As discussed in Part I, the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission (“N.C. MEC”) will present its report on hydraulic fracturing to the Joint Legislative Commission on Energy Policy and the Environmental Review Commission by October 1, 2013. One of the many issues up for debate is whether the state will permit forced pooling and if so, what approach the state will adopt for nonconsenting landowners ...
On 20 March 2013, the Finnish government issued its much-awaited proposal for a new Electricity Market Act and an amended Natural Gas Market Act. It also sent to the parliament a separate supervision act. The proposal implements the European Union’s third Electricity and Natural gas Directives to the Finnish legislation. It also includes numerous nationally prepared amendments and changes ...
On April 24, 2013, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in the Butler v. Charles Powers Estate case. The Supreme Court decided to maintain the status quo in Pennsylvania by reaffirming the application of the Dunham Rule, meaning that there will not be a sea change in the Commonwealth regarding the interpretation of oil and gas conveyances ...
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has become active in scrutinizing and striking down employers’ social media policies. Three times in the last year, the NLRB issued Operations Management Memoranda providing employers with direction on drafting and applying social media policies. The NLRB specifically evaluated social media policies to determine whether they violated the employee bill of rights in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) ...
On April 8, 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (“OSHRC” or the “Review Commission”) reversed an administrative law judge’s (“ALJ’s”) decision vacating a lockout/tagout (“LOTO”) citation issued to Otis Elevator Company (“Otis”). See Secretary of Labor v. Otis Elevator Company, OSHRC No. 09-1278 (Apr. 8, 2013) ...
Here are select February 2013 rulings of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on civil law: Civil Code-Common Carrier; requisite before presumption of negligence arises; bill of lading; interpretation thereof; inherent nature of the subject shipment or its packaging as ground for exempting common carrier from liability; failure to prove negligence does not entitle claimant for damages ...
The County Commission in Doddridge County, West Virginia is currently considering amendments to its Floodplain Ordinance as a result of a December 17, 2012 decision by the Circuit Court of Doddridge County. (Comments to the amended floodplain ordinance were due by March 25, 2013.) The facts and procedural posture of the Doddridge County case are convoluted ...
By October 1, 2013, the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission (“N.C. MEC”) must report its findings and recommendations for hydraulic fracturing to the Joint Legislative Commission on Energy Policy and the Environmental Review Commission. One of the issues being considered by the N.C. MEC is whether the state will permit forced pooling by oil and gas companies ...
A jury in the Northern District of California has convicted David Nosal of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) by accessing his former employer’s computer network without authorization to obtain confidential information for use in a competing business. The business community has followed this case closely because it has far-reaching implications for the future application of the CFAA and, more importantly, for companies’ ability to protect their sensitive proprietary data ...
On April 16, 2013, in a 5-4 opinion, the United States Supreme Court decided whether an offer of judgment that fully satisfies the named plaintiff’s individual claim in a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) action moots the plaintiff’s collective action claim. In Genesis HealthCare Corporation v ...
After the recent change in the practice of the authorities with respect to protection offered to pregnant definite term employees from having their employment terminated, which gained much media attention and resulted in significant public reaction, the Serbian Parliament has adopted the Law on Amendments of the Labour Law at the beginning of April 2013 ...
This week, the Ralph Lauren Corporation became the first company to obtain a non-prosecution agreement from the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) investigation. Ralph Lauren also obtained a non-prosecution agreement from the Department of Justice in connection with its investigation of the same FCPA violations ...
Following the dissolution of BP Migas, SKK Migas has taken over all upstream oil and gas business activities until the new law on oil and gas is enacted. The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources recently issued Regulation No. 9 of 2013 on the duties and organizational structure of SKK Migas ...
The First Circuit recently reinstated part of a False Claims Act complaint against a drug-testing laboratory, and in so doing, may have limited the reach of the FCA’s public disclosure bar. In U.S. ex rel. Cunningham v. Millennium Labs. of Cal., Inc., 2013 WL 1490435 (1st Cir. April 12, 2013), the First Circuit held that the district court erred in dismissing the entire FCA complaint merely because the action was based in part on prior public disclosures ...
The computer hacking trial of David Nosal is under way in federal district court in California. The trial is being followed with interest in the business community because it is the latest development in a case that highlights an important split in the interpretation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) that has far-reaching ramifications with respect to liability–and protection for companies’ proprietary information ...
The primary issue in the three (3) consolidated cases involving San Roque Power, Taganito Mining and Philex Mining decided last February 12, 2013 revolves around the proper period for filing the judicial claim for refund or credit of creditable input tax ...
You are general counsel of a publicly-traded medical device company. Your company’s Board has identified a publicly-held X-ray and CT scan component manufacturer that it would like to acquire. The target is a Delaware corporation based in California, with additional manufacturing facilities in Utah and Kentucky; within the past three years, it has sold two mothballed manufacturing facilities ...
On March 26, 2013, in the case of Teed v. Thomas & Betts Power Solutions, L.L.C.,1 the Seventh Circuit, in an opinion written by Judge Posner, joined at least one other circuit court and a multitude of district courts across the country in extending the federal common law standard for evaluating successor liability to suits brought under the Federal Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) ...
Last week the Delaware Supreme Court held in Pyott v. Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System, ___ A.3d ___, 2013 WL 1364695 (Del. 2013), that a Delaware derivative complaint should have been dismissed after a California federal court entered a judgment dismissing essentially the same complaint brought by different stockholders for failure to plead demand futility ...
Vol. XI, Issue 1 of SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan's Employment & Immigration Update focuses primarily on the salient provisions of Philippine Republic Act No. 10361, also known as the Domestic Workers Act or Batas Kasambahay ...
On 3 March 2013, the Swiss electorate approved the Minder Initiative, which will fundamentally change the legal framework on executive compensation and other corporate governance matters for Swiss public companies. The implementation of the Minder Initiative will be the task of the Federal Council and the Swiss Parliament ...
Haynes and Boone, LLP’s Immigration Practice Group would like to inform employers of two recent immigration changes: (1) a revised Form I-9 for Employment Eligibility Verification by employers; and (2) a new Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record procedure for foreign nationals upon entry to the United States. Revised I-9 Form for Employee VerificationOn March 8, 2013, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a new Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 ...
Since the announcement of the investigation by the SEC of the CEO of Netflix, Inc. for a July 2012 Facebook post celebrating a company milestone, there has been considerable uncertainty as to whether companies can use social media outlets, like Facebook and Twitter, to communicate with investors without violating Regulation Fair Disclosure (“Regulation FD”) ...
On March 26, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the U.S. Patent Office’s rejection of the claim of a design patent continuation application, bringing some degree of clarity to the practice of claiming a portion of a previously-claimed design while seeking priority to the filing date of the previously-claimed design. In re Owens, No. 2012-1261 (Fed. Cir. March 26, 2013). In the case, Timothy S. Owens et al ...
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court held in a 5-4 opinion in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 569 U.S. ___ (2013), that a party seeking to maintain a class action must satisfy Rule 23’s requirements through evidentiary proof, even where such analysis may overlap with the merits of the underlying claim ...
