Procurement Fraud Enforcement
June 28, 2007
Each year, the federal government spends several hundred billion dollars to obtain goods and services from corporations and other nongovernmental entities. Under the critical eye of the nation's taxpayers, the federal government has amplified its own scrutiny of the ethics and integrity of its procurement officers and those companies with which it contracts. Via new national legislation and investigative initiatives, the attention of Capitol Hill and federal law enforcement offices across the nation is keenly focused on the prevention, detection and punishment of procurement fraud. It is a brand new day ' and a potentially dark one for the unwary governmental contractor.
Fraud Sentence Enhanced for Abuse of Trust
June 28, 2007
The Federal Sentencing Guidelines establish factors that a court is authorized to consider in imposing a sentence upon a criminal defendant, and assign numeric values to those factors in an effort to achieve some consistency in sentencing. Though the factors mostly stay the same, their precise parameters are constantly evolving. One evolving factor is the 'abuse of trust' or 'use of special skill' enhancement, described in the Guidelines under ' 3B1.3.
Off-Label Marketing of Drugs and Medical Devices
June 28, 2007
Policing the marketing of drugs and devices was once primarily the preserve of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which focused on misleading labels and outright quackery. No longer. Nowadays, many federal investigations, worked jointly by the FDA, Department of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS), are fueled by the enormous financial recoveries that can be won from manufacturers accused of illegally promoting FDA-approved drugs or devices, bearing an FDA-approved label, for uses not approved by the FDA ('off-label' uses).
Alienation of Affection
June 28, 2007
The San Francisco businessman who flies to Maui to meet his married girlfriend for a romantic week in paradise; the Memphis nurse who travels to the coast for a night of gambling and drinking with her married Biloxi boyfriend; the Indianapolis lawyer who drives to Chicago to meet a married paralegal for fun and frolic on the Miracle Mile; and the married Texas oil man who meets his also-married paramour in her hometown of Santa Fe for a couple of days of shopping and dining ' these undercover lovers could find themselves as defendants in alienation of affection lawsuits filed by aggrieved spouses in states where that arcane tort still exists. Hawaii, Mississippi, Illinois and New Mexico are four of only seven states that still maintain a cause of action for alienation of affection. The other three states are North Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.
Federal Court Cancels Arbitration Clause in 'Virtual World' Test Case
June 28, 2007
Not long ago, in a galaxy eerily close to this one, legal pundits predicted that the fanciful realm of online 'virtual world' gaming would come crashing into the harsh reality of earthly litigation. That day has finally arrived in the case of <i>Bragg v. Linden Research, Inc., et al.</i>, serving up a lesson in civil procedure to an attorney with an avatar attempting to avoid arbitration over virtual property rights.
Policing the Internet
June 28, 2007
The rise of the Internet as a major place of commerce has been both a curse and a boon to owners of brands and other intellectual property. Online business sales are booming, but so are the sales of fake goods and pirated software. Though estimates of the size of the problem vary, all agree it's big. As a result, Internet policing has become a major cost of doing business for many companies.
<b><i>Commentary: </b></i>Playing with Privacy
June 28, 2007
The policy concerns surrounding virtual communities and social networking are broad and difficult to pin down. Popular social networks typically have well over 100 million registered users. Managing these crowded environments parallels the real-world challenges of managing a major city. So what can U.S. policymakers do to create a safe virtual environment without stifling technological advancements?
Ruling: A Download Is Not a Performance
June 28, 2007
If a music file is downloaded to a computer, and no one is there to play it, does it constitute a performance? This is not some question from a digital-age freshman philosophy seminar ' it was the legal issue recently facing Judge William C. Connor in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York in <i>United States v. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ('ASCAP')</i>.
Anti-Suit Injunctions: Is the Best Defense a Strong Offense?
June 28, 2007
In a case of significance to the secondary loan and distressed claim market, a North Carolina state court has entered an 'anti- suit injunction' barring a group of secondary, secured debt holders (the 'Fund Defendants'), from commencing any actions against Wachovia Bank. The case, <i>Wachovia Bank, NA and Wachovia Capital Partners, LLC v. Harbinger Capital Partners, et al.</i>, Civ. Action No. 07-CVS-5097 is pending in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division (Mecklenburg, NC) (the 'State Court Anti-Suit Action'), but its parties and the underlying facts arise from the Chapter 11 case of <i>In re Le-Nature, Inc.</i> pending in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Pennsylvania (the 'Bankruptcy Case').
