Features
Class Action Fairness Act Raises Issues for Employment Litigation
In February, President Bush signed his first piece of "tort reform" legislation, the Class Action Fairness Act (the Act), into law. The Act expands federal diversity jurisdiction to encompass most large class actions, including employment law related class actions. One area of employment litigation that the Act may likely impact is in the wage and hour class action context where, as discussed below, litigants file wage and hour class actions in state court while also pursuing Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions in federal court.
Recent Developments from Around the States
National rulings you need to know.
Rights of Disability Insurance Claimants Boosted with Decision
There are significant differences in the rights afforded to an insured under a disability insurance policy depending upon whether the insurance is provided pursuant to an individual policy or under an employer-sponsored plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 USC ' 1001 <i>et seq</i>. While individual policies are traditionally governed by applicable state common law contract principles, ERISA preempts any and all state laws "insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to" a covered disability plan, and such state laws encompass "all laws, decisions, rules, regulations, or other state actions having the affect of law, of any State" as well as statutory provisions and common law claims.
Features
U.S. e-Commerce Keeps Rising
With the federal government's 2004 fourth-quarter e-spending figures in, the expression "Nowhere to go but up" could have been coined as the motto for U.S. e-commerce activity.
Features
e-Commerce Docket Sheet
Recent cases in e-commerce law and in the e-commerce industry.
Features
The Deal Before The Deal
Only the strongest survive in the jungle, and whether that jungle is on an island or in the business world ' Darwin's laws apply as much to the marketplace as to nature. This is particularly true in the tech sector. In the tumultuous online economy, firms fail or get bought out round-the-clock. <br>However, a good entrepreneur knows when to sell ' sometimes to catch a rising market, other times to cut losses. But deals don't usually get done immediately ' nor should they. Signing the first acquisition proposal doesn't let you fine-tune the deal. Even worse, you'll never learn what your opponent hasn't yet put on the table if you're too quick to scrawl your name on the dotted line.
What Protection Do Foreign Firms' Trademarks Have In The United States?
What happens when two businesses, one an insurance broker on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and the other a bank holding company on the American side, begin using similar domain names and trademarks that result in thousands of misdirected e-mails?
Bankruptcy Fraud in the Spotlight?
As we all know, the feds continue to investigate and prosecute fraud in the financing, accounting and operation of businesses. The Second Year Report of the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force declares that over 500 corporate fraud convictions have been obtained to date and that charges have been brought against over 60 corporate CEOs or presidents. However, executives and their counselors would do well to note that the government's will and ability to prosecute high-level management may not lessen just because a business is in extremis.
Features
Money Laundering Compliance Examinations
The biggest change that financial institutions face is the new, expanded-scope anti-money laundering (AML) regulatory examination and the proliferation of Written Agreements, Memoranda of Understanding, or Cease and Desist Orders issued by bank regulatory agencies should the financial institution be found to be deficient. An analysis of recent regulatory orders including, among others, AmSouth, ABN AMRO, Standard Chartered, Hudson United Bank, and City National Bank, demonstrates that the regulators are focused on multiple issues.
Features
Business Crimes Hotline
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- 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 ›
- 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 ›
- Lionsgate GC Who Resigned Without 'Good Reason' Got Severance PayAdd another plot twist to the storyline surrounding Corii Berg, who unexpectedly quit as general counsel of the film studio Lionsgate in December, even though he was under contract through June 2023.Read More ›
- Join Us For a Twitter Chat: Do We Need Offices Anymore?When we think about how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the legal industry, one (frankly huge) question comes to mind: Do we really need offices anymore? As many are still working from home, meeting with clients over Zoom and some even conducting jury trials online, life of commuting to and from work seems farther away than February.Read More ›
