On October 10, 2019, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (“Commission”) published a notice it would withdraw its simplified proceedings program. The withdrawal of the program becomes effective 45 days after publication in the Federal Register unless adverse comment is received ...
Stay focused on the interest, not on your position. Define the problem; you decide on your position. For every interest there usually exist several possible satisfying solutions to adequately address those interests. Remember that behind opposed positions lie shared and often compatible interests ...
In July 2020, the European Court of Justice (C-311/18, "Schrems II") declared the EU-US Privacy Shield as invalid as the legal basis for the transfer of personal data to the USA and increased the requirements on the EU standard contractual clauses ...
On November 5, 2020, in Valeant Pharms. N. Am. LLC v. Mylan Pharms. Inc., No. 2019-2402, the Federal Circuit held that venue in Hatch-Waxman cases brought under 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(2)(A) is proper “only in districts where actions related to the submission of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (‘ANDA’) occur, not in all locations where future distribution of the generic products specified in the ANDA is contemplated.” Slip op. at 3 ...
A case of forced resignation does not automatically amount to an unfair dismissal. In the recent decision of Mohd Rizam bin Ibrahim v Prince Court Medical Centre Sdn Bhd dated 5 June 2020 [Award 716 of 2020], the Industrial Court ruled that although the employee was forced to resign, the same was with just cause and excuse ...
The February 14 decision in a closely watched Fourth Circuit False Claims Act (FCA) case did not, as initially anticipated, address the issue of the validity of statistical sampling to establish FCA liability. However, it did address another question that has split the circuits—whether the U.S. Department of Justice has the unreviewable right to veto FCA settlements in cases in which it has declined to intervene. See United States ex rel. Michaels v. Agape Senior Community, et al ...
The doctrine of qualified immunity, often invoked by police officers and other government employees in lawsuits alleging civil rights violations, was recently asserted by defendants in a federal False Claims Act (FCA) fraud case. In an interlocutory appeal, a unanimous Fourth Circuit panel has held qualified immunity cannot shield defendants from FCA liability. Citynet, No. 18-1575, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 19367 (4th Cir. June 22, 2020) ...
In a defendant-friendly opinion, a split panel held that conduct based on an “objectively reasonable” reading of an ambiguous statute, absent contrary circuit court precedent or agency guidance, cannot constitute “knowing” misconduct under the False Claims Act. In United States ex rel. Sheldon v ...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently decided that claims based on Article 2 of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act ("WVCCPA"), including claims based on its FDCPA-like debt collection provisions, do not apply to transactions where the consumer pays at the point of sale. In Hinkle v. Safe-Guard Products Int'l, LLC, Hinkle purchased a new car at a local dealership ...
Recent upheavals sweeping the globe, including significant changes in social and familial structures and technological, political and economic shifts, have quite obviously also stoked the fire of underlying family tensions with incendiary results. Often the next generation fails to conform to the expectations of the wealth-originating generation and their goals and ambitions can diverge quite significantly ...
On March 26th, 2024, the President of the Republic enacted the Framework Law on Cybersecurity and Critical Information Infrastructure (the "Law"), after having been generally approved by the Chamber of Deputies, and the preventive control of constitutionality carried out by the Constitutional Court was concluded ...
The news earlier this month that Jamie Spears has agreed to step down from his long-time role as conservator of his daughter Britney Spears’ estate “when the time is right” has once again shone a light on the singer’s 13-year-long conservatorship, leading many to consider capacity issues for the first time ...
British Virgin Islands entities and structures are frequently used to hold assets located onshore, outside the BVI. Sometimes these assets represent the proceeds of wrong-doing including breach of fiduciary duty, breach of express trust, or pure fraud. The vast majority of the 400,000 active BVI companies on the register tend to be holding companies, holding real property, investments, or shares in other companies including shares in trading companies ...
It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been accused of a crime that they cannot use their own money, and this situation could last for months. Nonetheless, an institution exerting this effect functions under Polish law and can impact both individuals and companies This institution is the freezing of accounts. In general it is used where there is a suspicion that funds in an account have a criminal origin or are related to an offence ...
On February 13, 2020, in Frlekin v. Apple, Inc., No. S243805 (Cal. 2/13/2020), the California Supreme Court determined that Apple employees must be paid for time spent waiting for and undergoing exit bag searches. Although Apple does not require its employees to bring bags to work, the Court concluded that the search time amounts to time under which the employees are under Apple's "control," as that term is defined in the California Wage Orders ...
The United States and the European Union recently concluded a new agreement aimed at allowing U.S. companies to continue to collect, use and disclose personal information concerning European citizens, while still preserving their fundamental rights ...
Early on the morning of June 13, 2017, over one hundred federal agents raided facilities across southern California belonging to behavioral health provider Sovereign Heath. The agents provided search warrants indicating that they were seeking evidence of fraudulent billing and kickbacks ...
The Supreme Court of Appeal decision in the matter of Pather v Financial Services Board concerns a challenge to the jurisdiction of the Enforcement Committee of the Financial Services Board (“FSB”) to deal with market abuse, specifically in this case publishing false statements that resulted in an overstatement of the performance of their company. The two appellants were Maslamony Pather and Ah-Vest Ltd (formerly All Joy Foods Ltd) ...
On January 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its proposed rule barring most non-compete agreements that would apply to employees. We previously summarized the proposed rule here and here. The original deadline for comments on the proposed rule was March 20. On March 6, the FTC announced it is extending the deadline to submit comments to April 19. As of March 9, a total of 16,965 comments (8,848 electronically) have been received on the proposed rule ...
In a January 13, 2013 blog post, the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection’s Business Center Blog highlighted the FTC’s recent groundbreaking settlement for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) in the mobile app context ...
