Alert
Published 12/10/2020
By Brandon Brauer
Industries Construction
On December 1, 2020, the Court of Appeals of Texas (1st District) reversed a lower court decision and held that where a party fails to show that a public university defendant has expressly breached a contractual provision, Texas sovereign immunity law shields the public university from a lawsuit See Texas Southern University v. Pepper Lawson Horizon International Group, LLC, No. 01-19-00395, 2020 WL 703584 (Court of Appeals (Tx. 1st District) December 1, 2020). General contractor, Pepper Lawson Horizon International Group, LLC (“Pepper Lawson”) entered into a construction contract (the “...
Alert
Published 12/07/2020
By Michael Gold, Justin B. Ettelson, Christian Kaiser, Guzel Sadykova
Services Securities Transactions and Regulations
On November 2, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ Commission ”) adopted amendments to its rules under the Securities Act (the “ Securities Act ”) in an effort to harmonize, simplify and modernize the exempt offering framework (the “ Amendments ”). The Commission noted that the goal of the Amendments is to promote capital formation and expand investment opportunities in offerings exempt from the registration requirements under the Securities Act while continuing to protect investors. The Amendments revise several of the exemptions that are frequently relied upon by small and...
Alert
Published 12/07/2020
By Bruce D. Armon, Justin C. Danilewitz, Samantha R. Gross, Lauren A. Farruggia
Industries Health Care
Services White Collar and Government Enforcement
On November 16, 2020, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), issued a Special Fraud Alert highlighting the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) risks for pharmaceutical and medical device companies providing remuneration for speaker programs they sponsor. In addition to being important to industry, this Special Fraud Alert should be of interest to physicians, community hospitals and academic medical centers who engage with pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The AKS imposes criminal penalties for those who knowingly and...
Alert
Published 12/04/2020
By Anthony P. Forte, Kevin M. Levy
Industries Real Estate
Responding to calls from Philadelphia’s housing advocates to generate tax revenue for affordable housing, Philadelphia City Council adopted a trio of ordinances on December 2, affecting most new construction projects throughout the City. Mayor Jim Kenney is expected to sign the legislative package before the end of the year. New “Development Impact Tax” on Residential Developers Most impactful among the new Philadelphia tax legislation is a new “Development Impact Tax,” which will be imposed on the construction of “any structure for human occupancy for residential purposes, or making any...
Blog Post
Published 12/04/2020
By Kyle E. Gray
Alert
Published 11/30/2020
By Cory S. Winter
Industries Higher Education
Using terms like “holistic” and “individualized” to describe Harvard College’s race-conscious admissions process, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently upheld Harvard’s race-conscious admissions process. [1] Finding that Harvard’s process permissibly considered an applicant’s race as only one part of his/her application without giving race determinative effect, the court rejected a challenge from Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. (“SFFA”), which claimed that Harvard’s admissions process violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Asian...
Article
Published 11/30/2020
Services Cybersecurity and Privacy
Article
Published 11/24/2020
Industries Cannabis Law
Alert
Published 11/23/2020
By Bruce Armon, Samantha R. Gross
Industries Health Care | HIPAA / Health Information Privacy and Security
Services Cybersecurity and Privacy
On November 19, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced it had settled its 12th enforcement action in its HIPAA Right of Access Initiative (the “Initiative”). The Initiative is an OCR enforcement priority to ensure individuals can easily and timely access their health information at a reasonable cost under the Health Insurance Portability and accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy Rule. There are have been several other Initiative settlements this fall including with Riverside Psychiatric Medical Group settling for $25,000...
Podcast episode
Published 11/18/2020
In this episode, host Jonathan Havens speaks with Kermit Nash, both of whom are co-chairs of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Food, Beverage and Agribusiness (FBA) Practice, about how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the production and distribution of food and beverage products—from dairy farms having to dump milk that would spoil before it reached its destination to disruptions with food supply going to schools, conventions and restaurants. Kermit addresses some positive impacts on the industry, such as how sourcing local food and organic/better-for-you food products have really flourished during the pandemic and how we saw direct interaction among those on the regulatory, production and consumption sides in pivoting from large bulk packaging to smaller packaging.
Podcast episode
Published 11/18/2020
In this episode, host Kermit Nash, co-chair of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Food, Beverage and Agribusiness (FBA) Practice, speaks with fellow FBA Practice co-chair, Jonathan Havens, on the portfolios of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Jonathan also explains how both federal agencies have relaxed some rules for FBA companies during the pandemic and implemented some business-minded solutions. For example, the USDA has helped the agribusiness sector via the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, has worked to get financial relief directly to farmers, and has helped food banks and distribution networks cut through red tape to get food to the last mile. Also in this episode, Jonathan addresses some of the latest cannabidiol (CBD) and hemp regulatory developments.
Podcast episode
Published 11/18/2020
In this episode, host Jonathan Havens, co-chair of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Food, Beverage and Agribusiness (FBA) Practice, speaks with the Firm’s Labor and Employment Practice vice-chair Dena Calo and Carrie Leishman, president and CEO of the Delaware Restaurant Association, about how the restaurant industry has managed throughout the pandemic and the potential road ahead. They discuss how the industry is fighting hard to adopt new practices with more delivery, takeout and outdoor dining options as well as safety measures, while also getting some financial assistance from the government. In addition, Carrie talks about rolling out a rapid workforce training program to help increase restaurant workers’ chances of reemployment, upskilling and higher wages, and also about the association’s work to assist women in the hospitality industry.
Podcast episode
Published 11/18/2020
Host Kermit Nash, co-chair of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Food, Beverage and Agribusiness (FBA) Practice, speaks with Barry Chatz, a partner in the Firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice, on a variety of financial issues and restructuring and bankruptcy tools and considerations for FBA companies, including how many have shortened their periods of cashflow analysis from quarterly to weekly or daily to determine if they can survive. Barry explained how certain federal laws, such as the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and Packers and Stockers Act, help ensure that full payments are first made to producers and wholesalers of agricultural products before others.
Alert
Published 11/18/2020
By Laura Lau Marinelli, Vincent M. Canale
Industries Condominium and Community Associations
Executive Order 2020-72 Allows Limited Resumption of Eviction Lawsuits for Collection of Unpaid Assessments by Illinois Condominium and Common Interest Community Associations. Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order issued on April 23, 2020 has prohibited the commencement of any eviction actions, thereby preventing associations from pursuing collection of assessments through the eviction process. But on November 13, 2020, Gov. Pritzker issued new Executive Order 2020-72 (click here for a copy) which may finally provide associations with some relief. While...
Alert
Published 11/18/2020
By Alexander (Sandy) R. Bilus
Services Cybersecurity and Privacy
On November 3, 2020, Californians went to the polls and voted in favor of making sweeping changes to their existing state privacy law. Proposition 24, known as the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”), modifies and expands on the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). The CPRA creates new and expanded rights for California residents and new compliance obligations for businesses. It creates a new agency, the California Privacy Protection Agency, that is tasked with implementing regulations and conducting investigations and enforcement actions. This article explains the key...
