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Articles by Himself Ran.
Michigan Grants Needed Tax Relief to Victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma
The Michigan Department of Treasury has announced that it will join taxing authorities across the country by allowing taxpayers affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma an extension of time in which to file state tax returns for 2016.
Rhode Island Employees May Soon Be Entitled to Paid Sick Time
On September 19, 2017, the Rhode Island General Assembly approved a bill that would require, with limited exception, all Rhode Island employers with 18 or more employees to provide their employees with paid sick time. The bill is in response to Governor Gina Raimondo’s call during her State of the State address in January for such legislation, and she has indicated she intends to sign the bill into law.
Appellate Division Second Department Declines to Defer to NYSDOL Opinion Letter and Rules That Home Healthcare Attendants May Be Entitled to Wages for Hours Worked In Excess of 13 Hours a Day | The National Law Review
In New York, State Department of Labor (“DOL”) regulations provide that the minimum wage must be paid for each hour an employee is “required to be available for work at a place prescribed by the employer.” (12 NYCRR § 142-2.1(b)) (“Wage Order”). Exception is made for a “residential employee,” defined as one who lives on the premises of the employer, during his or her sleeping hours or any time he or she is free to leave the place of employment.
DOL Announces Minimum Wage Increase for Federal Contractors
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced an upcoming increase to the minimum wage rate for contractors working on or in connection with contracts covered by Executive Order 13658, which applies to certain federal construction, service, and concession contracts. Executive Order 13658, "Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors," was signed by then-President Barack Obama in 2014 and has not been rescinded by President Donald J. Trump during his first eight months in office.
CFTC Provides No-Action Relief From CPO and CTA Registration to a Private University
On September 13, the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO or Division) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) granted no-action relief from commodity pool operator (CPO) and commodity trading advisor (CTA) registration to a private university, subject to certain conditions.
Michigan Farmers React to EPA Announcement to Formally Rescind WOTUS Rule
Michigan farmers have actively challenged the necessity of the Obama administration’s Water of the U.S. or WOTUS Rule. Michigan Farm Bureau Associate National Legislative Counsel John Kran recently reacted to the announcement of EPA’s rescission of the rule by saying that the action “from EPA and Army Corps of Engineers is a great step forward for Michigan’s farmers.
AG’s Opinion - Licensed and Unlicensed Medicines May Fall Within the Same Relevant Product Market
Yesterday’s Opinion from Advocate General Saugmandsgaard Øe (AG) in Hoffmann-La Roche vs Autorità Garante della Concurrenza e del Mercato takes the position that licensed and unlicensed pharmaceutical products used for the same indication may fall within the same relevant product market.
Chancery Court Dismisses Breach of Contract Claim Due to Plaintiff’s Failure to Proffer A Reasonable Construction of Merger Agreement Provision
In Fortis Advisors LLC v. Shire US Holdings, Inc., No. 12147-VCS (Del. Ch. Aug.
The Week Ahead in the European Parliament - September 22, 2017
Next week will be a political group week and a committee week in the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will hold meetings with their respective political party to prepare the next plenary session, to be held from October 2 to 5, in Strasbourg. A few interesting discussions will take place in committee. On Monday, members of the Committee on International Trade (“INTA”) will vote on their report on the EU-Africa Strategy.
Beltway Buzz, September 22, 2017
“Zombie” ACA Repeal-and-Replace Effort Suddenly Resuscitated. Opponents of Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal-and-replace efforts no doubt forgot the vitally important “double tap” rule, and now the zombie legislative effort is back from the dead.
Make-Whole Upheld Wholly - Solvent Debtors Beware
Traditional thinking in the private placement noteholder community has been the “model form” approach to make-whole amounts created an enforceable liquidated damages claim in the event of voluntary or involuntary acceleration by the note issuer, including upon a bankruptcy filing. That thinking has been tested in the market as a result of a number of recent decisions involving public notes where courts have interpreted the specific indenture language to deny a make-whole claim.
FTC Twitter Chat: Influencers 101
Earlier this month, the FTC settled with two social media influencers for failing to provide adequate disclosures in their promotions of their company, and issued 21 warning letters to other influencers it felt continued to violate the FTC Endorsement Guidelines in spite of the educational letters the FTC had sent earlier this year.
U.S. Government Restricts the Use of Kaspersky Cybersecurity Software
On September 13, 2017, the U.S. government banned the use of cybersecurity software products developed by Kaspersky Labs, Inc. from all federal information systems due to its potential espionage ties to Russian intelligence services. Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Elaine Duke issued Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 17-01 requesting that all federal civilian departments and agencies take steps to remove and discontinue the use of any Kaspersky products or services.
Teacher’s ADA, Age Discrimination Claim Given New Life by Sixth Circuit
A school district’s decision to eliminate a teacher’s position while the teacher was out on Family Medical and Leave Act (FMLA) leave may have been pretext to disability discrimination, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. While on approved FMLA leave, a high school economics teacher was notified by the school’s principal that the economics position would be one of several eliminated due to budget cuts.
Expanded Beneficial Ownership Reporting and AML Duties Under the Corporate Transparency Act
Second of a Two-Part Blog: Anti-Money Laundering Programs Coming to the Legal Profession? Yesterday, we began our discussion of the proposed Corporate Transparency Act of 2017 (the “Act”), and observed that, if passed, the Act would represent another chapter in the domestic and global campaign to increase transparency in financial transactions through information gathering by private parties and expanded requirements for Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) reporting.
The Top Three Political Law Risks for Hedge Funds, Private Equity Funds, and Investment Firms
Perhaps no industry faces more scrutiny and regulation of its political activities than the financial industry. Even though these rules are often not intuitive, failure to comply with them can result in big penalties, loss of business, and debilitating reputational consequences.
Brexit: Looking at Theresa May’s Florence Speech from the EU27 Perspective
From the perspective of the EU27 Theresa May’s Florence Speech does not materially change the current status of the Article 50 Withdrawal Negotiations. However, there are some take-aways which should be noted: The speech and Michael Barnier’s response made it clear that the UK will leave the EU and cease to be a Member State of the EU on 29 March 2019. From the EU’s perspective the UK is a “Third Country” as of 30 March 2019.
A European Renaissance?
The UK Prime Minister Theresa May has delivered her highly anticipated speech in the historic Italian city of Florence. How far did it move things on? Truth be told, there was little new in there, and the decision to deliver the speech in Italy rather than London or Brussels remains unclear. Take, for example, Ireland, which along with the issue of EU citizens’ rights and money is a key issue for the EU27.
CFTC Provides No-Action Relief From Commission Regulation 4.7(b)(2) Reporting Requirements
The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO or Division) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) recently granted no-action relief from the reporting requirements of CFTC Rule 4.7(b)(2) to a commodity pool operator (CPO) of two commodity pools, subject to certain conditions.
Senate Democrats Look to Strengthen “Buy American” Policies and Requirements
Last week a group of four Senate Democrats – led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) – jointly published an article about “strengthen[ing]” the U.S. Government’s “Buy American policies.” While the senators acknowledged President Trump’s recent efforts to “re-examine the use of . . . Buy American waivers” (see our blog post regarding the “Buy American” Executive Order), they also expressed concern that these efforts would “not fundamentally change . . .
Objectives in Negotiating Telecommunications Services Agreements
This entry discusses the primary objectives that enterprise customers look to achieve in negotiating telecommunications services agreements. In a recent entry, we discussed the challenge counsel for enterprise customers face in confining telecommunications services agreements to the four corners of the customer contract. In a future entry, we will look at how the underlying business deal is put together.
Federal Circuit Clarifies Venue Law in the Wake of TC Heartland
On September 21, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in In re: Cray Inc. clarifying how district courts should determine whether a patent infringement defendant maintains a “regular and established place of business” for purposes of venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b).
PTO Litigation Report - September 22, 2017
Listed below are all new filings before the PTAB of petitions for inter partes review (IPR) and covered business methods review (CBM). Since the last report, no new requests for ex parte reexamination at the USPTO have been posted. This listing is current as of 10 AM on Friday, September 22, 2017.
CFPB finalizes alignment of Regulation B and Regulation C requirements regarding collection of consumer ethnicity and race information
On September 21, the CFPB finalized its proposal to amend Regulation B requirements related to the collection of consumer ethnicity and race information, in order to resolve the differences between Regulation B and revised Regulation C (the “Final Rule”). This Final Rule is effective on January 1, 2018, the same effective date for most of the 2015 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Final Rule.
Did The SEC’s Pay Ratio Guidance Miss Conjunction Junction?
Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued interpretive guidance to assist issuers in complying with the pay ratio rule. At the same time, the Division of Corporation Finance staff issued guidance concerning how companies might use statistical sampling technologies and “other reasonable methods” in implementing the pay ratio rule. I am sure that both guides will receive widespread coverage by other commenters.
DOE Studies Impact Of Drought On Biomass Products
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have linked changes in rainfall and other environmental stressors during crop growth to potential deleterious effects on biofuel production. The study demonstrates that the effect of weather conditions on crop yields can significantly impact the downstream processing of those crops for biofuel production.
SEC Division of Corporation Finance Issues New C&DIs on “Regulation A+”
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance (Division) recently issued three new Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (C&DIs) related to so-called “Regulation A+.” The new C&DIs address the following issues (among others): C&DI 182.21 provides that a Regulation A issuer that registers a class of its securities pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on a Form 8-A concurrently with (i.e., within five days after) the qualification of a...
Municipal Advisor Compliance Outreach Program to Be Held November 8, 2017, in Atlanta
On September 11, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that a Compliance Outreach Program will be held for municipal advisor professionals at the SEC's Atlanta, Georgia, Regional Office on November 8, 2017.
FDA Releases Training Module for Carriers Subject to the Sanitary Transportation Rule
As previously covered on this blog, on April 6, 2016, FDA published a final rule to implement sanitary food transportation requirements under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Click here for a complete copy of the final rule. Click here for an FDA fact sheet summarizing the final rule, and click here for our summary of the rule and its implications for entities in the food industry.
Calculating Patent Term Adjustment: Part 2
This article is second in a series focusing on various issues related to Patent Term Adjustment for U.S. patent applications. While Part 1 is a general overview of how to calculate patent term adjustment (“PTA”), this article addresses how the filing of various papers during prosecution can affect PTA. In particular, Requests for Continued Examination (RCEs), terminal disclaimers, and information disclosure statements (IDSs) can all cause adverse PTA effects if not carefully considered.
Nevada Pregnant Workers' Fairness Act Goes Into Effect October 1
The Nevada Pregnant Workers' Fairness Act (NPWFA) goes into effect Sunday, October 1, 2017. The NPWFA applies to employers with 15 or more employees and generally expands the scope of protections provided to female employees for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions (protected conditions).
UK Tax Round Up: September 2017
The second Finance Bill of 2017, known as Finance (No 2) Bill 2017, has now been published. As expected, this contains most of the provisions which were dropped from the first Finance Bill of 2017 due to the condensed parliamentary timetable once the June 2017 general election was called.
Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Increase Announced - Changes Effective January 1, 2018
On September 15, 2017, the Department of Labor announced an increase in the minimum wage that certain federal contractors must pay to employees. This comes as part of a planned incremental increase in the federal contractor minimum wage implemented by President Obama’s 2014 Executive Order (the “Order”). As discussed in a previous blog post on the Order, the minimum wage requirement only applies to certain federal contracts.
Top Five Takeaways from MedPAC’s Meeting on Medicare Issues and Policy Developments - September 2017
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC”) met in Washington, DC, on September 7-8, 2017. The purpose of this and other public meetings of MedPAC is for the commissioners to review the issues and challenges facing the Medicare program and then make policy recommendations to Congress. MedPAC issues these recommendations in two annual reports, one in March and another in June.
Australian Insolvency Reforms - A Bill Becomes Law
Last year, we reported that Australia had proposed significant insolvency reforms that, in our view, are long overdue ("A Major Leap Forward for Australian Insolvency Laws"). Earlier this year, we reported here that the Australian government had released a revised draft of its insolvency legislation providing a safe harbor from director insolvent trading liability and limitations on the enforceability of ipso facto clauses upon the occurrence of certain insolvency-related events.
Employees in California? If so, these are the Employment Bills to Watch
You are responsible for reading, understanding and agreeing to the National Law Review's (NLR’s) and the National Law Forum LLC's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy before using the National Law Review website. The National Law Review is a free to use, no-log in database of legal and business articles. The content and links on www.NatLawReview.com are intended for general information purposes only.
GAO Report on Connected Vehicles Calls for NHTSA to Define and Document its Role in Vehicle Data Privacy
It’s not news that various branches of the federal government have been studying a range of privacy and consumer safety issues that arise with ever more connected vehicles. What is new is the Government Accounting Office (GAO)’s report to the House Subcommittee on Research and Technology, Committee on Science, Space and Technology about how current passenger vehicle manufacturers address the many privacy issues that arise with connected vehicle use.
The Preemption Defense to Flood Insurance Claims Under the National Flood Insurance Program
According to Lloyd’s of London, which helped to reinsure the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for more than $1 billion seven months before Hurricane Harvey, the storms in Texas and Florida may result in damage amounting to $150 billion to $200 billion. This likely will precipitate a review of the preemption defense available to claims arising under the NFIP.
The Dominican Republic Reforms Restructuring And Insolvency Law
For decades, restructuring and insolvency matters in the Dominican Republic involving merchants and companies in non-regulated industries have been carried out on a “de facto” basis, due to the obsolescence of the existing legal framework and institutions. Fortunately, that is not the case anymore.
IRS Is Underutilizing Exchange of Information Capabilities
According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is underutilizing exchange of information (EOI) capabilities with foreign countries. On September 11, 2017, TIGTA issued a report summarizing its evaluation of the IRS’s current efforts to improve tax compliance by using information obtained from foreign countries through the Exchange of Information Program agreements.
Is a Business Tax Reform Game Plan Beginning to Take Shape?
Substantial tax reform is underway and the business community is intently awaiting details of this activity with the aim of positioning themselves to maximize opportunities and minimize any costs or risks that reform may present. How will a cut in the corporate income tax rate, the potential adoption of a “territorial” dividend exemption system or the elimination or altering of recent regulations impact companies?
California Bill May Spur Rewriting Gender Boilerplate
On the penultimate day of the current session, the California legislature passed SB 179 (Atkins & Wiener). If signed into law by Governor Brown, this bill would enact the California Gender Recognition Act. In general, SB 179 would create a third, nonbinary gender option on a California driver’s license, identification card, and birth certificate.
NAFTA Nurses: Filling Nurse Shortages through the TN Visa Category
As widely reported in the media[1], the United States needs more nurses. Despite this, foreign nurses often have a difficult time immigrating to the United States, particularly through common visa statuses, such as the H-1B. NAFTA provides a solution for Canadian and Mexican nurses through the TN visa category.
Seasoned Litigator Nominated to Replace Commissioner Robinson and Establish Republican Majority at CPSC
Today, President Trump announced his nomination of Dana Baiocco to be a Republican Commissioner on the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If confirmed, Ms. Baiocco would take the seat of Commissioner Robinson, whose term expires on October 26, 2017. Baiocco is a well-known litigator and partner at Jones Day in Boston, Massachusetts. She is also familiar with the world of product safety.
New Healthcare Bill Would Impact Medicaid Services
The most recent attempt to overhaul the nation’s health care system would fundamentally alter Medicaid and jeopardize home and community-based services, according to www.DisabilityScoop.com. After a prior Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act failed, this new effort in the U.S. Senate again seeks to upend the Obama-era law. The proposal introduced last week by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Bill Cassidy, R-La., Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
Lessons of Hurricane Irma - State of Florida Focus on Hurricane Preparedness and Infrastructure
In response to the widespread impacts of Hurricane Irma in Florida (all coastlines and virtually every community), Speaker Corcoran of the Florida House of Representatives has created a new Committee on Hurricane Response and Preparedness. Speaker Pro Tempore Jeanette Nunez of Miami will chair the 16-member bipartisan Select Committee whose focus will be to gather information, solicit ideas, and make recommendations to the governor and legislature for actions that will aid in Florida’s recovery.
The Corporate Transparency Act: A Proposal to Expand Beneficial Ownership Reporting for Legal Entities, Corporate Formation Agents and - Potentially - Attorneys | The National Law Review
In late June, Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Peter King of New York introduced The Corporate Transparency Act of 2017 (the “Act”). In August, Senators Ron Wyden and Marco Rubio introduced companion legislation in the Senate. A Fact Sheet issued by Senator Wyden is here.
District Court Decertifies TCPA Class Following Invalidation of Solicited Fax Rule
A district court recently decertified a class of plaintiffs seeking damages after the judge ruled that recent changes in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the “TCPA”) warranted decertification. In particular, the court ruled that under the “Solicited Fax Rule,” the question of consent required individualized analysis, and rejected the plaintiff’s argument that solicited faxes require the specific opt-out language required by TCPA regulations. Plaintiff Lawrence S.
Court Reduces Aggregate Award of Statutory Damages Deemed “Obviously Unreasonable and Wholly Disproportionate”
After awarding a judgment as a matter of law at the close of plaintiffs’ case, Judge E. Richard Webber of the Eastern District of Missouri reduced the award because statutory damages of $500 per call would have been “obviously unreasonable and wholly disproportionate to the offense,” making it unconstitutional as applied to the facts of the case. Golan v. Veritas Entm’t, LLC, No. 14-0069, 2017 WL 3923162, at *4 (E.D. Mo. Sept. 7, 2017).
GDPR and ECHR Make One Thing Abundantly Transparent: The Significance of Transparency
Providing data subjects with meaningful information regarding the processing of their personal data and their rights with respect to such processing is an axiom of privacy law—and a key requirement under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The significance of this principle of transparency was recently highlighted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in B?rbulescu v.
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