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  1. AIG announces Q4 and year-end results (Alston & Bird LLP)

    On Friday, American International Group, Inc. (AIG) released its results for the fourth quarter and full year 2009.

    6539 reads

  2. A few tips for drafting social networking policies (Bond Schoeneck & King)

    Social networking and blogging sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, continue to grow in popularity.

    2077 reads

  3. Letters of intent: when is a deal a deal? (Baker & Daniels LLP)

    After finishing preliminary negotiations for a business transaction, whether buying or selling a business, purchasing real estate or entering into a commercial lease, parties will often execute a letter of intent that includes the material terms of the deal.

    895 reads

  4. RBS announces Q4 and year-end results (Alston & Bird LLP)

    On Friday, Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) released its fourth quarter and full-year results for 2009.

    764 reads

  5. 2010: all signs point to a record-breaking year for FCPA enforcement (White & Case LLP)

    On the heels of the US Department of Justice's ("DOJ") massive sting operation, which resulted in the indictment of 22 individuals for conspiracy to violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), the DOJ and US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") appear close to settling half-a-dozen investigations involving corrupt payments to foreign officials made by Alcatel-Lucent, BAE Systems plc, Daimler AG, Innospec Inc., Pride International, Inc. and Technip S.A.

    534 reads

  6. March 2010 Visa Bulletin - EB-2 and EB-3 categories advance (Dinsmore & Shohl LLP)

    The U.S. State Department (DOS)’s March Visa Bulletin reflects some movement in the permanent resident or “green card” Employment Second Preference (EB-2) and Third Preference (EB-3) categories.

    465 reads

  7. 10 practical steps to avoid employment liability in 2010 (Dinsmore & Shohl LLP)

    In January, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a press release announcing that 93,277 workplace discrimination charges were filed with the federal agency nationwide during Fiscal Year 2009 - the second highest level ever.

    457 reads

  8. Google Adwords lawsuit set to go to trial in the EDVA (Williams Mullen)

    The trademark infringement lawsuit filed by the Virginia-based language learning software company Rosetta Stone against Google is now scheduled to go to trial on May 3, 2010, before a jury in Alexandria, Virginia.

    446 reads

  9. Quality Stores breathes new life into tax refunds for severance pay and sub-pay (Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP)

    Last week’s federal district court decision in United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15825 (W.D. Mich. Feb. 23, 2010), should generate renewed interest and revive hopes throughout the country for several billion dollars in Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax refund claims that are pending review.

    443 reads

  10. Congressmen Issa and Jordan request hearing on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Alston & Bird LLP)

    Yesterday, in a letter addressed to Edolphus Towns (D-NY), the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, Congressmen Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH), the ranking members of the aforementioned committees, requested a public hearing on the Obama Administration's plans for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

    437 reads

  11. Taxpayers beware: IRS intensifies employment tax audit initiatives (Duane Morris LLP)

    Last month, the Internal Revenue Service initiated an intensive employment tax research study of 6,000 randomly selected taxpayers as part of a national research program, or NRP, aimed at investigating tax compliance issues related to employment taxes, fringe benefits, independent contractor classification, expense reimbursements and other related "payroll" issues.

    434 reads

  12. At an economic loss (Bristows)

    The Commercial Court has again found against a supplier of IT services that was seeking to rely on an exclusion of various classes of "economic" loss to avoid a damages claim from an aggrieved customer.

    431 reads

  13. COBRA subsidy extended again (Reed Smith LLP)

    On March 2, 2010, the president signed into law H.R. 4691, the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 ("TEA of 2010"), which provides a short-term extension of the COBRA subsidy initially established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA") and set to expire February 28, 2010.

    431 reads

  14. 2009 SEC enforcement developments regarding public companies (Hogan & Hartson LLP)

    Although the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed several significant enforcement actions affecting public companies during 2009, the news story of the year was that a new sheriff came to town and put in place profound process changes within the Division of Enforcement.

    400 reads

  15. Labor Board trumps the Donald (Masuda Funai Eifert & Mitchell Ltd)

    In another reminder that companies need to carefully phrase policies and rules, the National Labor Relations Board ("Labor Board") has again found a violation of federal labor law when a company has gone too far in restricting its employees' rights.

    397 reads

  16. New Oregon law prohibits most employment credit checks (Fisher & Phillips LLP)

    Most Oregon employers who review job applicants' credit history reports before deciding whether to hire them will no longer be able to do so as of July 1, 2010.

    382 reads

  17. FCPA enforcement actions causing business model changes (Jackson Walker LLP)

    In case there are any doubts that the U.S. government is serious about enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) (the United States' anti-bribery law), the results of recent enforcement actions should serve to dispel them.

    379 reads

  18. Employee or independent contractor - a $12.8 million decision (Dinsmore & Shohl LLP)

    The decision to classify workers as employees or independent contractors has always been difficult.

    367 reads

  19. Flawed documentation about layoff selections works to reverse summary judgment victory for employer (Hunton & Williams LLP)

    In another case in which better employer documentation could have made the difference, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed earlier this month a district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of employer Kmart.

    357 reads

  20. Proposed Illinois Covenants Not To Compete Act would substantially alter the law regarding non-competes in Illinois (EpsteinBeckerGreen)

    A bill recently introduced in the Illinois House of Representatives, the "Illinois Covenants Not To Compete Act," would substantially alter the law regarding non-competition agreements in Illinois.

    339 reads

  21. Congress further extends subsidy for COBRA continuation coverage (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP)

    The Temporary Extension Act of 2010, which President Obama signed into law on March 2, 2010, extends the period in which individuals may become eligible for subsidized COBRA continuation coverage from February 28, 2010 to March 31, 2010.

    335 reads

  22. Off-duty discussion groups can be off-limits to employers (Fisher & Phillips LLP)

    There is an inherent tension between an employee's right to privacy and an employer's right to monitor an employee's conduct - especially where the employer believes that the conduct may harm its business or otherwise subject it to liability.

    321 reads

  23. U.S. Supreme Court defines company’s principal place of business as its nerve center for purposes of removal (Winston & Strawn LLP)

    The US Supreme Court's February 23, 2010 decision in Hertz v Friend sends a clear message that our country's highest Court set out to resolve an inconsistency among federal courts that has been very costly to employers on several levels, for too many years.

    321 reads

  24. Ruling in NFL case could apply beyond sports (Hogan & Hartson LLP)

    On Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in American Needle Inc. v. National Football League, No. 08-0661, a case likely to have profound effect on application of § 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1, to commercial joint ventures.

    313 reads

  25. A new and troubling decision for patent owners (Jackson Walker LLP)

    A January 2010 Federal Circuit case, Therasense v. Becton Dickinson, could have disastrous effects for some patent owners and could be a gift to accused infringers.

    311 reads

  1. A new and troubling decision for patent owners (Jackson Walker LLP)

    A January 2010 Federal Circuit case, Therasense v. Becton Dickinson, could have disastrous effects for some patent owners and could be a gift to accused infringers.

    263 reads

  2. A few tips for drafting social networking policies (Bond Schoeneck & King)

    Social networking and blogging sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, continue to grow in popularity.

    212 reads

  3. Congress further extends subsidy for COBRA continuation coverage (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP)

    The Temporary Extension Act of 2010, which President Obama signed into law on March 2, 2010, extends the period in which individuals may become eligible for subsidized COBRA continuation coverage from February 28, 2010 to March 31, 2010.

    157 reads

  4. RBS announces Q4 and year-end results (Alston & Bird LLP)

    On Friday, Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) released its fourth quarter and full-year results for 2009.

    154 reads

  5. New international list of 28 countries with deficient anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regimes should prompt compliance reviews (Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP)

    On February 18, 2010, the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (the "FATF") released a list of 28 countries having serious deficiencies in their strategies for countering money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities ("AML/CFT").

    127 reads

  6. Understanding wind power in Maryland (Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLP)

    From its modest beginnings in California in the early 1980s, the United States wind power industry has taken off at exponential rates in recent years.

    123 reads

  7. Fifth Circuit treats severance payments to insider as fraudulent transfers under 2005 Bankruptcy Code amendment (Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP)

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held on Feb. 10, 2010, that a corporate debtor’s pre-bankruptcy severance payments to its former chief executive officer (“CEO”) were fraudulent transfers.

    112 reads

  8. Federal Budget 2010: extensive technical changes in a cautious budget (Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP)

    The Department of Finance has clearly been busy while Parliament was prorogued the past two months judging from the number and extent of technical changes proposed in Budget 2010.

    108 reads

  9. Enforcing patents likely to get easier in Australia (Clayton Utz)

    For a number of years, Australian patent owners have expressed concern about difficulties encountered in enforcing patent rights in Australia.

    101 reads

  10. Kraft’s proposed acquisition of Cadbury cleared by Commission (Squire Sanders & Dempsey LLP)

    On January 6, 2010 the EC approved the proposed acquisition of Cadbury PLC by Kraft Foods Inc. by way of public offer, conditional upon the divestment of Cadbury’s chocolate confectionary businesses in Poland and Romania.

    90 reads

  11. Taxpayers beware: IRS intensifies employment tax audit initiatives (Duane Morris LLP)

    Last month, the Internal Revenue Service initiated an intensive employment tax research study of 6,000 randomly selected taxpayers as part of a national research program, or NRP, aimed at investigating tax compliance issues related to employment taxes, fringe benefits, independent contractor classification, expense reimbursements and other related "payroll" issues.

    83 reads

  12. The patent box: reason to expect a surge of R&D activity in the UK? (Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP)

    In the 2009 pre-budget report the government announced a plan to introduce a 10% corporation tax rate on income derived from patents to "strengthen the incentives to invest in innovative industries".

    81 reads

  13. New York appellate court provides guidance on when a financing term sheet is not a binding agreement to lend (Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP)

    Is a detailed, executed term sheet for financing a binding agreement to lend or an unenforceable agreement to agree?

    80 reads

  14. Facebook changes promotions guidelines (Wahab & Medenica llc)

    Facebook recently announced a change to the Facebook Promotions Guidelines ("Guidelines").

    76 reads

  15. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines: three important privacy and security dates (Foley Hoag LLP)

    In the past several days, three important information privacy and security deadlines have arrived.

    74 reads

  16. AIG announces Q4 and year-end results (Alston & Bird LLP)

    On Friday, American International Group, Inc. (AIG) released its results for the fourth quarter and full year 2009.

    74 reads

  17. How Reed Elsevier will – or will not – affect copyright litigation (Holland & Knight LLP)

    In its March 2, 2010 decision in Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick, No. 08-103, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the registration requirement for filing lawsuits under the Copyright Act does not present a jurisdictional bar – despite the more than 200 lower court opinions holding that it does.

    73 reads

  18. New law bars government contractors from requiring arbitration of employee claims (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)

    On February 17, 2010, the "Franken Amendment" went into effect, putting broad constraints on government contractors' ability to resolve employee disputes through arbitration.

    72 reads

  19. The patentability of stem cell technology – reference to the European Court of Justice (Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP)

    On 12 November 2009, the German Federal Supreme Court referred questions to the European Court of Justice regarding the interpretation of the exclusion clause in the Biotechnology Directive which deals with the patentability of technology which involves the use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes.

    70 reads

  20. A new breed of patent troll? False patent marking in the US (Ogilvy Renault LLP)

    In a series of recent decisions, United States courts have clarified the law concerning patent marking, including the consequences of falsely marking items as patented.

    69 reads

  21. The extent of the requirement to accommodate (Blake Dawson)

    In McLachlan v Endeavour Coal Pty Ltd [2009] NSWADT 312 the New South Wales Administrative Decisions Tribunal rejected an employee's claim of disability discrimination and confirmed that employers are not required to alter the duties of a job in order to accommodate a person's disability.

    62 reads

  22. The SEC’s new approach to your CD&A (Morrison & Foerster)

    With most public companies focused on the amendments the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") adopted for its proxy disclosure rules on December 16, 2009, limited attention has been drawn to a key speech made one month earlier by the Deputy Director of the Division Corporation Finance, Shelley Parratt, in which a tough new approach for the Staff's review of executive compensation disclosures was announced.

    61 reads

  23. Men at Work go Down (Under) in Kookaburra copyright claim (Clayton Utz)

    The Federal Court of Australia has ruled that Men at Work's famous song "Down Under" infringes the copyright in the 1934 children's round "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" (Larrikin Music Publishing Pty Ltd v EMI Songs Australia Pty Ltd [2010] FCA 29 (4 February 2010)).

    60 reads

  24. Notable e-discovery cases and events (Sidley Austin LLP)

    This update addresses the following recent court decisions involving e-discovery issues.

    60 reads

  25. NYS DOL issues additional model notice and acknowledgement forms to assist employers when hiring new employees (Ogletree Deakins)

    As we advised in the September 2009 issue of the New Jersey eAuthority, New York employers are now required by law to give all newly hired non-exempt employees written notice of their hourly rate, overtime pay rate, and regular payday, and all newly hired exempt employees written notice of their rate of pay and their regular payday.

    59 reads

  1. A vote of confidence for "Wrotham Park damages" (Bristows)

    A recent decision of the Privy Council considered the circumstances in which an innocent party is entitled to claim compensation above and beyond financial loss actually suffered as a result of a contractual breach of confidence.

  2. A few tips for drafting social networking policies (Bond Schoeneck & King)

    Social networking and blogging sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, continue to grow in popularity.

  3. GASPOOL – consolidation of German gas networks (McDermott Will & Emery)

    The consolidation of German transport and trading areas continues with five major gas network operators forming a single new company.

  4. California labor and employment legislation (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)

    Below is a review of the relevant labor and employment-related bills from the 2009 Regular and Extraordinary Sessions that the Governor signed into law, or that stalled or died in the Legislature.

  5. The Department of Labor will target New York's health care industry (EpsteinBeckerGreen)

    Health care employers are the next target of the Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division, the DOL announced earlier this week.

  6. Litigant discrimination claim tactics (Morton Fraser)

    A noteworthy case from the Employment Appeal Tribunal yesterday.

  7. LBIE deposits with Lehman Brothers Bankhaus AG (Clifford Chance LLP)

    On 23 October 2009 the administrators of LBIE provided an update on the status of client monies deposited with Lehman Brothers Bankhaus AG prior to the date of administration.

  8. Is your company prepared for union organizing in 2010? (Masuda Funai Eifert & Mitchell Ltd)

    The headlines are ominous for unions.

  9. Seven sins — intellectual property mistakes start-up technology companies should avoid (Fenwick & West LLP)

    The start-up company often is an exciting and fast moving entity.

  10. U.S. Supreme Court defines company’s principal place of business as its nerve center for purposes of removal (Winston & Strawn LLP)

    The US Supreme Court's February 23, 2010 decision in Hertz v Friend sends a clear message that our country's highest Court set out to resolve an inconsistency among federal courts that has been very costly to employers on several levels, for too many years.

  11. Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite (Miller Thomson LLP)

    You may all remember this nursery rhyme from your childhood.

  12. Elimination of creditors' rights title insurance coverage for buyers and lenders (McKenna Long & Aldridge)

    Most major national title insurance companies will no longer provide "creditors' rights" coverage, which could have a significant impact on buyers' and lenders' underwriting and analysis of commercial real estate transactions.

  13. Taxpayers beware: IRS intensifies employment tax audit initiatives (Duane Morris LLP)

    Last month, the Internal Revenue Service initiated an intensive employment tax research study of 6,000 randomly selected taxpayers as part of a national research program, or NRP, aimed at investigating tax compliance issues related to employment taxes, fringe benefits, independent contractor classification, expense reimbursements and other related "payroll" issues.

  14. A new and troubling decision for patent owners (Jackson Walker LLP)

    A January 2010 Federal Circuit case, Therasense v. Becton Dickinson, could have disastrous effects for some patent owners and could be a gift to accused infringers.

  15. Cleveland and Akron expand local mondiscrimination ordinances while Congress remains stalled (Calfee Halter & Griswold LLP)

    Recently, two major Northeast Ohio cities expanded the classifications of individuals protected from discrimination in those cities.

  16. FFIEC publishes white paper on mortgage fraud detection (Winston & Strawn LLP)

    On February 16th, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council released an updated edition of its white paper on mortgage fraud detection and deterrence.

  18. Class action against NCAA gets a green light (Davis LLP)

    Ex-UCLA star basketball player Ed O'Bannon's class action suit against the NCAA (the "Class Action") got a green light from the U.S. District Court when it denied the NCAA's request to dismiss it.

  19. Weathering the storm: the FDIC’s authority to repudiate contracts (Haynes and Boone LLP)

    The current economic climate has led to a dramatic increase in bank failures over the past few years.

  20. On The Ball - issue 1 (Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP)

    Welcome to the first issue of On The Ball.

  21. Are we ready for virtual patent marking? (Williams Mullen)

    Patent infringers must have notice of a patent before they can be liable for patent infringement damages.

  22. Public private partnerships (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)

    The American Society of Civil Engineers has estimated that the United States needs to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to repair, replace or expand our infrastructure.

  23. Price maintenance provisions of Competition Act decriminalized (Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP)

    Recent amendments to Canada’s Competition Act have decriminalized the price maintenance provisions.

  24. Constructive dismissal: distinction between a legitimate management instruction and a punishment (McGrigors LLP)

    Mr Dear (D) was a social worker who was employed by the NSPCC.

  25. Google held liable for copyright infringement for bulk scanning of books (McDermott Will & Emery)

    The Paris Court of First Instance's third chamber has ruled that Google Inc.’s bulk scanning of books for its Google Book Search website, done without permission from copyright holders, infringed the copyrights on hundreds of French books.

Last updated Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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