Alert
Published 10/02/2012
Services Mergers and Acquisitions
Summary The FTC has proposed amendments to the premerger notification Rules to codify prior FTC guidance concerning when a transaction involving the transfer of rights to a patent in the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry is reportable under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently proposed amendments to the premerger notification rules (Rules) to codify prior FTC guidance concerning when a transaction involving the transfer of rights to a patent in the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry is reportable under the Hart-Scott-Rodino...
Blog Post
Published 10/01/2012
By Jason Tremblay
Alert
Published 10/01/2012
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
A series of indictments, the most recent in August, remind government contractors of the increased scrutiny on the industry and the very real risk of employee fraud and abuse. Government contractors are encouraged to heed the warning and to make sure they have effective compliance programs in place and that those programs are strictly enforced. The Indictments On August 23, 2012, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California unsealed an indictment charging Robert Ehnow, the owner and President of L&N Industrial Tool & Supply, Inc. (“L&N”); Joanne Loehr,...
Alert
Published 10/01/2012
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
With the conclusion of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the world’s eyes will soon turn to Sochi, the Black Sea resort city in Russia, which will host the 2014 Winter Olympics. In addition to serving as the backdrop for the usual feats of athletic prowess and national pride, the Sochi games may also be fertile ground for prosecutions under the United States’ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The U.S. government’s actions in this setting will serve as a signal to any company doing business abroad that it must be proactive in ensuring compliance with the FCPA. The FCPA is a federal...
Alert
Published 10/01/2012
Summary A federal court ruled that an environmental advocacy organization could ignore and bypass state administrative agency environmental permit review procedures and file an action directly in federal court challenging the construction of seven compressor stations that had been permitted and constructed by the defendant. A federal district court opinion points the way to strategies that may be utilized by anti-development forces to circumvent state permitting procedures. Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future v. Ultra Resources, Inc. , No. 4:11-CV-1360, 2012 WestLaw 4434465 (M.D. Pa., Sept. 24...
Alert
Published 10/01/2012
Services Commercial Litigation | Mergers and Acquisitions
Summary On May 1, 2012, in a case argued by Saul Ewing attorney John F. Stoviak, the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas (Jefferson County) held that reliance is not an essential element of a claim for breach of a representation or warranty contained in an asset purchase and sale agreement. The case, Guardian Elder Care of Brockway, LLC v. WRC Highland View Healthcare , No. 199-2011-CD ("Opinion"), appears to have been a case of first impression for a Pennsylvania state court, and provides an important reminder to transactional practitioners of the importance of carefully negotiating the...
Alert
Published 09/28/2012
Alert
Published 09/27/2012
Services Environmental
Summary Any company handling hazardous substances in New Jersey must be aware that while the state was recently unsuccessful in expanding liability for damages under the Spill Act, the Supreme Court clarified what constitutes a "discharge" under the Spill Act, which could create unforeseen liability. On September 26, 2012, the New Jersey Supreme Court in New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection v.Dimant (Docket No. 067993) decided the level of proofs required to establish a causal nexus between a discharge and damaged natural resources in order to impose liability for damages and...
Alert
Published 09/27/2012
Summary The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has held that a developer may file inconsistent subdivision or land development plans and is entitled to action on all applications; moreover, developers may submit mutually exclusive plans and, after securing approval of those conflicting plans, are free to implement the plan of their preference. On August 10, 2012 the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a trial court's decision to dismiss an objector's land use appeal as moot after the developers submitted and received approval on a new land development plan pertaining to the same...
Article
Published 09/27/2012
By Michael J. Joyce
Industries Construction
Services Commercial Litigation
Michael J. Joyce, an associate in the Commercial Litigation Practice, published this article providing an overview of interesting situations encountered by young lawyers, and offering suggestions on how to cope with the same on a daily basis.
Blog Post
Published 09/26/2012
Alert
Published 09/25/2012
Industries Insurance
Alert
Published 09/25/2012
Industries Health Care
Summary The June 28th Supreme Court ruling to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA") focused upon the constitutionality of the individual mandate and insurance-related matters (i.e., Medicaid expansion). Other components of the ACA have gone largely unnoticed. This Alert focuses on key elements of the ACA that relate to the federal government's fraud and abuse enforcement efforts, namely: (i) the Fraud Prevention System ("FPS") and the Automated Provider Screening system ("APS"), which are the centerpieces of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") data...
Article
Published 09/25/2012
Alert
Published 09/24/2012
Industries Telecommunications
Summary A federal judge has overturned the decision of a township zoning board and granted an application to build a cell phone tower on leased property, ruling it was not a "land development" or "subdivision" under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. On September 14, 2012, United States District Judge A. Richard Caputo ordered the Zoning Hearing Board of Hamilton Township to grant Global Tower LLC's application for special use to erect a 250-foot, three-legged, lattice-type cell tower on leased property in Hamilton Township in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. See Global Tower, LLC v...
Blog Post
Published 09/20/2012
