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April 01, 2013
Publication - Employment Litigation, Labor & Employment
Disability discrimination remains a hot button issue in the workplace. Employees and applicants file more disability discrimination charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) each year, totaling some 25,000 charges in fiscal year 2011 alone.
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March 27, 2013
Press Release - Antitrust & Competition, Construction Law, Insurance Coverage, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Private Client Services, Products Liability, Real Estate, Subrogation & Recovery, White Collar Defense & Investigations
Ian Blum, Alphonso Collins, Kathryn Crary, Lynnette Espy-Williams, Elizabeth Featherman, Matthew Glazer, Nelsy Gomez, Andrea Hammel, Keenya Harrold, Charles Jesuit, Jr., Lezlie Madden, Marilyn Neiman, Tracey Nguyen, Cartherine Rosato Reilly, Megan Scheib, Daniel Schuch, John Schwartz, Shari Shapiro, Marko Stamenkovic, and Norasha Williams have been elected to membership in the firm.
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March 27, 2013
Publication - Employment Litigation, Labor & Employment
One of Barack Obama’s first actions when he became president was to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, resetting the statute of limitations each paycheck for equal-pay gender discrimination lawsuits and making it easier for employees to pursue them.
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March 27, 2013
Publication
Two recent decisions prove that nothing is as simple as it seems — especially removal. The opinions by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in February illustrate hidden traps in the removal process. Given the importance of forum to the outcome, litigation counsel should understand not just the letter of removal statutes, but the nuances developed by recent case law.
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March 26, 2013
News - Antitrust & Competition
In an article titled, "How Antitrust Authorities View Mergers and Acquisitions," Jonathan Grossman (Washington, D.C.) of the firm's Antitrust Practice Group discusses the complaints of Bazaarvoice Inc., and a matter involving the company's acquisition of its competitor PowerReviews.
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March 26, 2013
Publication - Insurance Coverage, Technology, Privacy & Data Security
Last week, in Tyler v. Michaels Stores, Inc., the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts responded to certified questions presented by the district court and interpreted a Massachusetts statute to reflect the state’s interest in protecting consumer privacy. No. SJC-11145, 2013 Mass. LEXIS 40 (Mass. Mar. 11, 2013). In particular, the court held that a consumer’s zip code constitutes personal identification information, and that a consumer can bring an action under the relevant statute absent a claim of identify fraud.
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March 25, 2013
News - Business
Fisher of the Business Law Department discusses Marty Markowitz, the Borough President of Brooklyn, NY.
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March 20, 2013
Publication - Insurance Coverage, Professional Liability Insurance Coverage - Insurance
In a recent unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has five years from the date when an alleged fraud begins – not from the date when the SEC uncovers the fraud – to bring an action seeking penalties. It is likely this decision will have a large-scale impact, including an impact on D&O insurers, by spurring the SEC to complete its investigations and bring enforcement actions sooner rather than later.
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March 19, 2013
Publication - Employment Litigation, Labor & Employment
The New York City Council continues to grow the chasm that exists between New York City employment law and its state and federal counterparts. Specifically, on March 13, 2013, the council overwhelmingly enacted (by a 43-4 vote) a local law that precludes employers and employment agencies from refusing to consider or hire an applicant because he or she is unemployed, and from posting advertisements that require job applicants to be employed. This comes less than a month after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg initially vetoed the legislation, which now is set to become effective on June 11, 2013.
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March 19, 2013
Publication - Bad Faith, Insurance Coverage - Insurance
In D.R. Horton, Inc.—Denver v. Mountain States Mutual Casualty Co., No. 12-cv-01080 (February 25, 2013), another U.S. District Court judge for the District of Colorado determined a liability insured seeking defense costs from its insurer may qualify as a “first-party claimant” for purposes of Colorado’s Unfair Claim Settlement Practices Act, potentially entitling the insured to recover unpaid defense costs, attorneys’ fees in prosecuting the recovery action and two times the unpaid defense costs as a penalty.
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March 19, 2013
Publication - Intellectual Property, Patents
A recent decision from the Delaware District Court held that the composition of matter patent for the drug Baraclude was invalid as obvious. This opinion has drawn immediate attention because it is the first time that a lead compound obviousness challenge has succeeded in a district court since KSR v. Teleflex issued. What this means for inside counsel depends on which side of the aisle you are on, but regardless this decision may provide the beachhead for obviousness attacks where none existed before.
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March 18, 2013
Publication - Insurance Coverage - Insurance
The Washington Supreme Court joined a minority of jurisdictions that hold that insurers may not unilaterally reserve the right to seek reimbursement for defense costs paid in defending non-covered claims through a reservation of rights letter. In National Surety Corp. v. Immunex Corp., the Washington Supreme Court, in a five to four decision, held that insurers defending under a reservation of rights may not seek reimbursement for defense costs from the insured, even if there is a determination that the insured is not entitled to coverage under the policy No. 86535-3 (March 7, 2013). In so holding, the court recognized that, upon a showing of actual and substantial prejudice resulting from an insured’s delayed tender, an insurer could minimize or avoid liability for defense costs.
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March 18, 2013
Press Release - Insurance Corporate & Regulatory, Insurance Coverage, Private Client Services, Real Estate, Subrogation & Recovery
Six attorneys from the firm of Edwards Wildman are joining Cozen O'Connor, in practice areas that include trusts and estates/private client services, real estate, insurance coverage, reinsurance, insurance corporate and regulatory and litigation.
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March 18, 2013
Publication - Electronic Discovery & Practice Advisory Services
The era when a lawyer can competently practice without understanding a client's electronic data is rapidly drawing to a close. New York's Office of Court Administration has recommended amendments to the rules governing preliminary conferences in non-Commercial Division cases that should radically reduce the number of cases where one can stand in front of a judge like Saturday Night Live's fabled unfrozen caveman lawyer, proudly ignorant of electronic discovery issues.
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March 15, 2013
News - Subrogation & Recovery
Vince McGuinness joins a roundtable discussion in Law Practice Today Webzine on the topic of what law firms expect from new lawyers.
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March 15, 2013
Publication - Bad Faith, Insurance Coverage - Insurance
When an insured sues an insurer for bad faith, how much of the claims file maintained by the insurer is discoverable? In a 5-4 decision, the Washington Supreme Court recently weakened insurers’ ability to protect confidential communications with their attorneys in first-party claims where the insured has alleged bad faith. Cedell v. Farmers Insurance Company of Washington, No. 85366-5 (February 22, 2013). The court held that, in the context of a first-party claim for bad faith claim handling and processing, courts must apply a presumption that there is no applicable attorney-client privilege. The court further held that an insurer would be entitled to overcome the presumption by showing that its counsel was providing legal advice as to the insurer’s potential liability and was not acting in the insurer’s “quasi-fiduciary” function. Upon this showing, the insurer is entitled to an in camera review where the trial court will determine if the privilege applies, subject to the insured’s assertions that the privilege does not apply due to an exception, including the civil fraud exception.
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March 14, 2013
Publication
Congress funds a variety of causes to the exclusion of others. That is permissible and necessary. Congress cannot, however, condition its spending on the abandonment of recipients' constitutional rights.
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March 14, 2013
Publication - Employment Litigation, Immigration Policy & Strategy, Labor & Employment
On March 8, 2013, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new Employment Eligibility Verification Form, Form I-9, and a revised Handbook for Employers, M-274. The main changes to the new Form are that it contains further instructions on how to complete the Form I-9 and also expands the Form itself to two pages. Employers should review the revised Handbook and may begin using the new Form I-9 immediately both for new hires and for work authorization reverification. USCIS is allowing employers two months to transition to the new Form I-9, but beginning on May 7, 2013, employers must use the new Form I-9. Employers do not need to complete a new Form I-9 for current employees with a proper I-9 on file.
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March 14, 2013
Publication - Business, Corporate
On January 23, 2013, the Pennsylvania Benefit Corporation Act (the Act) became effective. The Act authorizes a new type of for-profit business corporation known as a benefit corporation. Pennsylvania is now one of 12 states that have passed laws creating benefit corporations.
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March 12, 2013
Press Release
Thomas Wilkinson, along with his wife Kathleen, will receive the Gerald Abraham Award for Service to Villanova University School of Law at the Villanova Law Alumni Association's annual Alumni Reception and Awards Program on March 21 at the National Constitution Center.
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