The purposes of this Health Care Alert are to: 1) summarize recently proposed federal regulations which will require physician disclosure of ownership interests in hospitals to patients; 2) remind health care providers of existing Texas laws requiring disclosure of ownership interests and 3) suggest best practices for disclosure of ownership interests ...
The U.S. Department of Justice’s revised corporate charging policy, which was named after deputy attorney general Paul McNulty, was unveiled in December 2006. In the wake of its predecessor document, the 2003 Thompson Memo, we have seen a steady increase in the resolution of corporate criminal investigations without indictments or trials ...
The long-awaited revision to the United States federal franchise regulation which requires presale disclosure throughout the country will become effective July 1, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) January 23. The FTC Franchising Trade Regulation Rule (“FTC Rule”), initially adopted in 1979, has been under review since the early 1990s. Although the focus was upon making the disclosures and compliance burdens more relevant to changes in the U.S ...
The Federal Trade Commission yesterday published its long awaited revisions to the FTC’s Franchising Rule. The new disclosures may be used effective July 1, 2007 and must be used for all franchises offered or sold after July 1, 2008. The Amended Rule prescribes a disclosure format which largely mirrors the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular ("UFOC") format, and modifies it in certain places by adding new disclosures ...
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) is accepting comments on a draft guidance document that addresses air quality emissions and regulatory compliance for storage tanks using floating roofs ...
Section 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) provides that “it shall be unlawful for any broker or dealer which is . . . a person other than a natural person . . . to make use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce to effect any transactions in, or to induce or attempt to induce the purchase or sale of, any security… unless such broker or dealer is registered [with the SEC] ...
Patent Opinion Letters: Privilege Waivers after Knorr Knorr-Bremse: The Federal Circuit Changes the Role of Options of Counsel in Patent Cases In September 2004, the en banc opinion of the Federal Circuit Court in Knorr- Bremse System Fuer Nutzfahrzeuge Bmbh v. Dana Corp ...
Thanks to Houston's leading role in energy, the exotic names of former Soviet Republics forming the Commonwealth of Independent States -- entities such as Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- are familiar to locals active in oil and gas. They are also well known to Houston law firms that serve energy interests. Serving Russia and the Caspian region, Haynes and Boone LLP opened a Moscow office last year ...
The European Union has recently launched a new ccTLD (country code top level domain). Instead of using the various national European ccTLD's, such as .fr for French companies, .de for German companies, and .co.uk for U.K. companies, the EU has made available the .eu suffix as a Community-wide ccTLD. The new domain extension has already proved widely popular, with more than 100,000 applications for domain names filed thus far ...
Germany. November 9, 1938. Kristallnacht. “The Night of Broken Glass.” Nazi secret police and the Hitler youth swarm over Jewish businesses and homes, terrorizing and victimizing helpless individuals all over the country.1 SS leadership orchestrates attacks on every vestige of Jewish culture as “punishment” for fictitious crimes that will never be recognized by the rest of the world ...
Academics and commentators in general have always been interested in the study of the enforcement process in regulatory agencies. In the last years, with the rise of the regulatory state[1] and thus the increased number of regulatory agencies, the number of studies has only increased. There is an important amount of literature on the subject and an increasing number of theories and models to explain regulatory enforcement ...
Per Decree 1404 issued on May 5, 2005 (“Decree 1404”), the Colombian Government approved the sale of the State’s majority interest in the largest gas transportation company in Colombia, Empresa Colombiana de Gas (“Ecogás”). An introduction to Ecogás and the privatization process is set forth below. 1 ...
You’ve probably heard about the dangers of second-hand smoke. But what about the employment-related danger of “second-hand” harassment? Consider this scenario: Mr. Jerk, a bank manager in the credit department, repeatedly harasses his administrative assistant, Gina. He invites Gina to have drinks with him, repeatedly touches her shoulders, and brushes up against her. Gina never complains to anyone in bank management about Jerk’s conduct ...
Imagine you are a seasoned trial lawyer at a large, downtown firm. Following a successful “Beauty Contest” at the New York headquarters of Telco Corporation—a FORTUNE 500 telecommunications company—you are given the opportunity to represent Telco in future commercial disputes. To prepare, you begin to research Telco Corporation so that you are familiar with its management, core business, financials, and other issues potentially affecting future litigation ...
Energy Policy Elert, please click on link to view full publication ...
Practical Advice for Defending Toxic Tort Actions - 11/29/2001 Texas Lawyer © 2001. All rights reserved Defending a toxic tort case involving multiple plaintiffs and defendants, not surprisingly, presents multiple issues of concern. In developing a litigation strategy, thoughtful defense counsel will anticipate these issues ...
The Fifth Circuit has issued an important opinion on Section 11 of the Securities Act which may limit the potential exposure of issuers and other participants for alleged misrepresentations and omissions in public offering registration statements. The Court’s opinion in Krim v. pcOrder.com, Inc ...
Synopsis - Trial lawyers often find themselves defending one of several defendants in a lawsuit. Depending on the claims and defenses in the case, they may need to communicate with lawyers defending other parties to discuss defense strategy and understand the case from different perspectives. It is critically important for trial lawyers to know and understand which communications are protected from discovery ...
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Fears that contracts signed with Iraq's interim government could be voided by a new elected leadership have made oil companies wary of entering into deals with the energy-rich country, experts said on Tuesday. "We're seeing some reticence from major oil companies in dealing with the interim government," Lori Feathers, a lawyer with Haynes & Boone, LLP told an energy industry gathering ...
I. Introduction President Vicente Fox has devoted significant political efforts to reform the energy sector. He is well aware of the current needs for investment, particularly in power generation and non-associated gas exploration and production. He is also aware that the government will not have the necessary funds to match the anticipated growth of energy demand ...
I. Introduction Mexico’s power generation sector is facing a possible crisis in the near future. The Federal Government has estimated that over 27,000 megawatts of additional power generation capacity will be needed by 2009 to avoid a power crisis in the country. Since 1960, the electricity sector has been reserved to the State ...
Modernizing Texas’ Foreign Legal Consultant Rule By Larry B. Pascal Introduction Texas law firms depend on cross-border work for a growing percentage of their revenue. Numerous Texas-based law firms have opened offices outside of the US including offices in Mexico, Europe, Russia and the surrounding Eurasian states, the Middle East, and Asia ...
Attorneys and other service providers who deal with securities may unwittingly become liable for aiding and abetting violations of the Texas Securities Act. Introduction: A recent decision from the Fort Worth court of appeals should concern anyone who deals with securities transactions, because the burden of proof for imposing liability on a person as an aider and abettor under the Texas Securities Act (“TSA”) just became a little easier ...
Introduction: On March 4, 2003, the United States Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision, written by Justice John Paul Stevens, regarding the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (“FTDA”) ...
The Impact of Business Associate Rules Under the Final Privacy and Security Standards Presented at: Negotiating Technology Outsourcing Agreements Law Seminars International Seattle, Washington Introduction The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, more commonly known as HIPAA, has brought many changes to the health care field, as well as our day-to-day lives ...
