Features

Date Approaches for Start of EU Trade Secrets Directive
In 2016, concerns about protecting trade secrets in the European Union resulted in Directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 8, 2016. Directive (EU) 2016/943, which will impact the entertainment industry, seeks to protect undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure.
Features

When Lack of Informed Consent Is Not the Issue
When an injury occurs, the first reaction of those in the medical office might be to ask, "Did the patient sign an informed consent form?" When the answer is "Yes," and the harm that occurred is listed as a possibility on that signed form, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. Right? Not so fast.
Features

Exclusion of Evidence: The FDA's 510K Process
In a drug or medical device injury case, one of the defense's most potent arguments often is that the product in question underwent FDA approval. But when a device is approved for sale to the public through the FDA's 510(k) process, the rigorous safety and efficacy analysis required of new and unique medical devices has not been undertaken.
Features

Children of a Married Same-Sex Couple
<b><i>The Presumption of Legitimacy</i></b><p>In what is being hailed as a landmark decision, New York's Appellate Division, First Department, recently held that the presumption that a child born to a married couple is their legitimate offspring applies not only to biological children of both spouses, but also to children born through more modern means — even when the married parties are in a same-sex marriage.
Features

Criminal Probe of Weinstein Role in amfAR Monies
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is conducting a criminal investigation into transactions connected to The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) that were arranged by embattled film producer Harvey Weinstein, <i>The New York Times</i> reported. The transactions involved $600,000 raised at a May 2015 auction in Cannes on the French Riviera from a pair of fundraising packages arranged by Weinstein.
Features

The Deductibility of FCA Payments in Light of <b><i>Kokesh</i></b>
<b><i>A Business Expense?</i></b><p>In negotiating FCA or similar settlements with the government, one key consideration is the tax treatment of any payment. While not in the context of deductibility, the Supreme Court this year, in<i>Kokesh v. SEC</i>, analyzed whether disgorgement in an SEC enforcement action was punitive or compensatory.
Features

Defenses of Impossibility of Performance and Frustration of Purpose
Parties in complex commercial cases that are accused of defaulting on or breaching a contract may invoke the defense of impossibility, arguing that performance of contractual obligations was rendered impossible by an intervening event. But under New York law, those arguments rarely make it past the motion stage.
Columns & Departments
IP News
Federal Circuit Resolves Circuit Split, Finds That Venue Is Not Waived Under Rule 12(h)(1)(A) for Cases Brought before <i>TC HeartLand</i><br>Federal Circuit Reverses Award of Lost Profits Because Product Sold to a Single Customer Was an Available Non- Infringing Alternative
Columns & Departments
Development
Discussion of a case in which a restaurant owner planned to demolish the existing building on a leased parcel to build a 5400-square-foot restaurant
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