that Senator Durbin wants to add sales taxes to on-line sellers like Amazon and iTunes (although I would note that I think iTunes already has a tax component) for all purchases.  The idea being that brick and mortar stores in a given state shouldn't have to foot the bill for these new-fangled on-line superstores.  They should have to...Read More »

Facebook v. Winklevoss et. al. : The end has arrived

Monday, April 11, 2011 by Chris Stephen
The end is finally nigh for the ongoing litigation roller coaster that is the Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg v. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss saga.  This has always been an interesting piece of software litigation based upon (a) the personalities involved and (b) the scale.  It is safe to say that when you are one of the fastest growing companies in the country, you are going to face litigation.  In fact, that's why you call me.  And it is equally logical that when you are creating a website or working...Read More »

Profile in client success: Gauge Telematics

Monday, March 7, 2011 by Meg Shireman
It isn't often that business law firms have the opportunity to really celebrate the success of clients.  Typically, the day to day is more about filing regulations with the SEC, setting up corporations and the like with the IRS, and drafting contracts, agreements and subscriptions.

Always out to break the law firm mold, Alerding Castor Hewitt, along with KSM Consulting, had the privilege of hosting a launch party for our client, Gauge Telematics, last week to both honor their success to date and...Read More »

What Is In A Title?

Monday, February 28, 2011 by David Castor
Agreement titles are funny things.  In their best use they quickly describe the general subject matter of the contract.  For most situations a simple title is helpful.  E.g., "Services Agreement" helps differentiate between a contract for services and one for goods.  That is helpful.  Many contract titles are more descriptive (e.g., "License Agreement", "SaaS Agreement" or "Software Service Level Agreement" to describe the technology nature of the agreement). 

Where a client is using form...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 »

ALERDING CASTOR HEWITT LLP PARTNER TO TEACH HARRISON COLLEGE COURSE

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 by Lainey Scheetz

Indianapolis, IN – Mike Alerding, founding partner of Alerding Castor Hewitt LLP, is slated to teach Business Law at Harrison College this spring.  The course combines the understanding of legal theory with the acquaintance of the various forms of contracts.  Students will be taught the essentials of the legal environment of business, tort law, contracts, commercial transactions, government relations and property. 

“I am teaching because I enjoy the process of observing the improvement and...

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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 »

The Legal Landscape of Corporate Blogging - Part 1: Introduction

Monday, November 15, 2010 by Chris Stephen
I can read your mind.  You are thinking, "oh, great and insightful technology legal counsel, what do you mean by a 'legal landscape' and what does that have to do with blogging?"  My initial response is that, (a) you've asked two questions and (b) if you plan to use blogging as a component of your business model, you need to know what potential pitfalls exist.  That is the legal landscape of blogging.  It is made up of the hills and valleys that must be overcome or avoided to reach blogging...Read More »

New interface for Creative Commons search engine

Friday, November 12, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Thanks to the wonderful folks over at Compendium Blogware, I presented a fun webinar last week on the Legal Landscape of Corporate Blogging.  Don't fret, dear reader;  I intend to put together several posts over the weekend that hit the highlights of my presentation.  Overall, I discussed topics like privacy litigation, copyright, defamation, Section 230 protections, etc.  The fun stuff of blogging. 

One area that I discussed and have had several questions about is Creative Commons.  For those of...Read More »

Techpoint Summit 2010 - Innovation at its finest

Sunday, October 31, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Last Wednesday, I had the great opportunity to attend the 2010 Techpoint Summit.  For those of you that don't know, Techpoint is organization with the mission of "accelerating Indiana's emerging and vibrant tech sector" (source:  www.techpoint.org).  This great organization fosters and nurtures the technology sector that is developing in Indiana.  It brings the innovators together and gives them a voice.  And, their yearly summit is an excellent example of the work they are doing.  In the same...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 »

Are we losing sight of the "social" aspect of social media

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 by Chris Stephen
I know that you are expecting witty and poignant analysis of some new and exciting aspect of technology and / or privacy litigation, but that's not really the point of this post.  Rather, the impetus of this concoction of literary excellence is a realization that I had regarding social media.  In the last two weeks I have experienced the following (all on a large social media site that shall remain nameless but that has a movie):  (1) received birthday announcements and pictures of my niece in...Read More »