Technology

The chess world has been turned upside down, by a 19-year-old champion who defeated the perennial greatest in the world, Magnus Carlsen. After the teenager defeated Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup tournament (“Cup”) in September of 2022 in St. Louis, Missouri, rumors swirled about alleged cheating by the teenager, Hans Neiman, the champion of the important chess tournament. While it was not the first time Carlsen was defeated by Nieman, it was the first time that happened at an officially sanctioned event. While Carlsen never directly accused Nieman of cheating, he is purported to have done so in so many words.
Continue Reading Chess World in Uproar as Defamation Lawsuit Filed Against Reigning World Champion Carlsen

 A Pennsylvania Appeals Court considered the extent that a purported arbitration agreement is enforceable for riders on the Uber app. It is increasingly commonplace for users to “agree” to clickthrough, scroll through, or hyperlinked terms and conditions, in order to use an app or other sort of online program. While these sorts of agreements are generally considered to be acceptable, there may be certain provisions which require further attention.Shannon Chilutti filed a lawsuit against Uber after being injured while riding in the car. Uber contends however, that Chilutti may not file a lawsuit and request a jury trial because of
Continue Reading Court Finds Uber Arbitration Agreement Invalid, In-App Terms and Conditions Not Enough

Tuesday morning, the Department of Labor announced new regulations pertaining to how gig workers are classified. The battle has often taken place in the past at the state level, for example, ride share companies recently invested heavily to defeat propositions in California which would have required that drivers for Uber and Lyft be classified as traditional employees, rather than independent contractors. The regulation will require a review period and comments will be received. The 184 page proposed regulation includes a new framework, which departs from the Trump-era test, which primarily considered 1.) the nature and degree of control over the work;
Continue Reading Biden Administration Looks to Change Who is Considered a Gig Worker Under Proposed DOL Regulation

A privacy suit against Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions was removed to federal court last week, six weeks after it was originally filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The complaint was filed by several Chicago-area activists, who are objecting to Lexis Nexus’s bulk sale of personally identifiable data, specifically regarding the sale of this information to law enforcement agencies.Lexis Nexis offers data available to purchase, the company claims the information is 99% accurate, and that there are 276 million so-called “Lexis IDs.” Put into context, there are just over 258 million American adults, according to the 2020 census.The complaint, primarily
Continue Reading New Complaint Filed Against Lexis Nexis, Over Personal Information Collected and Distributed to Law Enforcement

A Biometric Information Privacy Act Complaint against Amazon was removed to the Northern District of Illinois on Wednesday morning. The class action Complaint alleges that Amazon unlawfully obtained biometric information of its employees at several locations. Notably, the suit states that it is unclear how long Amazon stores the biometric information, which likely runs afoul of the Illinois statute. Among other portions of the Act, the Complaint alleges that Amazon knowingly disregarded the requirements to inform employees that biometric information was being collected, that a written release be obtained prior, and that the company was profiting off of the information. One particularly
Continue Reading More Biometric Information Privacy Act Litigation, BIPA Suit Against Amazon Removed to Federal Court

 Xpressdocs Partners, L.P. (“ExpressDocs”) filed a breach of contract lawsuit Monday morning against D’Aprile Properties, LLC, Midwest Lending Corporation, and Ryan D’Aprile (“D’Aprile”), individually; in the Northern District of Illinois, alleging breach of contract in the amount of $317,391.57 for alleged marketing services rendered. The Complaint alleges that the Defendants are ultimately one and the same, as D’Aprile, and the entities largely operate in the same fashion, as such, it alleges the Defendants together failed to pay the marketing bills for over six months. Xpressdocs provides a wide variety of marketing services, its website lists brand management, automated direct mail, and
Continue Reading Breach of Contract Complaint Filed Over Unpaid Marketing Materials

With so many companies switching to a cloud solution, it is difficult to imagine it any other way than good. However, that is far from the truth.
Cloud ERP is unquestionably great for vendors. It shortens the sales cycles, decreases contract negotiations, and above all increases software vendor profits. For vendors it results in a consistent revenue stream. Because of the perpetual nature of cloud payments, the cost of cloud solutions for customers over the long term is much higher than traditional on-premise solutions – and the profits for vendors can be exponentially higher.
For customers, the ease of implementation,
Continue Reading Migrating To The Cloud – Don’t Believe The Hype

From modernizing business processes, accelerating workflows, and increased profitability, there are plenty of upsides to an ERP software implementation or full scale digital transformation. However, there are many things that can go wrong during and after the implementation process that can result in an implementation train wreck. In the cases we litigate on behalf of ERP customers victimized by software failures, the reason for the failure almost always lies squarely with the ERP vendor or integrator.
Failure can take a multitude of forms, from not realizing expected business benefits, blown budgets, extended timelines, and the failure of deliverables to conform
Continue Reading Why ERP Software Implementations and Digital Transformations Fail

Oversold and misrepresented software, missed deadlines, inexperienced consultants, and budget overruns are all common occurrences in a digital transformation. The reality is that as a customer, the odds of a successful ERP implementation, or digital transformation, are stacked against you.
When clients come to us in the midst of an ERP or digital transformation train wreck, they are overwhelmed and frustrated. Many times they are convinced they have a case, and want to sue their ERP vendor. Our response is almost always the same: “have you done everything you can – within reason – to make sure that the project
Continue Reading The Question You Need To Ask Yourself Before Filing A Lawsuit Against Your ERP Software Vendor:

While the ERP contract negotiation process is dependent on the facts of the particular transaction, all negotiations have a similar process and a similar trajectory. The cost of the software and implementation, the importance of the software being licensed, the number of vendors, and the risk presented by the technology will all impact the length and difficulty of the contract negotiation process.

  • Dollar Amount of the Deal. Smaller sized deals usually demand less of an investment in attorney time and attorney review than larger sized deals. There is also the issue of risk; smaller deals usually (though not always) present

  • Continue Reading The ERP Contract Negotiation Process – How Long Does It Really Take?

    There are lots of ways a digital transformation can go wrong, even with a negotiated contract that spells out in detail what the software vendor and integrator will do, when they will do it, and what they will be paid. This is even more true during a recession. As we have repeatedly said on this blog, implementing software solely because you want the latest and greatest technology almost guarantees failure. The project has to be tied to a business case. Digital transformations that do not add value to the business simply do not make sense. Projects that add value are
    Continue Reading Recessions Amplify The Risks To A Successful Digital Transformation

    Oracle recently made its largest acquisition ever by closing a $28 billion deal for electronic health care data company, Cerner. Cerner is a cloud-based platform targeted around Veteran Affair’s patient safety concerns. Oracle’s acquisition of Cerner is a strategic move by Oracle to expand into the healthcare industry. By acquiring a healthcare company, Oracle aims to increase its presence in the healthcare market, potentially allowing health care providers to easily access and share electronic records while giving Oracle a strong foothold into a rapidly-expanding market segment.
    Healthcare continues to be the nation’s largest employer, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare
    Continue Reading Oracle Acquires Cerner – What to Expect

    SaaS agreements are often difficult to negotiate and the terms and conditions can be counterintuitive. In this video, Taft Chicago partner Marcus Harris breaks down some of the most important issues you need to focus on when negotiating a SaaS agreement.
    Three Things You Must Focus On When Negotiating A SaaS Agreement
    Continue Reading Three Things You Must Focus On When Negotiating A SaaS Agreement

    Does an ERP vendor’s fiscal year matter in the discount you get as a customer? Absolutely. Oracle’s fiscal year ended in May, and Oracle’s salespeople are notorious for pressuring customers into signing deals with significant discounts prior to year-end under the notion that the discount will disappear after the year-end. Customers need to take into consideration the vendor’s year-end and its impact on the vendor’s willingness to provide discounts. However, only focusing on year-end discounts is misguided.
    While it is true some discounts will no longer be available, it is unlikely that the vendor will walk away or that all
    Continue Reading Leveraging Oracle’s Fiscal Year End

    Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating software license agreements is challenging. In this video, Taft Chicago partner Marcus Harris breaks down three issues to focus on during any review or negotiation of a software license agreement
    Three Issues to Focus on When Negotiating a Software License Agreement
    Continue Reading Three Issues to Focus On When Negotiating a Software License Agreement