Fed. Circuit: Consultant's Pre-Agreement Work Falls Outside Assignment Provision
February 29, 2016
On Feb. 5, 2016, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a unanimous decision in <i>TriReme Med., LLC. v. AngioScore, Inc.,</i> holding that AngioScore's consulting agreement had failed to assign inventive contributions made by a consultant before the effective date of the agreement. The decision highlights the need for attentive drafting of agreements with new employees and contractors, especially if they may have engaged in relevant inventive activity before the start of the employment or contractor relationship.
ADA Coverage Still Evolving After 25 Years
February 29, 2016
The ADA) has prohibited discrimination against qualified individuals based on their disabilities across the United States for the last 25 years. It has required employers to implement reasonable accommodations for a qualified individual's disability. A critical question facing employers is what medical conditions qualify as a disability that must be accommodated to comply with federal law.
Does Your Company Employ 50 or More People?
February 29, 2016
Although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted nearly six years ago, large employers now must for the first time report to the Internal Revenue Service.
Intellectual Property
February 29, 2016
Courts and negotiators, mediators and arbitrators across our country are grappling with questions surrounding the equitable distribution of intellectual property assets ' including, but not limited to, copyrights and patents. But this area of the law has not yet been fully addressed by case law.
The Progressive Lawyer: Decision-Making and the 'Metaphorical Bias Model'
February 29, 2016
Across the nation, by far the most common setting for deciding domestic relations cases is the bench trial, where the judge sits alone without a jury except in extraordinary circumstance; cases involving domestic torts, for example. In the final analysis, therefore, our judges are our audience. They are certainly more than a passive audience; they are participants in every sense.
Bankruptcy Code Section 1113 Trumps NLRA
February 29, 2016
A significant problem confronting many debtors seeking to reorganize through Chapter 11 involves the resolution of labor contract issues. A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit will likely impact how that problem is solved by debtors teetering on the brink of, or already in, Chapter 11 where their operative collective bargaining agreement has or soon will expire.
Employers, Watch Out
January 31, 2016
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, employers have grappled with the law's web of rules and requirements. However, many employers are not as familiar with the Act's whistleblower protections ' an additional source of risk for the unwary.
Does Your Employee Handbook Help or Hurt You?
January 31, 2016
A handbook that was once the foundation of good employment practices may now violate federal law, and nothing has changed except how the General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (the GC) interprets the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Preparing for the DOL's Final Rule on FSLA's 'White-Collar' Exemptions
January 31, 2016
The salary level proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published in the Federal Register in July 2015 would more than double the current salary level for "white-collar" employees to be exempt from the FLSA's overtime requirements. Such an increase in the salary level would have wide-reaching implications for employers and employees alike.
