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May 09, 2013
News - Subrogation & Recovery, Technology, Privacy & Data Security
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article entitled “FBI: Delete Passwords of Ex-Employees” where the author discusses a disgruntled ex-employee’s recent network attack on his previous employer at a Long Island, NY electric supply company.
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May 09, 2013
News - Insurance Coverage, Technology, Privacy & Data Security
In an article titled, "FBI: Delete Passwords of Ex-Employees," The Wall Street Journal highlights the firm's Cybersecurity Conference, held on Wednesday, May 8, at the W Hotel. Trevor Cloak, Joe Dever, Greg Fliszar, Brian Gillam, Steven Haas, Mike Schmidt, Stuart Shorenstein, Matthew Siegel, Ahren Tryon and Dave Walton presented during the seminar, along with Richard Aborn, President, Citizens Crime Commission of New York City and Austin P. Berglas, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for Cyber, FBI New York Field Office. To read the WSJ article, click here.
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May 09, 2013
Publication - Appellate, Intellectual Property, Patents
At oral argument in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, the U.S. Supreme Court recently grappled with the question of whether human genes are patentable. Justice Stephen Breyer seemed to capture the justices' sentiment in the lively argument session: "The patent law is filled with uneasy compromises." The compromises that the justices choose will affect the future work of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and shape the path of genetic research in the future.
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May 08, 2013
News - Subrogation & Recovery
The accreditation is awarded by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, which was founded in 2001 when former President George H.W. Bush challenged a group of executives to "do something bold and venturesome about cancer within your own corporate families."
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May 08, 2013
Publication - Insurance Coverage
Jason Beckerman and Ryan Kearney of the New York Downtown office published an article in The New York Law Journal titled, “Accountability in Elevated Construction Accidents,” which discusses the traction to reform New York’s well-known scaffolding statute embodied in Labor Law § 240(1). Over the past two decades the law has evolved into a windfall for a small group of plaintiff’s attorneys, while simultaneously causing construction insurance premiums to skyrocket. With increased insurance costs real estate development in and around New York City has become limited, causing major developers to look to other states for development sites.
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May 07, 2013
Publication - Professional Liability Insurance Coverage - Insurance
The 2nd Circuit's decision affirmed the Southern District of New York’s dismissal of Saint Vincent’s claims and addressed the pleading standards for allegations of breach of fiduciary duty with respect to management of an ERISA plan.
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May 06, 2013
Publication - Insurance Coverage - Food & Beverage
Regulators, food distributors and, of course, lawyers are scrambling to determine the legal and reputational consequences of the still-growing horse meat scandal that recently hit Europe.
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May 02, 2013
News - Employment Litigation, Labor & Employment
In an article titled, ''Legal Concerns: Your Facebook Account as Evidence in a Lawsuit,'' Michael Schmidt, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment Department, discusses the use of social media as court evidence, and the legal duty to preserve it.
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May 01, 2013
Publication - Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, Immigration Policy & Strategy, Labor & Employment
During Barack Obama’s first term as president, most of his pro-employee legislative agenda was stymied by Congress. Undeterred, the Obama Administration turned to administrative agencies such as the Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to move forward its workplace agenda. The stakes continue to be high for employers during President Obama’s second term, particularly in the diversity-focused areas of equal employment opportunity and immigration.
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May 01, 2013
News - Employment Litigation, Labor & Employment
Michael Schmidt, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment Department, discusses the application of new and existing regulations in the context of social media in an article titled, ''The Risks and Rewards of Social Media – Regulators and Plaintiffs Take Aim at Companies’ Use of Social Media.'' ''It’s so easy for companies using social media to disclose and talk about things that used to be tightly controlled before they were disclosed to the public,'' Schmidt says. ''But agencies are becoming increasingly vigilant about applying their existing rules to what a company can and can’t say in this new context.''
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May 01, 2013
Publication
Many have been there. Your department receives notice of an accident, a copyright dispute arises, or an employee files a claim with your local employment commission as precursor to a claim for benefits or discrimination. Your first thoughts are, "Will you be sued, and what is the likelihood of success?"
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May 01, 2013
News - Business
In an article titled, "Midtown West, Tribeca, Chelsea Rank as Manhattan 'Hoods with Steepest Inventory Plunge," Ken Fisher of the firm's Business Law Department is quoted with regards to surging residential sales in New York City. Ken notes, "Low crime rates, improved subways and more family-friendly amenities are among the factors fueling the city’s popularity."
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May 01, 2013
Publication - Insurance Coverage, Professional Liability Insurance Coverage - Insurance
Angelo Savino, chair of the professional liability practice in Global Insurance, published an article in Best's Review addressing the issue of claims having decreased but D&O insurers face a potentially volatile underwriting landscape. To read the complete article click here.
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May 01, 2013
Publication - Insurance Coverage - Insurance
In DRI’s For The Defense, Jonathan Toren of the Global Insurance Department is co-author of this article, “Retained Limits, Deductibles, and Self-Insurance. “ The last few years have been challenging for insurers and policyholders alike. As the economy has faltered and competitive pressures have increased, many companies have tried to restructure their insurance programs to reduce premium outlays. Insurers, meantime, have looked for ways to manage their limits more conservatively.
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May 01, 2013
Publication
It may be surprising to hear that there are two categories of expert witnesses under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and that the scope of discovery available from each is different. Indeed, before 2010, the federal rules addressed only a single class of expert witnesses: experts who were required to produce a written report.
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April 30, 2013
Publication - Health Care & Life Sciences, Intellectual Property, Patents - Health Care & Life Sciences
A variety of patent issues arise from the act’s Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act.
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April 26, 2013
Publication - Insurance Coverage
On Feb. 15, 2013, a Pennsylvania federal district court held that the shipment of defective drywall from China to the United States constituted one “occurrence” for purposes of insurance coverage, and the occurrence took place when the damage caused by the drywall manifested itself in the residences or buildings of the underlying plaintiffs.
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April 26, 2013
News
Bob Hayes, Jordan Fox, and Rebecca Brodey were successful in persuading the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to dismiss Grammy nominated rapper Wiz Khalifa’s claim that our concert promoter client breached a promotional agreement by cancelling a Washington area concert.
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April 24, 2013
Publication
The theory of recovery for unjust enrichment is based on a contract implied-in-law, or a quasi-contract. Generally, a claim for unjust enrichment cannot be based on an express contract, and thus, by definition, there is an absence of privity between the parties. There must, however, be a connection between the parties, such as a benefit conferred on the party to be charged.
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April 24, 2013
Publication
Most in-house lawyers, if they're fortunate, haven't bumped up against the Fifth Amendment and its related issues since the bar exam. After all, the so-called "nickel" typically arises solely in the criminal context, and corporations don't have the right to plead the Fifth Amendment at an organizational level. However, with governmental investigations of varying types on the rise, and in-house counsel advising the corporation and preparing witnesses for participation in these investigations, the Fifth Amendment and its protections are an important tool in protecting the company and its employees from self-incrimination.
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