Features

State Attorney-Client Privilege Rule Incorporated into Federal Law
<b><i>Delaware Bankruptcy Court Protects Communications with Financial Professionals Originating in Delaware</b></i><p>Because state law applies at the time a transaction is negotiated, the parties might assume — reasonably so — that state privilege law will govern communications with their attorneys and financial professionals. But what happens if, years later, a suit is filed in federal court and brings claims under federal law? Does state privilege law still apply?
Features

New Development Projects: The Reports of Demise Were Greatly Exaggerated
Numerous shopping center developers use a “layer-cake” of financing, including state and federal tax incentives to reduce the costs of debt and equity financing. The industry correctly saw that the market value of the credits would drop once the Jobs Act become effective. Such tax cut could undoubtedly impact the ability of developers to raise equity, certainly for new projects not yet placed in service.
Features

Summary of Developments Under New York's Environmental Quality Act
The courts issued 41 decisions in 2017 under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, and changes were made to regulations themselves this year. This article summarizes the most important of these cases and regulation changes, and the patterns they represent.
Features

General Data Protection Regulation: Defense or Offense?
Ostensibly, GDPR's mission is to strengthen and unify the EU's protection of online privacy rights and promote data protection for citizens of the 28 countries currently in the EU. In the global economy, however, GDPR serves as an alarm to all countries with business flowing across Europe and well beyond. Where business flows, data follow.
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Five Takeaways from Recent Cybersecurity Developments by Colorado and the SEC
Colorado recently adopted a new law expanding companies' obligations in the event of a cybersecurity incident, and establishing new data security and disposal obligations. Recent announcements by the SEC likewise emphasize important responsive points for both companies and their personnel in the wake of an incident. Five key takeaways from these developments are highlighted in this article.
Features

What the C-Suite Needs to Know About FCPA Prosecutions
In 2017, the Justice Department charged 20 people with FCPA violations — the second-highest single-year total since the law's passage in 1977, according to a new study by Arent Fox.
Features

Issues Between EU Data Protection, Use of Blockchain
Emerging technologies and regulations have the power to create, shape or kill businesses. For the entertainment industry, the European Union's (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and blockchain technology each embody forces that have the potential for profound impact. Taken in tandem, the GDPR and blockchain highlight the possibilities and pitfalls of disruption and the importance of cross-organizational collaboration in compliance and innovation initiatives.
Features

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and How It Affects Real Estate
<b><i>Part Two of a Two-Part Article</b></i><p>Part One of this article discussed changes affecting real estate including the pass-through business deduction adopted in new §199A of the Tax Act. Part Two expands upon the workings of the pass-through business deduction (pass-through deduction).
Features

Tenant Liability CERCLA Changes Under 2018 BUILD Act
One of the significant updates to the law is that now, a tenant at an industrial or manufacturing site can, under appropriate circumstances, claim the “bona fide prospective purchaser” defense to Superfund liability and escape strict, joint, and several owner/operator liabilities when leasing previously-contaminated property.
Features

Due Diligence in Distressed Community Hospitals
Many community hospitals are in distress. The causes are varied but have a constant theme — the cost to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.
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- 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 ›
- 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 ›
- Meet the Lawyer Working on Inclusion Rider LanguageAt the Oscars in March, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made “inclusion rider” go viral. But Kalpana Kotagal, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll had already worked for months to write the language for such provisions. Kotagal was developing legal language for contract provisions that Hollywood's elite could use to require studios and other partners to employ diverse workers on set.Read More ›
- 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 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 ›