Alert
Published 11/20/2012
Services Labor and Employment
Summary Severance agreements and employment contracts with release of claims provisions may violate 409A of the Internal Revenue Code. Bad release provisions may be fixed, penalty-free, before December 31, 2012. Most severance agreements provide for a review period (e.g., 21 or 45 days) and a revocation period (e.g., 7 days). Many employment contracts and other forms of deferred compensation condition payment on the execution of a release of claims, covenant not to compete or non-solicitation agreement. In 2010, the IRS issued a notice 1 which provides that such a review and revocation period...
Alert
Published 11/20/2012
Services Labor and Employment
Summary States are beginning to permit wrongful discharge claims against individuals, putting supervisors and managers at risk for personal liability. What Happened Earlier this month, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that individuals may be held personally liable for wrongful discharge claims. Specifically, the Court held in VanBuren v. Grubb that plaintiffs may assert a common law tort claim of wrongful discharge in violation of Virginia public policy against individuals who — despite not being the actual "employer" — participated in the wrongful discharge. This means that supervisors and...
Alert
Published 11/20/2012
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
On November 14, 2012, the DOJ and SEC issued long-awaited guidance on how they enforce the FCPA. Our clients and readers will find the document, styled A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act , extremely useful. In particular, pages 57-65 describe the hallmarks of an effective compliance program. The criteria listed describe the standard to which all companies should aspire. The Resource Guide also describes hypothetical transactions, at pages 61-64, and recommends how a company should proceed. In particular, the hypothetical on third-party vetting that begins on page 63...
Alert
Published 11/20/2012
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
The recent sentencings of a number of executives held criminally liable under the “Responsible Corporate Officer” doctrine serve as an important reminder that the government increasingly will hold managers, officers, and in-house counsel at drug and medical device companies to a high standard with respect to overseeing the safe manufacture and delivery of drugs and medical devices to consumers. On October 3, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas sentenced Gary D. Osborn and his compounding pharmacy company ApothéCure Inc. on two counts each of misbranding, to which both...
Alert
Published 11/20/2012
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
With the recent passage of two major pieces of legislation governing health care compliance and Wall Street reform, the Office of the Inspector General is expected to play a larger role in overseeing federal agencies and interacting with private parties to guide behavior. Since the founding of this nation, when General George Washington was informed of the combat readiness of his Continental Army, inspectors general have played an important role in the federal government. The modern inspectors general trace their roots to the late 1970s, a response to the growing size of the administrative...
Alert
Published 11/20/2012
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
Use of private web-based email hosted by Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, and similar service providers has grown exponentially over the past decade. It is increasingly common for users of such services to leave their email “in the cloud” on the providers’ servers. That is, rather than download email to their personal computers and delete the server copies, as was common through the early 2000s, users now typically leave their email stored on the providers’ servers indefinitely and without downloading permanent or archival copies to their personal computers. Users thus may be surprised to learn...
Article
Published 11/20/2012
By Heather R. Pruger
Services Commercial Litigation | Labor and Employment
Heather R. Pruger, an associate in the Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Practice, wrote this article about how technology was the hot topic at the 6th Annual ABA Labor & Employment Law Conference and how recent tech developments have facilitated inclusion in the workplace. In addition, she said panels covered the use of technology for employee monitoring; a variety of social media topics; technological tools for the practice of law; electronic investigation tools and privacy limitations; cybercrime issues; Internet-based advertising and promotional methods and limitations;...
Blog Post
Published 11/19/2012
Blog Post
Published 11/19/2012
Article
Published 11/19/2012
By Bruce D. Armon, Evan J. Foster
Industries Health Care | Life Sciences
Services Intellectual Property | Commercial Litigation | Health Care Technology Contracting
Bruce D. Armon, partner and co-chair of the Health Practice, and Evan J. Foster, an associate in the Health and Intellectual Property and Technology practices, co-wrote this article that provides critical do’s and don’ts when it comes to implementing new technology to manage a healthcare practice. Tips include doing due diligence before hiring a technology vendor, participating in formal testing of a product before launching it and not assuming the pricing is all-inclusive.
Blog Post
Published 11/18/2012
Alert
Published 11/16/2012
Summary The New Jersey Appellate Division found that homeowners' excessive delay in raising their standing arguments precluded potential defenses and affirmed that a foreclosure judgment received by a party lacking standing is not necessarily void. On November 14, 2012, the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed an order denying the defendants/homeowners' motion to vacate a final judgment of foreclosure entered on March 17, 2009 and their application to further restrain a sheriff's sale. Nearly three and half years after being served with the foreclosure complaint and over two years after...
Blog Post
Published 11/14/2012
Blog Post
Published 11/13/2012
Blog Post
Published 11/12/2012
Blog Post
Published 11/12/2012
