Features

There May Be 'No Do-Overs,' but SEC Hack Provides Important Security Lessons
Even the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can get hacked — and the recently announced cyber attack against the SEC is providing an important wake-up call for U.S. companies regulated by the powerful agency and the attorneys they work with.
Features

Opt-Out Incentives: The Ins and Outs
As annual open enrollment season approaches, many employers may be evaluating ways in which to control rising health plan costs. One strategy frequently considered is a financial incentive for employees to waive or opt out of the employer-sponsored group health coverage. But this raises potential problems under the Affordable Care Actas well as a number of other federal laws.
Features

Internal Whistleblowers
<b><i>SCOTUS Review of Dodd-Frank to Change the Landscape</b></i><p>On June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court granted <i>certiorari</i> in <i>Digital Realty Trust Inc. v. Somers</i> to review a Ninth Circuit decision regarding SEC whistleblowing protections. The Court's ruling is highly anticipated, as it will clarify the landscape for whistleblower protections.
Features

Estate of Ultra Festival Co-Founder Loses Stock Fight
The company that licenses the brand for Miami's Ultra Music Festival won a key appellate dispute against the estate of co-founder Alex Omes. Florida's Court of Appeal, Third District, has ruled that Omes' brother, Carlos, will not be appointed president of Ultra Enterprises Inc. and will have to accept the court's valuation of Alex Omes' shares, which was about 2% of what Alex Omes argued it should be.
Features

Securing Your Information-Rich Employee Benefit Plans
Hackers have turned to a new information-rich source: employee benefit plans. This article examines the threat facing benefit plans, explores the applicable legal landscape, and recommends steps to better equip plans to prepare for and manage data breaches.
Features

FTC Moves Directly Against Social Media Influencers
The FTC has faulted social media influencers for failing to disclose the payments behind their seemingly organic endorsements. But the FTC only reached settlements with the companies, raising a question of when — if ever — the agency would directly go after the influencers.
Features

Arizona's New Paid Sick Leave Law
As of July 1, 2017 all employers in Arizona are now required to provide employees with paid sick leave as directed by a new law, the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act. The law dictates how employers must implement the new rules — from when the benefits begin to accrue to when they pay out, and what fines will be imposed for non-compliance.
Features

Qualcomm Slammed In Patent Brawl With Apple
Qualcomm Inc. lost two pretrial skirmishes last month in its patent and antitrust battle against Apple Inc. — in just about every way imaginable.
Features

'I Thought I'd Seen It All with Rights of First Refusal, But I Was Mistaken'
This article shares an actual recent dispute in which a landlord claimed there was a mutual mistake in the material terms of a right of first refusal after the proper exercise of such right and acceptance of such material terms by its tenant.
Features

Role and Responsibilities of Practice Group Leaders
Ideally, the objective of defining the role and responsibilities of Practice Group Leaders should be to establish just enough structure and accountability within their respective practice group to maximize the economic potential of the firm, while institutionalizing the principles of leadership and teamwork.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.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 Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›