Some Highlights of The Recently Enacted Stimulus Bill
On Feb. 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the $800 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the "Act"). This legislation contains many important tax-breaks and enhancements that can benefit law firms and their clients, as well as individual attorneys and staff members and their families.
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Parting Friends?
Perhaps the most troubling decision for any partnership's management committee is the determination to force partners from the partnership. This article examines what law firms can do to assist their partners as they show them the door.
A Fresh Look at Pro Bono
In a perfect world, attorneys and firms would choose to make commitments to pro bono matters because it's the right thing to do, and it enables those who have to give to those who don't. Ours is not a perfect world and 2009 is certainly not a perfect year. But if we are looking for silver linings, pro bono seems ready made.
Downsizing the Right Way
This first part in a two-part series deals with the primary legal risks of a "downsizing" event at your firm.
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Keeping Track of Telecommuters
By restricting telecommuting to the people who really need to work at home and then asking them to sign a form indicating that they know the types of monitoring in use, a company can take reasonable protections without entering an Orwellian environment ' and making life hell for managers.
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Prepare Now for Whistleblower Complaints
In a little publicized section of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 ("2008 Act"), employees in virtually every corner of the consumer products industry were given the right to file lawsuits claiming their employer retaliated against them for having raised consumer product safety concerns.
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Work Authorization Documents
A recent decision by a New York State appeals court has provided employers with yet another reason to verify scrupulously the documents provided to it by potential employees.
The COBRA Subsidy in the Stimulus Package
On Feb. 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA" or the "Act"). The Act creates new obligations for employers under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 ("COBRA"). Here's what you need to know.
Q&A: Shareholder Activism and M&A Deals in the Current Market
Page Davidson is a member of the Transactional Corporate and Securities Practice of the Nashville-based firm Bass Berry & Sims PLC. In this interview, Mr. Davidson discusses the increased role that shareholder activists play in M&A deals, how corporate counsel can develop a productive working relationship with shareholder activists, and the current marketplace forces that have led to a chain of failed deals.
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Cloud Computing
It would be hard to find an IT department of a large business that was not undertaking a "cloud computing" project or at least considering the idea. Here's a look at what it is and how it works.
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- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- Surveys in Patent Infringement Litigation: The Next FrontierMost experienced intellectual property attorneys understand the significant role surveys play in trademark infringement and other Lanham Act cases, but relatively few are likely to have considered the use of such research in patent infringement matters. That could soon change in light of the recent admission of a survey into evidence in <i>Applera Corporation, et al. v. MJ Research, Inc., et al.</i>, No. 3:98cv1201 (D. Conn. Aug. 26, 2005). The survey evidence, which showed that 96% of the defendant's customers used its products to perform a patented process, was admitted as evidence in support of a claim of inducement to infringe. The court admitted the survey into evidence over various objections by the defendant, who had argued that the inducement claim could not be proven without the survey.Read More ›
- The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance ProgramsThe parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.Read More ›
- In the SpotlightOn May 9, 2003, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced that Bayer Corporation, the pharmaceutical manufacturer, had been sentenced and ordered to pay a criminal fine of $5,590,800 stemming from its earlier plea of guilty to violating the Federal Prescription Drug Marketing Act by failing to list with the FDA its drug product, Cipro, that was privately labeled for an HMO. Such listing is required under the federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act. The Federal Prescription Drug Marketing Act, Pub. L. 100-293, enacted on April 22, 1988, as modified on August 26, 1992 by the Prescription Drug Amendments (PDA) Pub. L. 102-353, 106 Stat. 941, amended sections 301, 303, 503, and 801 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, codified at 21 U.S.C. '' 331, 333, 353, 381, to establish requirements for distributing prescription drug samples.Read More ›
