On October 20, 2020, San Francisco County was upgraded to the “minimal” tier within the California COVID-19 tracking system, meaning it has the fewest restrictions on reopening all businesses as promulgated by the State of California. In order to qualify for the “minimal” tier, a county must have an infection rate of less than one daily new positive COVID case per 100,000 residents and have a positive test rate of less than 2% for two consecutive weeks ...
On October 20, 2020, San Francisco County was upgraded to the “minimal” tier within the California COVID-19 tracking system, meaning it has the fewest restrictions on reopening all businesses as promulgated by the State of California. In order to qualify for the “minimal” tier, a county must have an infection rate of less than one daily new positive COVID case per 100,000 residents and have a positive test rate of less than 2% for two consecutive weeks ...
Michigan has joined the majority of jurisdictions in holding that a general liability policy may provide coverage for claims for property damage allegedly caused by the defective work of a subcontractor ...
When crafting a liquidation or “pass-through” agreement for a subcontractor claim against the government, the key provision from the prime contractor’s perspective is a release from liability for the subcontractor’s claim with the exception of amounts recovered from the government related to that claim. If the release language is too broad, however, the agreement may provide the government a legal defense to the pass-through claim known as the Severin doctrine ...
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on October 29, 2020 it reached a more than $9.2 million settlement with Medtronic USA Inc. to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) and Open Payment Program.[1] Specifically, Medtronic agreed to pay $8.1 million to resolve FCA allegations it paid kickbacks to induce a South Dakota neurosurgeon to use its SynchroMed II intrathecal infusion pumps ...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released an interim final rule on October 29, 2020, delaying the implementation of the information blocking rule under the 21st Century Cures Act (Information Blocking Rule) ...
The first anniversary of the entry into force of the new Canadian Patent Rules, which significantly changed certain practices surrounding the filing and prosecution of patent applications in Canada, is an opportunity to look back at the major changes that have had a significant impact on Canadian patent practice. Indeed, the past year has allowed us to observe the changes, which in certain aspects seem to be confusing for patent applicants, and to observe their effect in practical terms ...
Background and about Atmanirbhar Bharat The idea of Atmanirbhar Bharat,or self-reliance, was at the heart of the Hon’ble Prime Ministerof India, Shri Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on 12May 2020 when he announced an economic package towards building aAtmanirbhar Bharat, or a self-reliant, resilient India ...
Introduction What is known to exist but is not visible is surrounded by mystery. It excites the imagination and people spin yarns about it. Though that is not true when it comes to novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), the outbreak of which has been globally reported, COVID-19 has caused worldwide unprecedented disruptions to business operations; and the commercial turmoil continues ...
Due to the worrying evolution of the epidemiological situation currently afflicting the country, Presidential Decree no. 276/20 of 23 October 2020 has been enacted to update the preventive and control measures for the spread of COVID-19. Overall, there is a strengthening of the previous preventive measures established in Presidential Decree no. 256/20, of 8 October 2020 ...
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues to put pressure on the public and private sectors alike. As we are entering new phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to switch our focus towards safely and gradually reopening our businesses and economies while continuing to implement prevention measures ...
With the explosion of remote work arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are more likely to have remote employees who live in different states. A company should examine whether it is actually subject to potential jurisdiction for legal claims in each state where it has a remote employee. In other words, if your company has employees working remotely in other states, can you actually be sued in all of those states? The answer is maybe ...
A North Carolina court has required Cincinnati Insurance Company to provide business interruption and extra expense coverage to 16 North Carolina restaurants that lost the use of and access to their properties due to COVID-19 civil authority orders (see North State Deli, LLC, et al. v. Cincinnati Insurance Co. et al.) ...
On Oct. 21, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new definition for “close contact.” The new definition was expanded to account for the cumulative amount of exposure one might have had with a person infected with COVID-19. Under the new definition, close contact is defined as being “within six feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period beginning two days before illness onset ...
Although the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported a slight decrease in settlements with life sciences companies in FY2019 (the most recent year for which data is available),[1] this likely will be a temporary trend. Several significant settlements and investigations in 2020 provide key insights into government enforcement priorities as we look toward 2021 ...
On October 21, 2020, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) published a new guidance for use by contact tracers that clarifies what had been a somewhat fuzzy definition of “close contact.” The new definition increases the number of individuals presumed to have an exposure to COVID-19, and will significantly affect schools and workplaces since those presumptively exposed individuals will be asked to isolate for a period of 14 days ...
As the use of telehealth continues to increase, providers need to be mindful of the liability laws in the jurisdictions that they operate in. Similar to in-person medical practices, telehealth services carry liability and malpractice risks. Once a provider virtually crosses a state line, he or she becomes subject to the liability laws of the other state ...
With the continued risk of the spread of COVID-19 in assisted care facilities, more and more facilities are implementing a virtual admissions process. This process includes providing all of the admissions documents, including an arbitration agreement, to potential residents and/or their legal representatives electronically. While it is preferable from a legal standpoint that the arbitration agreement be presented and executed in person, in today's world that is not always possible ...
This 28th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, includes a number of updates on the mounting number of business interruption coverage disputes -- including a claim against a broker whose alleged failure to obtain infectious disease coverage left the insured without coverage for COVID-19-induced losses ...
INTRODUCTION There are several government agencies regulating various sectors of the Nigerian economy. Most of these regulatory agencies are creation of statutes which usually specify their functions, powers and general mode of operations. While some of these agencies are responsible for sensitising the citizens about government policies,[1]a good number are charged with the task of enforcing policies, programmes and laws enacted by the Government ...
In these strange new days of back-to-back virtual meetings, working from home offices, home-schooling children, and social distancing from the grocery store, not to mention from most human beings—who is to say that anyone actually will read these pearls of wisdom from my sweet, dearly departed mother ...
This digest is a curated list of Bradley content regarding the coronavirus. In an effort to provide our clients with the easiest way to find information that may be beneficial in responding to the impact of COVID-19, we have provided links to our most recent blog posts, news alerts, webinar recordings and more. Additionally, this digest will now be deployed on a weekly basis in an effort to reduce the number of emails our clients receive ...
In these strange new days of back-to-back vir-tual meetings, working from home offices, home-schooling children, and social distancing from the grocery store, not to mention from most human beings—who is to say that anyone actually will read these pearls of wisdom from my sweet, dearly departed mother ...
On September 30, 2020, The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the results of a sweeping joint healthcare fraud and opioid takedown that resulted in charges against 345 different defendants who were responsible for over $6 billion in government losses involving fraudulent healthcare services and improper billing. This was the largest healthcare fraud enforcement action in the history of the DOJ ...
