Gay Partnership: National Developments
The latest on what was happening at press-time.
Decisions of Interest
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
Features
'International Clients': Beware!
If you represent globetrotting clients, be careful! Your married "international" clients who may one day be divorced may face great financial dangers ' or alternatively enjoy significant financial opportunities ' as they travel to and live in different countries.
Features
American Child, Foreign Mother
The courts generally favor keeping children who are American citizens in the United States when deciding custody issues. But, this hurdle is not insurmountable for the foreign-national parent.
Features
Supreme Court Rejects Reverse Age Discrimination Claim
By a 6-3 majority, the United States Supreme Court rejected a claim of reverse discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, finding that Congress in enacting the ADEA concluded that the "enemy of 40 is 30, not 50." <i>General Dynamics v. Cline</i>, 2004 WL 329956 (U.S. 2/24/04).
Decisions of Interest
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
Features
Harassment Action Dismissed on Foreign Sovereign Immunity Grounds
A recent Second Circuit decision clarifies the application of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), 28 U.S.C. 1602 et seq., in a discrimination case filed against foreign governments and their agencies and instrumentalities.
Features
A Word to the Wise
Many major employers have adopted internal dispute resolution programs designed to resolve internally employment disputes, and the numbers of such programs are only increasing. In prior years, these programs typically included a mediation step and ended in a final step of binding arbitration. Under such programs, employees were barred from opting out of the program to bring their claims in court. This is still the case with many employer dispute resolution programs. A growing number of employers, however, have moved away from this binding arbitration model and instead have provided employees with the option of opting out of the program after the mediation stage and permitting the employee to take his or her claim to court.
Arbitration and Delay
Arbitration often is lauded as a relatively more economical and expeditious means to resolve employment disputes. In many cases, arbitration does achieve these objectives. However, when arbitrators issue significant punitive damage awards, employers may not be content to accept the award as final and binding.
John Gaal's Ethics Corner
Your ethics questions answered by the expert!
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 ›
- 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 ›
