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March 24, 2011
Publication - Insurance Coverage - Insurance
D&O Liability: Vivendi – The Multi-Billion Dollar Impact of Morrison on Foreign-Cubed Securities Litigation - Insurance Coverage Alert! - On February 17, 2011, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Holwell in the Southern District of New York entered an order in In re Vivendi Universal, S.A. Securities Litigation, 02-5571 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 22, 2011), that dramatically reduced the potential amount of a plaintiff’s jury verdict in a securities class action under section 10(b), originally estimated at approximately $9 billion.
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March 21, 2011
News - Antitrust & Competition
Jonathan Grossman quoted in The Wall Street Journal
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March 21, 2011
Publication
Brett Watson contributed an article to the Los Angeles Daily Journal discussing how to protect your company against employee embezzlement.
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March 21, 2011
Publication - Intellectual Property
Justices Poised to Clarify Standards of Proof in Intellectual Property Cases - The Legal Intelligencer - In the coming year, the Supreme Court is poised to overhaul the standards of proof in important areas of IP litigation. This may both hearten and frustrate longtime IP practitioners. At a very basic level, the attention is nice. Then again, it's worth remembering that IP is a sufficiently complicated field as to warrant its own, dedicated
appellate court (the Federal Circuit). When the nine justices consider an IP issue, they do so as novices in that specialized domain,
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March 18, 2011
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
Heating up Frozen Claims: Winter Subrogation Losses - Subrogation and Recovery Alert! - Roof collapses and frozen pipes spilling out of your e-mail box? Don't fall prey to assuming all winter losses are "Acts of God" and not potentially viable. This Alert provides a "playbook" to follow when evaluating winter subrogation losses.
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March 11, 2011
Publication - White Collar Defense & Investigations
Hold ’Em or Draw: The Strange Case of U.S. Enforcement Efforts Against Internet Gambling and Peer-to-Peer Poker - White Collar Crime Report - While federal and state legislators around the nation parse bills to regulate Internet poker, federal prosecutors have been quietly forfeiting Internet gaming proceeds under federal forfeiture statutes. These efforts follow several notable recent prosecutions of individuals for dealing with Internet gaming proceeds.
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March 09, 2011
Publication - Insurance Coverage, Professional Liability - Insurance
New York High Court: "Other Insurance" Clause Relieves D&O Insurer of Obligation to Share Defense Costs with CGL Insurer - Insurance Coverage Alert! - In Fieldston Property Owners Ass’n, Inc. v. Hermitage Ins. Co., Inc., 2011 NY Slip Op. 01361 (Feb. 24, 2011), the New York Court of Appeals ruled that a D&O policy’s excess “other insurance” clause relieved the D&O insurer of any obligation to reimburse a CGL insurer for defense costs incurred in connection with two underlying tort actions. In Fieldston, Hermitage Insurance Company issued an occurrence-based CGL policy to Fieldston Property Owners Association. Federal
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March 08, 2011
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
Subrogation and Recovery Sinkholes Field Adjuster's Handbook - Cozen O'Connor Subrogation Handbook - Having that sinking feeling again about another property claim? Sinkhole claims can represent favorable subrogation opportunities if investigated promptly and handled effectively. This brochure provides an overview of subrogation issues triggered by sinkhole losses, with an easy to use check list
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March 08, 2011
News
The Philadelphia Business Journal’s blog published a post praising a piece by David Walton originally published on From the Sidebar, a Cozen O'Connor blog published by litigator Hayes Hunt. Walton, a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group, wrote about his struggle with a stutter and how he has used it to become a better trial lawyer. The blog post was also mentioned in Abovethelaw.com’s Non-Sequiturs last week.
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March 07, 2011
News - Intellectual Property, Trademark & Copyright
Scott Schwartz on Fox29 news
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March 07, 2011
Publication - Labor & Employment
On February 17, 2011, Philadelphia City Council Member Donna Reed Miller introduced a bill which would amend the Philadelphia law ''Regulation of Businesses, Trades and Professions,'' by adding a chapter titled ''Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards.'' If enacted, this bill would outline procedures for all Philadelphia employers in the timing and conducting of criminal background checks on potential employees during the initial interview or primary application process.
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March 04, 2011
Publication - Labor & Employment
On Tuesday, March 1, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the long-awaited “cat’s paw” case of Staub v. Proctor Hospital. The decision will likely broaden the permissible theories under which a current or former employee might bring a discrimination lawsuit against a company. It may also serve as another cautionary tale for those who use social media for employment-related decisions.
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March 02, 2011
News
Stephen Miller, a member in the Criminal Defense and Government Investigations Practice Group, was quoted in a Bloomberg News article. The article addressed Danielle Chiesi, former consultant for New Castle Funds LLC, pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud charges. Mr. Miller commented on how this affects accused co-conspirator Raj Rajaratnam, noting, ''The plea is bad for Rajaratnam any way you look at it. If she's cooperating, that’s really bad for him. If not, the plea allows the government to focus all its guns [on Rajaratnam].''
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March 01, 2011
Publication
On February 23, 2001, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that Pennsylvania's attorney-client privilege operates as a ''two-way street'' and protects confidential communications from client-to-attorney as well as communications from attorney-to-client. See Gillard v. AIG Ins. Co., No. 10 EAP 2010 (Pa. Feb. 23, 2011). The Court's decision marks the end of lingering uncertainty that has existed in Pennsylvania regarding the scope of attorney-client privilege - uncertainty that was sharply brought into focus by the Pennsylvania Superior Court's May 2007 decision in Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Fleming, 924 A.2d 1259 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2007). There, the Superior Court construed the Pennsylvania privilege statute narrowly and held that only communications from client-to-attorney (and not attorney-to-client) were privileged.
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February 25, 2011
Press Release - Intellectual Property
Cozen O’Connor Records Most Trademark Filings In Pennsylvania and Philadelphia For 2010
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February 25, 2011
Publication - Antitrust & Competition, Business, Insurance Corporate & Regulatory, Insurance Coverage - Insurance
On January 31, 2011, one of the world’s largest reinsurance brokers, Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC, and its former affiliated reinsurer agreed to pay $4.25 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Connecticut attorney general alleging these companies engaged in a series of conspiracies to create closed reinsurance markets and drive up reinsurance costs. This settlement, which concludes an investigation and landmark litigation that spanned more than three years,
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February 24, 2011
News
Stephen A. Miller, member in the firm's Commercial Litigation Practice Group, discussed the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Dow Jones Newswires article ''2nd Update: US Supreme Court Clears Way for Seat Belt Lawsuits.'' The article addresses the recent decision in Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America that federal vehicle safety regulations do not protect car manufacturers from lawsuits involving lap-only seat belts. Stephen is quoted as saying, ''the ruling demonstrates why it is too simplistic to think of the Roberts Court as always pro-business.''
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February 18, 2011
Publication - Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Restructuring, Business
Controversial Fraudulent Conveyance Decision in Tousa Reversed - Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Restructuring Alert! - In what has validated lenders’ belief in the propriety of a parent corporation’s borrowing based in part on the parent company’s guarantees and assets of its operating subsidiaries, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, on February 11, 2011, reversed the controversial Southern District of Florida Bankruptcy Court’s decision in In re TOUSA, Inc., which dramatically expanded the powers of a bankruptcy trustee to set aside as a
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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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