2021 was a doozy for business litigators — and their clients — in Florida state court. In the span of about a year, the Florida Supreme Court introduced three sweeping changes to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure: a fresh summary judgment standard, a new apex deponent rule and immediate review of early punitive damages decisions. While these changes touch all civil litigation, they've reverberated particularly powerfully throughout the Florida business litigation world ...
Batson v. Kentucky and its progeny were meant to eliminate bias in jury selection. But has that happened? This program will address that question and discuss issues of bias in the courtroom more broadly and will challenge viewers to recognize their own biases and to learn how those biases could affect their assessment of potential jurors, witnesses, judges, and adversaries ...
The Federal Circuit issued numerous precedential opinions last week, two of which answered long simmering questions about inter partes reviews (IPRs). Below we discuss a case addressing whether admissions of prior art in the patent itself can be considered as prior art in an IPR. Our Case of the Week reversed Federal Circuit precedent concerning the scope of IPR Estoppel ...
Key Points SB 343 regulates use of “chasing arrows” recycling symbol; AB 1201 extends composting regulations to all products including home compostable claims. Food manufacturers face public and private enforcement risks. SB 343 – Truth in Labeling for Recyclable Materials SB 343 amends existing law that makes it unlawful to use any misleading environmental marketing claims on product packaging. Specifically, SB 343 amends Public Resources Code Section 42355 ...
The past year has seen substantial activity by the federal courts in guarding against government overreach in False Claims Act cases. One of the principal areas courts have focused on is the FCA's knowledge requirement — i.e., FCA liability can only be imposed where a person violates the act knowingly. Two recent decisions, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the U.S ...
A recent IRS concession bodes well for how the tax treatment of proof of stake validators may develop through case law. On December 20, 2021, the IRS offered a full refund to the plaintiffs in Jarrett et al v. United States for taxes paid on tokens created through proof of stake on the Tezos blockchain in 2019. In a statement released February 3, 2022, Joshua Jarrett confirmed the decision to seek an IRS ruling in the cryptocurrency case, rather than accept the tax refund ...
It’s been a little over a month since the Ohio Department of Insurance Surprise Billing rule became effective, and the department has now added an online Toolkit to help consumers, providers and stakeholders. The Toolkit is available here. The new rule prohibits out-of-network facilities and ambulances (OON Providers) from balance-billing patients for certain services ...
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released guidance on the FY2023 H-1B lottery process. Despite attempts to change the structure of the lottery selection process, the Service announced that it would continue with a random-selection lottery for 2022. The registration system will be open from 12 p.m. ET March 1, 2022 until 12 p.m. ET March 18, 2022. The application fee will continue to be $10 for each case entered into the system ...
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released guidance on the FY2023 H-1B lottery process. Despite attempts to change the structure of the lottery selection process, the Service announced that it would continue with a random-selection lottery for 2022. The registration system will be open from 12 p.m. ET March 1, 2022 until 12 p.m. ET March 18, 2022. The application fee will continue to be $10 for each case entered into the system ...
Key Points As of January 1, 2022, skilled nursing facilities are not limited to hiring licensed nurses to fill the role of infection preventionist. California still requires the total time dedicated to the infection preventionist role be full-time. In January 2021, Assembly Bill (AB) 2644, codified as Health & Safety Code Section 1255 ...
Key Points As of January 2022, CMS is posting each skilled nursing home's weekend staffing levels and staff turnover rates on its public-facing Care Compare website. This information will be used in the Nursing Home Five Star Quality Rating System and will affect facilities' Five Star ratings starting in July 2022 ...
On January 27, 2022, Governor Jay Inslee signed two bills that delay implementation of the Washington Cares Act to July 1, 2023, including the 0.58% payroll tax, and provide additional exemptions from the program. The Act provides a long-term care benefit for Washington residents who pay into a long-term care fund as employees in the state via the payroll tax ...
Key Points Before a party may sue to seek a refund of allegedly excessive property-related fees, like municipal water rates, their pre-suit Government Claims Act presentation must “fairly describe” each way in which the fees violated Proposition 218, or risk dismissal. Proposition 218 does not apply to penalties that water agencies impose on customers who fail to timely pay water bills. Do not overlook the Government Claims Act ...
A Los Angeles Police Department Captain was en route to a homicide scene when he received a radio call for a robbery in progress. The Captain noticed a patrol car parked in the alley near the robbery location which was not responding to the call; the Captain assumed it was a traffic car on a different radio frequency, and decided to respond to the call himself. As he was arriving, he saw the patrol car back up and leave the area ...
House Bill 4116 directs the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to identify sources of pollutants and develop strategies to reduce pollutants in order to respond to harmful algal blooms. HB 4116 also directs the Oregon Health Authority to coordinate with DEQ to identify water sources that are susceptible to harmful algal blooms and develop a system for monitoring and testing water sources ...
Only 180 days after the close of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games, the world gathers again for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. In honor of the celebration, we are resharing our quick guide of key things to keep in mind if you want to cheer on competitors at the Olympics as a business over the next few weeks. Whether you are an Official Sponsor or not, you should feel confident participating in the conversation ...
On December 25, 2021, the federal government passed proposed regulations that, as the name implies, prohibit (or restrict, in some cases) the manufacture, import and sale of certain single-use plastics that pose a threat to the environment. Provided that such regulations are adopted, the government intends for them to come into force as early as the end of 2022 ...
On January 28, 2022, the Small Business Administration announced that it had issued its Tribal Consultation Policy of 2022. In this policy, SBA stated that “it is the policy of the U.S ...
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) announced on January 28, 2022, that this year’s annual application period for the FY 2022 H-1B program will run from March 1, 2022, through March 18, 2022. Continuing the new electronic registration process that USCIS implemented for the first time two years ago, employers seeking new H-1B visas must register electronically with USCIS during the 16-day window. USCIS will then review all registrations submitted ...
