Alert
Published 03/27/2013
Industries Health Care
Summary Physician-owned distributorships continue to attract federal scrutiny. A new OIG Alert highlights health care transactions that make these distributorships vulnerable to enforcement activity. On March 26, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a special fraud alert (the " Alert ") relating to so-called physician-owned distributorships (a "POD"). The Alert noted that, "Longstanding OIG guidance makes clear that the opportunity for a referring physician to earn a profit, including through an investment in an entity for which he...
Alert
Published 03/26/2013
Services Public Finance
Summary In 2012, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board ("MSRB") expanded the disclosure obligations of underwriters to government issuers under Rule G-17. The MSRB recently published answers to frequently asked questions about this rule to help underwriters comply with their expanded obligations and to provide clarity to government issuers. The answers cover such concerns as the timing of disclosure to issuers, the issuer's acknowledgment of receipt of the disclosure, and the form of the underwriter's disclosure. MSRB Rule G-17 requires underwriters to deal fairly with government issuers...
Article
Published 03/26/2013
By Jennifer L. Beidel
Industries Higher Education | Life Sciences
Services Commercial Litigation | Securities Litigation | White Collar and Government Enforcement
Jennifer L. Beidel, an associate in the Commercial Litigation Practice, wrote this article examining whether a defendant or the government bears the burden of proving withdrawal from a conspiracy in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court involving a drug distribution ring. Click here to review the article.
Blog Post
Published 03/25/2013
Blog Post
Published 03/25/2013
Alert
Published 03/22/2013
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld the wire fraud and misbranding convictions and sentence of InterMune Inc. founder W. Scott Harkonen. United States v. Harkonen , No. 11-10209 (9th Cir. March 4, 2013). That decision, while based on different circumstances than the landmark decision by the Second Circuit in Caronia (which we have written about in this story, http://www.saul.com/publications/alerts/government-declines-seek-rehearing-landmark-label-speech-decision ), creates further tension between lawful promotional marketing and criminal off-label practices. Harkonen...
Alert
Published 03/22/2013
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
Summary The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in United States v. Ring recently upheld a conviction under the public sector “honest-services” fraud statute and the “illegal-gratuities” statute. Notably, the court: (1) expanded the definition of “corrupt payments” for purposes of the honest-services fraud statute; and (2) expanded the definition of “official action” for purposes of the illegal-gratuities statute. Based upon Ring , lobbyists will need to be particularly careful when providing gifts (other than campaign contributions) to public officials, as those gifts may be viewed as...
Alert
Published 03/22/2013
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
The Supreme Court recently rebuffed an attempt by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to gain more time to file actions to enforce civil penalties by invoking the “discovery rule.” In the case of Gabelli vs. SEC , the Court reasoned that this rule does not apply unilaterally to the SEC because it is a “different kind of plaintiff” who has access to tools that should allow the agency to commence an enforcement action within five years of the occurrence of the allegedly wrongful conduct. The opinion will come as welcome relief to individuals and businesses facing action not only...
Alert
Published 03/22/2013
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
The Eleventh Circuit recently joined the Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits in holding that subpoenaed foreign financial records properly fall within the Required Records Exception to the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, and their production may thus be compelled in a criminal investigation. In re Grand Jury Proceedings , No. 4-10, No. 12-13131, 2013 WL 452768 (11th Cir. Feb. 7, 2013). The case arose from a grand jury investigation involving the suspected failure of a husband (the “Target” of the investigation) and wife: (1) to disclose their ownership of or income...
Alert
Published 03/21/2013
Blog Post
Published 03/19/2013
Blog Post
Published 03/18/2013
Alert
Published 03/18/2013
Industries Insurance
Article
Published 03/18/2013
Arnstein & Lehr Chicago Partners W. Toby Eveland and Christopher S. Naveja recently provided the third in a series of articles on e-discovery written by Arnstein & Lehr attorneys for Inside Counsel online. Mr. Eveland and Mr. Naveja’s article “E-discovery: Top considerations for negotiating contracts with cloud providers,” appeared online on March 12. The series includes six total articles on e-discovery that will be posted to the Inside Counsel site every two weeks through April 23. Additional Arnstein & Lehr contributors include Fort Lauderdale Partner Franklin L. Zemeland Fort...
Alert
Published 03/14/2013
Industries Higher Education
Summary The DOJ has concluded that two medical schools had no lawful basis for excluding applicants who had active cases of Hepatitis B because they could not show that these individuals posed a direct threat to the health and safety of others. The decision may have significant ramifications for higher education institutions, hospitals and other medical providers. When the U.S. Department of Justice announced its recent ADA settlement with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) it wanted to send a message to public and private Higher Ed institutions that "excluding...
Alert
Published 03/12/2013
Industries Construction
Summary Continued budget cuts likely will trigger construction issues and disputes in the coming months and years. As a result, contractors should take precautions on federally funded construction projects. If you have read or watched the news recently, you already know about the federal government's "Sequester," which involves massive budget cuts. Both the Associated General Contractors of America and the publication, Engineering News Record, estimate more than $4 billion in construction budget cuts. Despite the budget cuts, a few funding programs will not be affected, including the Highway...
