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December 16, 2013
Publication - Bad Faith, Insurance Coverage - Insurance
As a matter of first impression under Pennsylvania law, the court in Shannon v. New York Central Mutual Insurance Company, No: 13-cv-1432 (M.D. Pa. Nov. 20, 2013) denied a motion to strike an insurer’s defense of “bad faith set-up,” asserted in response to a bad faith claim based on the insurer’s alleged failure to settle a claim.
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December 16, 2013
Publication
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently issued a ground-breaking decision that could potentially expose employers to a wave of new lawsuits by former employees suffering from mesothelioma. In its November 22, 2013 opinion in the case Tooey v. AK Steel Corp., the court ruled that the Commonwealth’s Workers’ Compensation Act (the WCA) does not apply to claims based on occupational disease that otherwise would fall within the law’s ambit but does not manifest until after 300 weeks following the termination of a worker’s employment. Significantly, because the WCA does not apply to these claims, workers who develop mesothelioma can now sue their former employers in tort, unlike other workers whose claims fall under the Act and who can only proceed against their employers for worker’s compensation benefits.
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December 16, 2013
Publication - Transportation & Logistics Litigation
Cozen O'Connor lawyers in New York and Washington author an article for French Lexis Nexis Transportation Law newsletter. For the second year in a row, Christopher Kende, Christopher Raleigh and David Loh of the New York office and Marc Atwood and Wayne Rhode of the D.C. office have co-authored an article providing a summary review of developments in transportation law for the French Lexis Nexis publication Review of Transportation Law, which is distributed electronically to approximately 4000 registered readers in France.
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December 16, 2013
Publication - Insurance Coverage
In 1911, Oliver Wendell Holmes, writing for the majority of the United States Supreme Court, unequivocally (if unknowingly) established the legal distinction between the secondary life market and what has become known as stranger originated life insurance (“STOLI”). The common law in both England and the United States long-abhorred insurance without an interest as a “mischievous kind of gaming” and so developed the insurable interest doctrine i.e., that an owner of a policy must have an interest in that insured. However, the application of the doctrine to specific cases involving the purchase of life insurance produced varied results throughout the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. In Grigsby v. Russell, Justice Holmes established that a life insurance policy, once purchased in good faith, could subsequently be assigned or otherwise alienated by its rightful owner. Grigsby brought clear, manageable legal principles to nearly two centuries of inconsistent jurisprudence on the insurable interest doctrine, principles that were subsequently adopted by statute in all of the jurisdictions of the United States.
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December 16, 2013
Publication
Summary of state by state rescission standards for select jurisdictions.
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December 16, 2013
Publication - White Collar Defense & Investigations
Nicole Sprinzen, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Criminal Defense & Internal Investigations practice, discusses the trends and priorities discussed by DOJ and SEC FCPA officials at the American Conference Institute’s 2013 FCPA conference.
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December 16, 2013
News - Insurance Coverage - Insurance
Angelo Savino and Kristie Abel, members of Cozen O'Connor's Global Insurance Group, recently published an article titled “Aleynikov v. Goldman Sachs Provides Valuable D&O Insight” in Law360. The article discusses how the Aleynikov v. Goldman Sachs decision provides an interesting lesson in the differences between indemnification and advancement and who may be considered an officer for purposes of awarding indemnity and advancement.
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December 13, 2013
News
In an article titled “How past law leaders would function in today’s legal world,” Cozen O’Connor CEO Michael Heller discusses whether law firm managers of the 1990s and 2000s could thrive in today’s legal market. The business of running a law firm has changed dramatically since the recession hit in 2008 and clients have increasingly more power in the relationship between law firms and the clients, who have tightened legal budgets and demand a high level of value from the firms they employ. Law firm leaders now are faced with new challenges, including staffing, hiring, real estate, budgeting and weaker demand. Additionally, technology is ever-evolving and leaders must adapt to new advances. Michael Heller states “with technology, leaders 20 years ago did not have time to think about some of that. It’s a critical component today and changing daily. Rate pressure, efficiency, alternative fee arrangements. These issues are not new but they are more prevalent than they were back then.”
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December 13, 2013
Publication - Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, Employment Litigation, Labor & Employment
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has stepped up its efforts in recent years to assert jurisdiction over more health care providers. As a result, a growing number of health care providers are struggling to comply with OFCCP's many regulatory requirements, while others are warily watching developments in this area. Now, federal contractors are faced with new regulations principally aimed at increasing employment opportunities for veterans and individuals with disabilities. These regulations, which cover an estimated 200,000 federal contractor establishments, become effective March 24, 2014, and require contractors to make additional, significant recruitment and outreach efforts to these groups.
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December 12, 2013
Publication
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is rarely subtle when angry. And he has often been angry when evaluating the tests employed by his colleagues to resolve First Amendment religion cases. In particular, in a 1992 concurring opinion, he derided a multifactor test for evaluating the proper separation of religion and state as "some ghoul in a late-night horror movie that repeatedly sits up in its grave and shuffles abroad after being repeatedly killed and buried … frightening the little children and school attorneys" across the country.
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December 12, 2013
News - Intellectual Property
In an article titled “How Did a Conservative Colorado Preacher Get YouTube to Shut Down His Liberal Critics?” David Sunshine, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Intellectual Property Group, discusses conservative former Navy chaplain and Colorado state assembly candidate Gordon “Dr. Chaps” Klingenschmitt’s efforts to stop liberal group People for the American Way from stealing short clips from Klingenschmitt’s YouTube show and altering their titles in an extremely unfavorable manner. David states “there's little question that RWW's videos are protected under the fair-use doctrine.”
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December 12, 2013
Publication - Employment Litigation, Labor & Employment
So far 20 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws permitting and regulating the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Colorado and Washington have gone further and legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Moreover, Americans’ tolerance for the legalization of marijuana is increasing. An October 2013 Gallup poll showed that 58% of Americans favor legalizing marijuana. What does this trend mean for retailers, especially those operating in multiple states? The answer is complex, as the law is evolving.
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December 11, 2013
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery
A recent decision in District Court in New Jersey may interest insurers subrogating transportation claims. In particular, it sets forth the legal argument to challenge target-carriers’ arguments about purported limitations of liability and the appropriate measure of damages.
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December 10, 2013
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery
International Law Digest containing the limitation periods in general, funding actions in China, privilege, bringing court proceedings, the role of experts, interim remedies, disclosure and costs.
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December 10, 2013
News
Bill de Blasio will become the 109th mayor of the city of New York. As different as de Blasio and Bloomberg are in experience and ideology, so too is the city at these points of time.
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December 05, 2013
News - Utility & Energy
Peter Fontaine, co-chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Utility, Environmental & Energy Practice Group, was interviewed by NPR on Wednesday, December 4, 2013, about SB 411, a bill to encourage greater use of acid water from coal mining to extract natural gas. Pete offers his opinion on the bill in StateImpact, a project of NPR member stations dedicated to examining how state policy and issues affect people and communities.
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December 05, 2013
Publication
随着全球化的发展，许多中国公司已经成功收购或控股相当数量的美国企业。但也有一些中国公司尽管认为持有美国企业的股权会为其带来有价值的收益，由于种种原因不能或不愿获得美国企业的控股权。这其中的原因有很多，例如现有持股人不愿意出售其控股股权、中国公司更愿意现有的控股人继续管理企业、获得控制权需要的高成本以及中国公司不愿为获得控制权而投入大量资金等等。这时，中国公司还可以选择成为美国企业的小股东，但是许多中国公司高管并不愿意这么做。因为他们认为企业的小股东无法得到充分保护，他们的投资或预期目标也会因此受到损害。本文旨在讨论中国公司如何通过合理筹划和有经验的美国律师协助，解决中国公司高管担忧的问题，使在美国企业的少数股权投资成为可接受的交易模式。当然，无论是对美国企业进行多数股权或是少数股权的投资，前提必须是对中国企业具有商业价值的
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December 05, 2013
Publication - Family Law
As soon as the calendar turns to December we’re bombarded with all things holiday. From advertisements, to recipes, to school events and water cooler chatter, we just cannot escape the frenzy of this supposedly joyous time of year. However, for those going through a divorce, the holiday season may be more depressing than delightful. Family traditions are altered, children are struggling, and finances are often tight.
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December 04, 2013
Publication - Tax
A divided panel of the Commonwealth Court affirmed a decision below that taxpayers were entitled to credits for overpaid Philadelphia Business Privilege Tax, notwithstanding a three-year limit on the refund of taxes. City of Philadelphia v. City of Philadelphia Tax Review Board ex rel. Keystone Healthplan East, Inc., No. 97 C.D. 2013 (Pa Commw. Nov. 18, 2013).
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December 04, 2013
Publication
In September 2009, when the FBI had arrested Sergey Aleynikov for allegedly stealing proprietary trading codes from Goldman Sachs, the financial powerhouse probably did not expect, as a purported victim, to pay him to defend against the criminal charges. However, last month a New Jersey federal judge held that Aleynikov, a programmer at a Goldman subsidiary for less than two years, could be considered an officer by virtue of his vice president title and that the company's bylaws required it to advance his attorney fees. The ongoing dispute over the costs of Aleynikov's defense against federal and state charges arising from his alleged theft demonstrates the importance of careful drafting of the advancement and indemnification provisions of corporate bylaws.
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