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January 31, 2011
Publication - Labor & Employment
Purchaser of Assets May Be Liable as Successor for Seller's Unpaid Benefit Fund Contributions - Labor & Employment Alert! - Under the traditional common law rule of successorship liability, it is well established that, absent a specific agreement to the contrary, an entity that purchases the assets of another entity does not assume the seller’s liabilities unless one of the following exceptions applies: the transaction is a merger or is deemed to be a merger; the purchasing entity is a mere continuation of the seller; or the transfer of assets is for the fraudulent purpose of escaping liability for unpaid debts.
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January 31, 2011
Publication - Antitrust & Competition, Business, Corporate
HSR Filing Threshold Increases to $66 Million ... and Other Facts that May Impact Whether You Have to File - Corporate Law Alert! - The Federal Trade Commission has released the annual jurisdictional adjustments for premerger notification filings made pursuant to the HSR Act, which take effect for transactions closing on or after February 24, 2011. But while the thresholds should be the first step in determining whether or not you have to file, there are other important considerations as well.
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January 26, 2011
Publication - Labor & Employment
Supreme Court Broadens Scope of Title VII Retaliation Provision to Include Close Family Members - Labor & Employment Alert! - In Thompson v. North American Stainless, No. 09-291, a Title VII retaliation case. In an 8-0 opinion written by Justice Scalia, the Supreme Court held that the fiancé of an employee had a Title VII cause of action as a “person aggrieved” under Title VII, in circumstances in which the employer terminated the fiancé within weeks of learning of the employee filing a discrimination charge.
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January 24, 2011
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
The Gang that Couldn't Spoliate Straight - Subrogation and Recovery Alert! - Familiar with claims of evidence spoliation? One court broke new ground ruling that even imprisonment may be authorized for evidence destruction. This Alert discusses spoliation law and increased sanctions for a finding of spoliation.
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January 20, 2011
News - White Collar Defense & Investigations
In an article titled, ''Insanity Defense Could Be A Tough Sell For Loughner,'' Barry Boss, co-chair of Cozen O'Connor's Criminal Defense & Internal Investigations Practice Group, comments on the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, specifically regarding an insanity defense. Boss states, ''The defense now has to prove by clear and convincing evidence, which is an extremely high burden ...that the defendant did not understand the wrongfulness of his conduct.''
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January 19, 2011
Publication - Business, Tax
PEO Did Not Sell Help Supply Services - Tax Alert! - The Commonwealth Court en banc affirmed a panel decision that a professional employer organization (PEO) did not provide help supply services taxable for Sales and Use Tax purposes, but on different grounds. All Staffing, Inc. v. Commonwealth, No. 325 F.R. 2006 (Pa. Commw. Dec. 2, 2010), aff’g All Staffing Inc. v. Commonwealth, 987 A.2d 849 (Pa. Commw. 2010).
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January 19, 2011
Publication - Real Estate Litigation - Real Estate & Construction
Pennsylvania Licensing Boards' Penalty Assessments Increasing - Real Estate Alert! - This Alert cautions Pennsylvania real estate owners and property managers to examine whether their customary operating practices could lead to severe fines for the unlicensed practice of real estate brokerage by their executives and employees. While the Alert focuses on Pennsylvania law, the basic message is valid in all jurisdictions -- a periodic review of your customary operating procedures is critical to avoid a "drift" into administrative or regulatory minefields.
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January 18, 2011
Publication - Business, Tax
Expedia Not Required to Collect Philadelphia Hotel Tax - Tax Alert! - The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas affirmed a decision by the City’s Tax Review Board that an Internet hotel reservation company was not liable to collect Philadelphia’s Hotel Tax. City of Philadelphia v. City of Philadelphia Tax Review Board, Mar. Term 2010 No. 00764 (Phila. C.P. Jan. 14, 2011)
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January 18, 2011
Publication - Products Liability - Health Care & Life Sciences
Adverse Incident Reports: How Many Is Too Many? - Life Sciences Alert - On January 10, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in the matter Siracusano v. Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., 585 F.3d 1167 (9th Cir. 2009), and suggested that some major changes may be in store for pharmaceutical companies which could forever alter how they handle adverse reports.
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January 17, 2011
News
John Williams' Move to Cozen O'Connor Featured in The AmLaw Daily, Bloomberg News, Law360 and Law.com
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January 17, 2011
News
Scott Schwartz's Departure from Cozen O'Connor Featured in Philadelphia Business Journal
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January 13, 2011
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
It's All About YouTube: How Social Media Can Make or Break Your Subrogation Action - Subrogation and Recovery Alert! - YouTube can be a surprising source of evidence in proving your claims. Video of fires, explosions, collapses and other casualty events is provided almost in real time by participants and observers. Documentation of the incipient stages of a loss often is of critical importance in reconstructing what occurred. This Alert discusses how to obtain and use YouTube video evidence, including identifying potential witnesses.
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January 12, 2011
Publication - Real Estate Litigation
The purpose of this article is to survey the relevant legal precedent discussing the judicial exceptions to the Four Year Rule, note the patterns, and then formulate a cogent conclusion to assist in predicting under which circumstances the Four Year Rule will apply, and under which circumstances its exceptions will apply.
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January 11, 2011
Publication - Insurance Coverage
On January 4, 2011, in response to concerns regarding food-borne illnesses and related product recalls, President Obama signed into law the Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act, H.R. 2751 (''FSMA'' or ''the Act''), which is being heralded as the most significant expansion of food safety requirements since the 1938 enactment of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The Act focuses on preventive controls and expands the Food and Drug Administration’s (''FDA'') regulatory authority.
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January 10, 2011
Publication
U.S. Supreme Court Likely to Continue Robust Free Speech Protection - The Legal Intelligencer - Each year, the Supreme Court considers several cases testing the contours of the First Amendment's protection of speech. The justices' enthusiasm for these cases should not be surprising. The free speech guarantee is a core element of our country's founding spirit and calls to protect dissident voices appeal to our visceral aversion to tyranny. In addition to those lofty principles, the underlying facts of
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January 10, 2011
News - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
Cozen O'Connor Team of “Experts” Recognized in National Law Journal Article
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January 07, 2011
News
Jonathan Grossman Quoted in New York Times
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January 05, 2011
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
A Quiet Revolution: International Acceptance of Contingent Fee Structures - Subrogation and Recovery Alert! - Have an international loss but wary of pursuing due to concerns over high hourly rates? International resistance to contingent fee representation is rapidly evolving towards permitting such arrangements. This Alert describes jurisdictions now permitting contingent fee representation
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January 05, 2011
News
Sean Carter, member in the firm’s Philadelphia office, aids Senate Judiciary Committee Members with regard to new bill concerning Federal Court pleading standards
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January 04, 2011
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery
Ethical Issues In The Context Of Investigaiton And Pursuit Of Property Damage Subrogation Claims - Subro Publications; Loss Site Investigations - I. LOSS SITE INVESTIGATIONS/ SPOLIATION AND PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE
What are the implications of the insured being advised that the insurer is undertaking a subrogation investigation? Does this undertaking necessarily include protection of the insured’s interests with respect to its uninsured losses? If the insured affirmatively requests the insurer to share information arising from the subrogation
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