As the general counsel of a company, you are busy working one day and the CEO walks into your office and says, "In the board meeting this morning, one of our directors asked me if a special committee was needed for a new issue that has come up. How do we know when a special committee is needed?" The following summary can be used as a starting point in determining your answer ...
The Internal Revenue Service has proposed guidelines detailing how tax-exempt hospitals can conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), as required in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Although this new requirement is not effective until taxable years commencing after March 23, 2012, the IRS issued its guidance now because hospitals may choose to start the process of conducting CHNAs and implement strategies in advance of the effective date ...
On June 22, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted final rules implementing new exemptions from registration as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”) ...
Armor Holdings, Inc., recently resolved allegations that it violated both the anti-bribery and accounting provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Because of Armor’s extensive cooperation with the government, it was able to obtain a non-prosecution agreement from the Department of Justice and a settlement from the Securities and Exchange Commission ...
On June 28, 2011, in In re Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. v. Alfa,1 the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that Enron’s redemption of its commercial paper prior to maturity fell within the definition of a “settlement payment” and was protected from avoidance under § 546(e)’s safe harbor provision in Title 11 of the United States Code ...
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) has proposed changes to two rules that are designed to streamline the obligations of innovators and their patent practitioners to disclose information to the PTO in patent applications and reexamination proceedings. The proposed rules would modify the standard used to determine what information is material to patentability and therefore must be provided to the PTO to satisfy the duty of disclosure ...
Texas has now joined the growing ranks of states that have passed laws aimed at increasing tax collection from online retail transactions. Although Governor Rick Perry vetoed an earlier bill (H.B. 2403) providing that out-of-state retailers that have relationships with certain Texas “affiliated” entities will be deemed to be doing business in Texas for purposes of the sales and use tax, language virtually identical to that found in H.B. 2403 is included in S.B ...
A June ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has provided a bit of a relief for employers who face Fair Labor Standards Act retaliation claims from employees. The Supreme Court's ruling in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., 131 S.Ct. 1325, 1329, 179 L. Ed. 2d 379 (2011) represented a significant victory for employees, but now all is not lost for employers. In Maynor v. Dow, No. 10-40771, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 12759 (5th Cir ...
Supporting OSHA’s aggressive semi-annual regulatory agenda, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Jordan Barab, recently warned a research symposium that, “despite what goes on in Congress, [OSHA] [has] absolutely no intention of pulling back or retreating.” Barab alerted attendees that OSHA’s regulatory agenda aims to extend enforcement beyond traditional manufacturing and construction sectors ...
As many creditors have unfortunately discovered, the Bankruptcy Code allows a debtor to sue the creditor for certain payments – called preferences – that the creditor received from the debtor prior to the bankruptcy ...
Bankruptcy Judge Michael Lynn of the Northern District of Texas recently issued a noteworthy opinion in In re Village at Camp Bowie I, L.P. that addresses two important Chapter 11 confirmation issues. Judge Lynn determined that a plan that artificially impaired a class of claims in order to meet the requirements of section 1129(a)(10) had not been proposed in bad faith and did not violate the requirements of section 1129(a) ...
In order to comply with a court-ordered schedule, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on July 28 signed a 604-page package that proposes to subject additional oil and gas operations to regulation under the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) programs and to impose new and amended requirements under both programs. This proposed rulemaking has significant ramifications for the oil and gas industry ...
Here we go again! For the third time in less than six years, the Texas Supreme Court has repudiated technical legal niceties and has adopted broad pro-employer principles to support the enforcement of non-competition agreements in Texas. Marsh USA, Inc. v. Cook, 54 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1234 (Tex. 2011) ...
Your CEO calls you, as the general counsel of a public company, to tell you that a third party has made an unsolicited offer for the company. What are the first steps you should take? Types of Unsolicited Proposals. An unsolicited proposal may be a casual pass, where a third party informally approaches the company to discuss an acquisition proposal, or may be a bear hug letter, which will contain a formal proposal to buy the company and may include a price ...
On August 17, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s denial of class certification on the basis that the company’s process for reimbursing purchasers of a defective toy more efficiently distributed refunds to putative class members than a class action lawsuit would ...
Last week FINRA released Regulatory Notice 11-39, Social Media Websites and the Use of Personal Devices for Business Communications, to supplement its previous Regulatory Notice 10-06, Social Media Web Sites, issued in January 2010. Since January 2010, firms have revisited their policies on social media and in light of improved technology, firms are increasingly allowing use ...
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (“AHCA”) earlier this month fined Humana $3.4 million for failing to promptly report suspected cases of Medicaid fraud and abuse by others, as required by statute and Humana’s Medicaid HMO contract. Though many states have similar laws or regulations, this appears to be the first enforcement action of its kind in the nation ...
As Ashton Kutcher has learned, the Federal Trade Commission takes online endorsements seriously. Recently, the actor and avid Twitterer edited an online issue of Details magazine that plugged several technology start-ups without clarifying that Kutcher had invested in many of them. Kutcher also endorses many of these companies on his Twitter account, which boasts almost 7.5 million followers ...
Pursuant to an order recently issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the dollar amount thresholds in the definition of “qualified client” under Rule 205-3 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”), are set to increase effective as of September 19, 2011 ...
The 2011 Texas Legislature adopted broad changes to eminent domain laws that take effect on September 1, 2011. Under the new law, public and private entities that hold condemnation power face important new requirements and deadlines ...
Hurricane Irene’s path along the Eastern Seaboard has affected millions of people and exposed businesses to property loss, business interruption, and supply network disruption. Those affected by Irene should immediately think about insurance coverage for their loss. Commercial Property Insurance In the event of a loss, a company should take steps to preserve coverage ...
On Monday August 22, 2011, the FDIC, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) and Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation announced civil money penalties of $10.9 million and a two-year deferred prosecution agreement against Ocean Bank (“the Bank”) in Miami, FL. The penalty represents approximately seven percent of the Bank’s book value ...
Since the famous “Facebook firing” complaint in late 2010, many observers have worried that the majority-Democrat National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or the “Board”) social media focus was an attempt to establish pro-union, anti-employer precedent, giving employees free rein to disparage and criticize their employers online ...
Beginning today, September 7, 2011, owners of registered trademarks can file applications to block third parties from registering adult-oriented .XXX domains that contain their marks. This “Sunrise” period runs through October 28, 2011. Opt-out applications can be submitted using any .XXX accredited registrar. The current list of accredited registrars is available here. Registars’ fees vary but typically range from $200 to $500 per mark ...
On September 7, 2011, the Securities and Exchange (SEC) announced that it will not appeal the D.C. Circuit’s July ruling in Business Roundtable and Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. SEC, No. 10-1305, (D.C. Cir. July 22, 2011), where a unanimous panel of the D.C. Circuit vacated Exchange Act Rule 14a-11 requiring companies to give shareholders access to company proxy materials for the nomination of candidates to serve on the company’s board of directors ...
