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March 01, 2014
Publication - Employment Litigation, Labor & Employment
In an article titled “Understanding State Anti-Discrimination Statutes,” Debra Friedman, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, discusses state anti-discrimination statues and how important it is for employers that operate in multiple states to be able to navigate which state’s anti-discrimination statutes apply.
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February 28, 2014
Publication - Insurance Coverage, Professional Liability Insurance Coverage - Insurance
The New York Court of Appeals rarely hears reargument of its decisions, let alone reverses itself. On February 18, 2014, the Court of Appeals did just that.
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February 28, 2014
Publication - Public & Project Finance
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank Act") was signed into law on July 21, 2010 in response to the financial crisis that occurred in 2008.
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February 28, 2014
News - Public & Project Finance - Real Estate & Construction
Public & Project Finance Chair, Suzanne Mayes, was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC). PIDC is a non-profit, joint venture between the city of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce that plans and implements real estate and financing transactions that attract investment jobs and tax ratables to the City of Philadelphia.
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February 27, 2014
Publication - Insurance Coverage - Insurance
In Validus Reinsurance, Ltd. v. United States, No. 13-0109 (ABJ), 2014 WL 462886 (D.D.C. 2014), the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that a foreign reinsurer was not subject to excise tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 4371 when purchasing retrocessional coverage for the assumed reinsurance of U.S. risks. While foreign reinsurance contracts are subject to excise tax, the court held that Section 4371’s plain language did not encompass retrocessional reinsurance transactions.
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February 27, 2014
Publication - Utility & Energy
On February 20, 2014, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (Commission) issued a proposed rulemaking in connection with its implementation of the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act of 2004 (AEPS Act). While the Commission has proposed a number of changes that merely implement the requirements of Act 35 and Act 129, there are several new substantive provisions impacting net metering and large customer-generators and that merit close review by electric utilities, merchant generators and customers proposing to self-generate. The proposed rulemaking will be open for public comment for 30 days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
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February 27, 2014
Publication - Appellate, Intellectual Property
In an article titled "Copyright Act's Application to Internet Television Broadcasts," Stephen Miller, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Commercial Litigation Department, and Thomas Leonard, an associate in the firm's Litigation Department, discuss the U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decision on whether Aereo's system of transmitting television programs over the Internet violates the Copyright Act. The ruling could have a seismic impact on the television industry and how Americans view television shows.
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February 26, 2014
Publication
Arbitration clauses are the fashion now. We are frequently reminded that parties save time and money through the arbitration alternative to litigation. It is not without irony, then, that arbitration clauses have engendered plenty of old-fashioned litigation. Two recent Pennsylvania federal court decisions deal with the enforceability of arbitration clauses, and both decisions foretell of added litigation in the arbitration arena.
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February 25, 2014
News - Gaming
Delaware and Nevada announced Tuesday that they had struck the United States' first ever agreement to allow authorized casinos and operators to share online poker players across state lines, in a deal that leaves open a door for other states to join in.
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February 25, 2014
News
A feature story on Tia Ghattas, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Commercial Litigation Department, was recently published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. The article, titled “Cozen O’Connor’s Ghattas on call, day or night,” highlights Tia’s occupation and the challenges that accompany it. Daniel Johnson, a member of the firm's Global Insurance Department, was quoted in the article, discussing Tia’s management style.
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February 24, 2014
Publication
Courthouse wisdom is that judges generally dislike noncompetes. After all, everyone should be entitled to earn a living, right? As a result, judges often look for a reason to find that a noncompete is inapplicable, or should not be applied in the particular situation facing the court (for example, because it is overly broad). The former was the case in Gingrich v. Midkiff, 120332-U (Ill. App. 5th 2014), in which a court refused to enforce a noncompete between two doctors because the shareholders’ agreement provided that the noncompete was only triggered if one of the doctors either withdrew or was expelled from the practice. That isn’t what happened in Gingrich. On the contrary, after the doctors started suing each other, one doctor bought out the other under an Illinois “deadlock” statute. As a result, the “departing” doctor didn’t “withdraw” and wasn’t “expelled.” Instead, she was statutorily bought out.
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February 20, 2014
Publication - Tax
A panel of the Commonwealth Court concluded that a continuing care retirement community qualified as an institution of purely public charity and was therefore exempt from real estate tax, except for a remand regarding application of the exemption to two relatively minor parcels. Albright Care Services v. Union County Board of Assessment, No. 2094 C.D. 2012 (Pa. Commw. Jan. 29, 2014) (unreported). The questions were whether the institution qualified as a purely public charity under case law and under Act 1997-55.
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February 19, 2014
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
Topics include: Causes of Freeze Losses, Subrogation Considerations on Freeze Losses, Subrogation Claims & Interruption of Gas Service & Impact of Tariffs and Statutes of Repose on Subrogation Claims
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February 19, 2014
Publication
Penn State University recently decided to waive attorney-client privilege and cooperate in the criminal prosecutions of certain former employees. Obviously, the former employees have attempted to assert privilege to exclude potentially incriminating statements. How would it affect their claims of privilege if the university shared that confidential information with outside consultants hired during the investigation?
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February 14, 2014
News - Employment Litigation, Labor & Employment
In a whitepaper titled “Onboarding Household Staff: Best Practices in Managing an Efficient Home While Minimizing Risk and Expense,” Jeffrey Pasek, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, offers his insights about onboarding from an employment law perspective and what makes an onboarding experience successful.
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February 12, 2014
Publication - Tax
A federal district court remanded to state court an action that made various contractual and consumer oriented claims regarding the collection of sales tax. Farneth v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2:3-cv-01062 (W.D.PA. Dec. 30, 2013). The plaintiff purchased two items of shaving gel at a Wal-Mart store taking advantage of a two-for-one promotional sale. The store charged Pennsylvania Sales Tax as though both items were purchased at full price.
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February 12, 2014
Publication - Tax
Since the implementation in 2011 of federal legislation increasing the federal estate and gift tax exemption to $5,000,000, many New York residents have been making large lifetime gifts in order to substantially reduce their New York estate tax. Recently proposed legislation, if passed, will eliminate this tax reduction strategy by pulling back into the New York taxable estate at death lifetime gifts made by New York residents after March 30, 2014.
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February 12, 2014
Publication
Samuel A. Lewis, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Intellectual Property Litigation group, discusses the potential pitfalls of posting photographs on social media.
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February 12, 2014
Publication - Tax
A panel of the Commonwealth Court modified an order of the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas that quashed certain real estate assessment appeals filed on a consolidated basis, but permitted the property owners to file amended appeals beyond the statutory appeal period provided they do so within 60 days of the order and pay the necessary filing fees.
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February 12, 2014
News - Family Law
In an article titled “Valentine’s Effect Causes 40% to Explore Divorce,” Jennifer Brandt, a member of the firm’s Family Law Department, discusses how “Valentine’s Day puts a lot of pressure on people to provide proof of their love for one another in one day… Because Valentine’s Day forces us to assess our romantic relationships, many people realize that they are not happy in the situation they are in and there is no possibility of it improving. Thus, they may turn toward divorce to get a fresh start.”
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