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February 18, 2011
Publication - Labor & Employment
Our Winter 2011 Labor and Employment Observer covers topics of interest to in-house counsel, human resources professionals, and corporate management.
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February 17, 2011
Publication - Construction Law, Insurance Coverage - Insurance
Construction Defect: New Jersey Appellate Division Leaves the Door Open for Continuous Trigger in Construction Defect Cases - Insurance Coverage Alert! - Over the past decade, courts across the country have delivered countless number of decisions on the scope of liability coverage for underlying construction defect claims. Most of these decisions focus on whether claims of faulty workmanship constitute an occurrence, and if so, whether the business risk exclusions apply to preclude coverage. Just as important, but often overlooked, is the issue of trigger.
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February 16, 2011
Press Release
Cozen O’Connor Names Seven New Shareholders
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February 14, 2011
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
A Tale of Two State's Views on the Economic Loss Rule - Subrogation and Recovery Alert! - Confused, overworked and overwhelmed by an Economic Loss Rule recovery matter? Washington and Utah have crafted unique conflicting responses to the Economic Loss Rule. This Alert reviews both state's views on the Economic Loss Rule, and evaluates their impact on potential subrogation claims in those states.
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February 14, 2011
Publication
‘Bad Vehicles’ Could Cause Crash in Class Actions - The Legal Intelligencer - In U.S. Supreme Court parlance, a "bad vehicle" is a case whose factual or procedural posture exerts an adverse influence on the legal rule that the justices announce and apply. As we all know, the court does not issue legal rulings sua sponte. Rather, it can only decide specific cases selected from the pool of petitions seeking review at any given time.
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February 09, 2011
Publication - Products Liability
The Preemptive Scope of the Vaccine Act: Must Unavoidable Damages be Determined on a Case-by-Case Basis? - Life Sciences Alert! - On January 11, 2011, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania decided Wright v. Aventis Pasteur, et al., 2001 Pa. Super. 9 (2011) in which it determined as a matter of first impression that the National Childhood Vaccine Act (Vaccine Act) does not preempt any design defect claim based on state law, but rather requires case-by-case inquiry to determine whether a particular vaccine’s side effects are unavoidable.
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February 09, 2011
Press Release - Antitrust & Competition, Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Restructuring, Construction Law, Corporate, Family Law, Health Care & Life Sciences, Labor & Employment, Private Client Services, Professional Liability, Real Estate, Real Estate Litigation, Tax, Transportation & Trade, Utility & Energy, White Collar Defense & Investigations
Forty-three Cozen O’Connor lawyers from six of the firm’s national offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Lawyers were selected for inclusion in the 2011 edition based on a rigorous peer–review of more than 3.1 million detailed evaluations.
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February 09, 2011
Publication
Almost a year ago, the Delaware Court of Chancery opined in dictum that if a company’s board and shareholders thought derivative actions would best be litigated in a particular forum, the company would be ''free'' to adopt an appropriate venue provision in its charter. See In re Revlon Inc. Shareholders Litig., 990 A.2d 940, 960 & n.8 (Del. Ch. 2010).
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February 07, 2011
Publication
For those attorneys and insurance carriers who have insisted to plaintiffs’ counsel that certain funds be set aside for the payment of future medical bills following a liability case settlement – but have met strong opposition from plaintiffs’ counsel, or more commonly from, third-party vendors such as the Garretson Firm Resolution Group – a January 5, 2011 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has interpreted the requirements of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSP Act), 42 U.S.C. § 1395y, as it relates to Medicare’s future interests, a positive development in liability defense as a means to counter such resistance and ensure compliance with statutory requirements.
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February 07, 2011
Publication - Business, Corporate
Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Use of Net Operating Loss Poison Pills - Corporate Law Alert! - In the recent case, Versata Enterprises, Inc. and Trilogy, Inc. v. Selectica, Inc., the Delaware Supreme Court upheld the Delaware Chancery Court’s ruling that the use of a net operating loss poison pill was valid. This holding is significant because it is the first time the court has examined the validity of a net operating loss poison pill and, further, the first time the court has ruled on any pill that was actually triggered.
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February 01, 2011
Publication - Real Estate & Construction
Hidden Traps: Builders should watch for the pitfalls of the Interstate Land Sale Full Disclosure Act - Construction Today -
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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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