Spring-Loading Options
Delaware courts are beginning to analyze claims concerning the controversial practice of spring-loading options. Spring-loading is the granting of options just prior to the release of favorable company information (in the company's possession at the time of the grant). The options are granted at a market price on the day of the grant. They are said to be 'spring-loaded' because upon release of the favorable news, the stock price is expected to rise and the options would then become 'in-the-money.'
Parent Corporations and Their Subsidiaries' Liabilities: Guidelines
There are many reasons to insulate parent and sibling entities from known exposure to which a particular subsidiary is subject. These include, in addition to the tort and federal regulations at issue in the <i>Forsythe</i> and <i>Bestfoods</i> cases, mentioned herein, vulnerability to the taxes, regulation and jurisdiction of a state or foreign nation. Protecting against such vulnerabilities are an important task for corporate counsel. This article explains.
Features
How to Manage Your Litigation Costs
This is the first in a series of articles discussing how in-house counsel can better manage litigation matters.
Employee Reassignments Under the ADA
The United States Supreme Court was poised this term to decide an important issue arising under the Americans With Disabilities Act ('ADA') that has vexed employers for years. At issue was whether the ADA requires employers to reassign an employee who, due to a disability, can no longer perform the essential functions of his position, to a vacant, equivalent position for which he is qualified or whether the disabled employer must merely permit the employee to compete for such a position with other applicants. Unfortunately, the case of <i>Huber v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.</i> settled after the Supreme Court had granted certiorari to decide this issue, leaving an existing split among the circuits.
Business Crimes Hotline
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
Are the Sentencing Guidelines More Than 'Advisory'?
The Second Circuit's recent decision in <i>United States v. Cutler</i> cast a cloud over the question of how far a sentencing judge can depart from the so-called 'advisory' Sentencing Guidelines. In late December 2007, the Supreme Court appeared to have settled that issue. It remains to be seen how the Second Circuit's law will develop in this area.
Supreme Court Revisits Money Laundering
On March 3, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of <i>Cuellar v. United States.</i> The decision, expected by the end of June, will interpret the 'intent to conceal' provision of the federal Anti-Money Laundering statutes.
Features
Danger Zone: Tightening Export Controls
Export controls are a morass of overlapping jurisdictions dotted with strict liability and criminal landmines. Worse, criminal and civil penalties have been severely ratcheted up recently, and more appear on the horizon.
Features
The 'Unindicted Co-Conspirator'
The criminal justice process can be arcane, but one term is recognizable to the public. An indictment is a formal accusation by a grand jury that an indicted individual has committed a crime. While damning, the indicted defendant nonetheless has the constitutional right to say to the government, 'Prove it,' and, if the government fails, to be cleared of all criminal wrongdoing. Unlike the defendant who has a right to defend himself, the unindicted co-conspirator is not on trial but confined to a limbo in which vindication is never possible.
Features
Rediscovering Chapter 9
Even though Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code has been in effect for over 30 years, fewer than 100 cases have been filed during that time. Municipal bankruptcy cases ' or, more accurately, proceedings involving the adjustment of a municipality's debts ' are a rarity, compared with reorganization cases under Chapter 11.
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