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August 02, 2011
News - Government Relations - Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies
Cozen O'Connor's Mark Alderman and Suzanne Mayes featured in PA Law Weekly
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August 02, 2011
Publication - Business, Tax
STEB Sets 2010 Philadelphia Common Level Ratio at 18.1% - Tax Alert! - The Pennsylvania State Tax Equalization Board (STEB) recently released the 2010 Common Level Ratios (CLR) for counties across Pennsylvania. The 2010 CLR for Philadelphia is 18.1% — not quite half what it has been for the past twenty-five years. The large shift will have an important impact in two areas of Philadelphia taxation.
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August 02, 2011
Press Release - China Practice, Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions
Cozen O’Connor Member Named Lawyer on the Fast Track
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August 01, 2011
Publication
Using Social Media to Track Jurors’ Online Postings - From the Sidebar -
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July 27, 2011
Press Release
Cozen O’Connor Members Appointed to Judicial Nomination Advisory Panel for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
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July 25, 2011
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
The Product Malfunction Theory Lives On - Subrogation and Recovery Alert! - The "Malfunction Theory" in product failures cases lives on, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, based on a recent federal District Court decision in Liberty Mutual v. Sharp Electronics. This Alert reviews the "Malfunction Theory" and evaluates its continuing impact on potential product failure subrogation claims.
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July 19, 2011
Publication - Labor & Employment
Annie Get Your Gun ... and Bring it to Work - Labor and Employment Alert! - Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a bill into law that will limit an employer’s right to prohibit guns and ammunition in the workplace. While the law does not necessarily allow employees to carry firearms at work, it does allow employees to store, and have access to, firearms kept in privately owned vehicles that are parked on or in employer provided parking areas. Considering the fact that 461,724 Texas residents hold a concealed handgun license
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July 18, 2011
Publication
Most Companies Work to Protect Gay Employees - Business Insurance - While still does not recognize sexual orientation as a protected class, many employers have adjusted their policies to discourage discrimination against gays.
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July 13, 2011
Publication
Supreme Court Weighs in on Personal Jurisdiction Over Foreign Companies - General Litigation Alert! - For the first time in more than two decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in on issues of personal jurisdiction. On June 27, 2011, the Court addressed the constitutional limits of “general” and “specific” jurisdiction in Goodyear Luxembourg Tires, S.A. v. Brown, No. 10-76, 564 U.S. __ (June 27, 2011), and J. McIntyre Mach., Ltd. v. Nicastro, No. 09-1343, 564 U.S. __ (June 27, 2011).
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July 13, 2011
Publication - Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Restructuring, Business
Bankruptcy Court Rejects Challenge to Personal Jurisdiction in Preference Case - Delaware Business Court Insider - In a June 22 decision in a case of first impression, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court turned back a due process challenge to the exercise of the court's personal jurisdiction over a preference defendant. In In re DBSI Inc., the trustee sought to avoid and recover pre‐petition transfers made to various insiders and
pre‐petition transfers made on behalf of the insiders to the IRS and other taxing authorities.
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July 12, 2011
Publication - Family Law
The 20-Year Ditch: The Realities of Mid-Life Divorce - The Legal Intelligencer - Their names are familiar: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver; Al and Tipper Gore; Frank and Jamie
McCourt. Besides fame, fortune and power, what do these couples have in common? They all chose to
separate and divorce after more than 20 years of marriage.
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July 11, 2011
Press Release
Mark Alderman Appointed To NASDAQ OMX Futures Exchange Board of Directors
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July 11, 2011
Publication - Insurance Coverage - Insurance
Standard of Review in Coverage Disputes Over Policies Governed by ERISA May Be Headed to Supreme Court - Insurance Coverage Alert! - Earlier this month, the 3rd Circuit took the minority side on an issue affecting life and health insurers that appears headed for the Supreme Court. In Viera v. Life Insurance Company of North America (June 10, 2011), the court held that an insurance company did not adequately communicate to policyholders that it retained broad-ranging authority to assess compliance under a group accidental death and dismemberment policy governed by ERISA.
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July 11, 2011
Publication - Business, Corporate
Don't Ask And Don't Tell: How to Avoid GINA Liability - The Corporate Counselor -
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July 07, 2011
Publication - Intellectual Property
Protecting Your Inventions - MDT Medical Design Technology - For engineers and designers of medical devices, familiarity with U.S. patent rights is necessary to
protect inventions. Before filing an application, it is important to distinguish "prior-art" from
"novel" inventions.
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July 05, 2011
Publication - Insurance Coverage - Insurance
Supreme Court of New Jersey Broadens the Defense Obligation in Emotional Distress Claims - Insurance Coverage Alert! - Portee claims, named after the 1980 Portee v. Jaffe case, may be brought by close family members who witnessed the death or severe injury of a loved one. The decision in Abouzaid v. Mansard Gardens Assoc., LLC, A5-10, will require insurers with policies covering bodily injuries to defend a Portee claim from the outset, even if the complaint is silent regarding physical injuries caused by the alleged emotional distress, unless the defense of the claim is specifically excluded.
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July 05, 2011
Publication - Real Estate Litigation - Real Estate & Construction
New Accounting Rules to Require Tenants to Reflect Operating Leases on Balance Sheet - Real Estate Alert! - consider the possible impact of new accounting rules to be issued shortly by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board. These rules likely will eliminate the accounting distinctions between an operating lease and a capital lease, thus eliminating a tenant's ability to keep "liabilities" under an operating lease off its balance sheet.
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July 01, 2011
Publication - Construction Law, Subrogation & Recovery
Recovering from Construction Defect Claims - Property Casualty 360 - In the past 10 years, more than 25 states have enacted specific builder-friendly construction defect notice and resolution statutes that may affect subrogation claims.
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July 01, 2011
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
Recovery Potential in the 2011 New Mexico Ongoing Wildfires - Subrogation and Recovery Alert! - Following up on our Arizona Wildfire Alert earlier this month, Cozen O'Connor continues to follow the seemingly ceaseless series of wildfires that have been plaguing the United States this year. We offer the attached summary of presently known information concerning the circumstances surrounding the causes of the recent wildfires in New Mexico.
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July 01, 2011
Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance
Investigating the microstructure of CSST after exposure to electrical arcing and corrosion - FIRE & ARSON INVESTIGATOR - As CSST grew in
popularity, correlation appeared between lightning strikes and fires in
structures with installed CSST. The phenomenon comes from perforations
in the CSST caused by its thin wall construction combined with
the overabundance of energy as lightning dissipates through the CSST
to ground.
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