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May 14, 2014
News - Family Law
Jennifer Brandt, a member of the firm's Family Law Department, was a guest on Fox News Channel's America's Newsroom this morning to discuss Casey Kasem's daughter's claims that he has been kidnapped.
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May 14, 2014
Publication - Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Restructuring, Business
Can a party that retains its own counsel be liable to pay a fee to another party's counsel or to class counsel? The answer, according to the recent Court of Chancery opinion in Smith, Katzenstein & Jenkins v. Fidelity Management & Research, C.A. No. 8066-VCL (Del. Ch. April 16, 2014), is a resounding yes. The court rejected the defendants' "own counsel" defense in an action to recover attorney fees and costs for benefits conferred as a result of the plaintiffs' prosecution and settlement of a class action as contrary to longstanding Delaware precedent dealing with shared causation in the award of fees and expenses when an attorney creates a common fund for, or confers a common benefit upon, a readily ascertainable group.
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May 12, 2014
Press Release - Insurance Coverage - Insurance
With the recent addition of Kevin P. Kamraczewski as a member, Cozen O’Connor has significantly added to the strength of its Global Insurance Group and its Chicago office, where he will be resident. Mr. Kamraczewski was formerly a partner at Dentons.
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May 12, 2014
News - Securities Litigation & SEC Enforcement
Cozen O’Connor litigators Fred Jacoby and Joseph Dever recently obtained a complete victory in a $2 million FINRA securities arbitration in New York.
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May 12, 2014
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery
It can be frustrating when pursuit of a products liability case is not economically feasible due to the small dollar value of the claim. This is especially true with repetitive failure claims – when the same type of product fails over and over again. However, if repetitive failure claims can be identified, and a scientifically viable theory of the failure can be deduced, costs can be shared and claims can potentially be bundled.
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May 12, 2014
Publication
John J. Sullivan, member of Cozen O’Connor’s Litigation Department, and Christopher Passavia, associate in Cozen’s Litigation Department, co-authored an article titled “How to Clean Up against Washing Machine Class Actions,” in which they discuss the difficulties presented when defending against such lawsuits. Sullivan and Passavia offer their advice, based on various Washing Machine Class Actions cases, on what steps can be taken by the defense.
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May 09, 2014
Publication - Public & Project Finance
This podcast will address the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s final municipal advisor rule issued in fall of 2013 with a particular focus upon their impact with respect to underwriters and the ability of underwriters to provide information and ideas for financings to issuers and obligated persons.
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May 08, 2014
Publication - Insurance Coverage, Professional Liability Insurance Coverage - Insurance
Litigation over challenges to corporate mergers has swelled in recent years, exposing directors, officers and their D&O insurers to large amounts of defense costs and potentially great liability. The Delaware Chancery Court recently issued an opinion analyzing and explaining the various standards by which courts review challenges to director decision-making in the merger context, which provides a thorough summary for all interested parties.
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May 08, 2014
Publication - Tax - Gaming
A nearly unanimous Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the Commonwealth Court and held that certain promotional expenses were deductible in calculating gross terminal revenue for purposes of the 34 percent Pennsylvania tax on slot machines.
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May 07, 2014
Press Release - Aviation, Government & Regulatory, Health Care & Life Sciences, Transportation & Trade - Aviation
Cozen O’Connor has continued to grow its Washington, D.C., office with the recent additions of health care attorney Ryan Blaney and aviation attorney David Heffernan, both of whom join the firm as members.
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May 06, 2014
Publication - Bad Faith, Insurance Coverage - Insurance
Last week, the Washington Court of Appeals held that “in an insurance bad faith case, the amount of a reasonable covenant judgment sets a floor, not a ceiling, on the damages the jury may award.” Miller v. Safeco Ins. Co., No. 68594-5-1. The claim arose out of an automobile accident in 2000, when Patrick Kenny, the at-fault driver, rear-ended a cement truck, severely injuring his three passengers.
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May 06, 2014
Publication - Employment Litigation, Labor & Employment
Michael Schmidt, vice chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor and Employment Department, and Jason A. Cabrera, associate in the Labor and Employment Department, co-authored an article for The Legal Intelligencer titled, “Restricted Covenants in the Internet Age.” The article discusses the impact of social media on restrictive convents.
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May 05, 2014
News - Business, Corporate - Sports
Steve Silton, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Corporate Department, was on Bloomberg Radio’s “Morning Bloomberg Law Brief” on Monday, May 5, 2014, discussing the retention by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration of a key sports and business lawyer to assist in the state’s bid to prevent the Buffalo Bills football team from relocating.
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May 05, 2014
Publication - Insurance Coverage, Professional Liability Insurance Coverage - Insurance
In Protection Strategies, Inc. v. Starr Indemnity & Liability Co., the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia allowed an insurer to recoup more than $670,000 in costs paid for the insured first to respond to government subpoenas and then for the insured and its key employees to defend themselves against claims for governmental fraud and conspiracy.
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May 05, 2014
Publication
Jennifer Brandt, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Family Law Department, discusses the importance of business development for an attorney and offers five tips to ensure marketing success. Jennifer’s tips include “find something you love to do, think creatively, build on your marketing feats, delegate but don’t give it away, and make marketing part of your daily routine.”
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May 05, 2014
Press Release - Private Client Services
Judd A. Serotta recently joined Cozen O’Connor’s Philadelphia Office, as a member of the Private Client Services Practice Area. Previously focusing his practice in commercial litigation, Serotta worked at Blank Rome, LLP, for more than10 years, and left to join Cozen O’Connor in May of 2014
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May 05, 2014
Publication - Food & Beverage
In an article published in Carrier Management, Richard Fama and Brenden Coller, members of Cozen O’Connor’s Commercial Litigation Department, discuss several significant court decisions relating to class certification that give rise to optimism that the tide of the food and beverage labeling lawsuits may be turning in favor of food manufacturers and their insurers.
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May 02, 2014
Publication - Transportation & Logistics Litigation, Transportation & Trade
On March 20, 2014, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) announced that by a vote of 4-1, it had decided to let the P3 Network Vessel Sharing Agreement, among CMA CGM S.A., A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S trading under the name of Maersk Line and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA, become effective on March 24, 2014. On April 2, 2014, the FMC announced a similar decision with respect to the G6 Vessel Sharing Agreement among APL Co PTE Ltd., Hapag-Lloyd AG, Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., Ltd., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and Orient Overseas Container Line, Ltd., which became effective on April 4.
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May 02, 2014
Publication - Transportation & Logistics Litigation, Transportation & Trade
In early February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its seventh and final major rule as part of the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA). The proposed rule seeks to prevent the contamination of human and animal food during transport by establishing requirements for the design and maintenance of vehicles and transportation equipment, transportation operations, training of carrier personnel and record keeping. It would apply to shippers, receivers and carriers who transport food in the United States by motor or rail.
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May 02, 2014
News
Patrick J. O’Connor, firm co-founder and graduate of King's College, will provide the address at King’s 65th annual commencement exercises, which will be held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pa. O'Connor will also receive an honorary doctor of humanities degree.
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