There have been two significant new developments in the regulation of greenhouse gases (“GHG”). One is the long awaited introduction of new draft legislation that sponsors hope will bridge the disagreements that have prevented the passage of comprehensive GHG legislation. The other is the issuance, on May 13, 2010, of EPA’s greenhouse gas tailoring rule, the final piece of EPA’s multiple promulgations to commence control of GHG from stationary sources ...
Citing an independent cost of service study’s findings that the U.S. Government is not fully covering its costs for the processing of visas, the Department of State has announced its intention to increase visa fees. The rule, which will go into effect on June 4, 2010, would increase fees for certain non-petition-based nonimmigrant visas and some Border Crossing Cards ...
Government contractors and subcontractors now have a new, unsavory obligation. On January 30, 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13496 – which requires government contractors and subcontractors to post a notice informing employees of their right to engage in concerted, collective activity. On May 20, 2010, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its Final Rule to implement Executive Order 13496 ...
In a decision of first impression, a federal district court has held that the “clawback” provision of Sarbanes-Oxley permits the SEC to seek reimbursement of incentive-based compensation from CEOs and CFOs of companies that restate their financial statements as a result of misconduct, even if the CEO and CFO had no personal involvement in such misconduct ...
A new campaign finance bill, introduced on April 29 in the House, April 30 in the Senate, and sponsored by Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Chris Van Hollen, would impose new spending restrictions and disclosure requirements. The bill is the Democrats’ first response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which struck down certain restrictions on corporate and union political expenditures encompassed in the McCain-Feingold Act ...
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) is seeking public comment on a proposed three-track patent examination initiative that would provide applicants with greater control over the speed at which their applications are examined. The proposed initiative aims to reduce overall pendency of patent applications by providing applicants with alternative timing systems for the examination of their patent applications ...
Most patent applicants can now accelerate the examination of a select number of patent applications in exchange for abandoning an equal number of unexamined, pending applications, according to an announcement issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) on June 24, 2010 ...
In an opinion issued last week, Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd., 559 U.S. __ (2010), the Supreme Court held that foreign plaintiffs cannot use the U.S. Securities laws to sue foreign issuers based on foreign stock purchases: a ruling that sounds the death knell for these so-called “foreign cubed” cases. Rejecting decades of lower-court case law on the extraterritorial reach of the U.S ...
On June 28, 2010, the United States Supreme Court announced its decision on Bilski v. Kappos regarding what inventions are eligible for patent protection. The decision affirms that business methods are patentable, although the specific business methods at the center of the case are not. While stating that no single test governs the issue, the Court approved of the use of the “machine-or-transformation test” that the Federal Circuit had distilled from earlier Supreme Court cases ...
Technology, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the U.S. Supreme Court. Its current mission: to explore strange new electronic communication devices; to boldly go where no court has gone before ...
On June 30, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) formally adopted Rule 206(4)-5 (the “Pay-to-Play Rule”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”). The Pay-to-Play Rule is primarily designed to prohibit investment advisers from making political contributions to influence their selection as investment advisers for government investment accounts such as public pension plans ...
The use of hydraulic fracturing has made it economically possible to produce hydrocarbons from reservoirs which previously would have been uneconomical to develop. Now, an extraordinary oil and gas boom is afoot in America, and onshore natural gas production is advancing at an extraordinary pace. For some states, this production is without historical precedent ...
An almost universal feature of commercial loan agreements is the inclusion of representations and warranties regarding the financial statements and condition of the borrower. A recent case examined whether under New York law, sophisticated lenders can reasonably rely upon such representations in asserting claims of fraud instead of being required to make an independent investigation into the books and records of the Borrower. In DDJ Management LLC, et al v. Rhone Group L.L.C ...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Treasury have released another set of interim final regulations (the “IFR”) regarding the coverage of preventive care without cost sharing. As with all guidance, the IFR cannot be considered in isolation ...
On July 21, 2010, President Obama officially signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”), which represents the most sweeping regulatory overhaul of the financial markets since the Great Depression ...
Despite entering into arbitration agreements with their employees, employers all too often find themselves in court adverse to the very employees who have signed an arbitration agreement. The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued three arbitration decisions that have important implications for employers seeking to avoid the inside of a courtroom. First, in Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp ...
Small organizations at risk of losing their tax-exempt status for failure to file annual returns for 2007-2009 (including the Form 990-N or “e-Postcard,” required for organizations whose annual gross receipts are normally $25,000 or less) can maintain their tax-exempt status by filing returns by October 15, 2010. The IRS website (www.irs ...
Tax Rates are Rising! This alert highlights the imminent changes to the tax laws in 2011 (e.g., the sunset of the Bush era tax cuts) and the changes that will arise in later tax years (e.g., tax provisions contained in certain parts of the recently enacted health care legislation) that may affect a decision to sell your business this year ...
As Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis informed a convention of safety engineers last year, “Make no mistake about it: The Department of Labor is back in the enforcement business.” In 2010, current OSHA enforcement statistics confirm this promise and reveal unprecedented levels of enforcement ...
The Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill: New Reporting and Regulatory Requirements Imposed on Public Companies, New Investor Protection Elements, and New Responsibilities and Powers Given to the SEC On July 21, 2010, President Obama officially signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”), which represents the most sweeping regulatory overhaul of the financial markets since the Great Depression ...
The public dispute between EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) over air quality issues continues to intensify. The latest salvo is a strongly worded letter from the state of Texas to EPA on the issue of air quality permitting of greenhouse gases ...
When business owners contemplate the sale of their businesses, initial questions of where to start, what types of activities are required, and how to negotiate the sale process are commonplace ...
INITIATING THE SALE PROCESS – THE LOI When a business has located a potential buyer and is presented with a purchase offer (sometimes referred to as a letter of intent or “LOI”), many issues arise from that offer, including (i) the necessity of entering into a confidentiality agreement, (ii) the evaluation of the purchase offer, and (iii) the navigation of the due diligence process ...
The use of hydraulic fracturing, sometimes called "fracking," has made it economically possible to produce hydrocarbons, mainly gas, from the central Appalachian region of the eastern United States. Shale gas development from the Marcellus Shale is focused in four states: New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. These states are now facing environmental and surface-use issues which may be unfamiliar to developers from outside the region ...
When a donor attempts to cancel or withdraw from a charitable pledge, many organizations choose not to enforce the pledge in the spirit of donor and public relations. However, it is important to understand that charitable pledges can be legally enforceable obligations. Following is a summary of Texas law regarding enforceability of pledges ...
