February 10, 2017

Issues to Consider Regarding In-House Counsel Disqualification

By: Devika Kewalramani , Moses & Singer LLP. Federal and state courts have the power to disqualify a lawyer from continuing to represent a client by requiring withdrawal when a disabling conflict of interest exists. While courts are generally reluctant to impose this harsh remedy—recognizing a party’s right to choice of counsel and a lawyer’s right to freely practice law—courts do not hesitate...

February 10, 2017

A Look into Digital Media’s Influence on Brand Identity and Intellectual Property Rights

Q&A with Po Yi , Partner at Venable LLP. Please provide some general background on the types of transactional work you do currently. I counsel and work with clients on the front end of their marketing activities. My practice focuses on business transactions and counseling in the areas of sponsorships, marketing alliances, sports and entertainment marketing, celebrity endorsements, digital and social media marketing...

February 10, 2017

Bank Regulation and Commercial Lending

By: Dwight Smith , Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. Bank financing can take several forms, including commercial loans, repurchase agreements, and securities borrowing transactions, all of which are subject to regulation at the federal and state levels. This article provides an overview of the regulations and other supervisory policies that restrict and influence commercial lending by banks. THIS DISCUSSION...

February 10, 2017

Lender Liability Under Environmental Laws in Real Estate Transactions

By: Annemargaret Connolly and Matthew D. Morton , Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Why should real estate lenders and other secured creditors concern themselves with known and potential environmental liabilities and requirements associated with their loan portfolios? After all, environmental liabilities and requirements generally are imposed on borrowers who own and operate the real estate collateral securing the loan...

February 10, 2017

The Impact of “Cash-in-Lieu of Benefits” Payments to Employees on Overtime Compensation Calculations

By: Zach P. Hutton and Justin M. Scott , Paul Hastings. Introduction In Flores v. City of San Gabriel , 1 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals considered an issue of first impression: whether “cash-inlieu of benefits” payments made directly to employees under a flexible benefits plan must be included in the regular rate of pay for overtime compensation. The court concluded that such payments do not qualify...

February 10, 2017

Guidance on Ransomware Attacks under HIPAA and State Data Breach Notification Laws

By: Amy M. Gordon, Ann Killilea, Michael G. Morgan, Susan M. Nash, and Angela M. Stockbridge , McDermott Will & Emery LLP. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued guidance under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) on what covered entities and business associates can do to prevent and recover from ransomware attacks. Ransomware attacks can also trigger concerns...

February 10, 2017

Drafting and Reviewing the Key Documentation for a Private Equity Fund and Its Offering

Adapted by Alyssa Heumann . THE LAWYER’S MOST IMPORTANT ROLE IN CONNECTION with the launch of a new private equity fund (PE fund) will involve the preparation and negotiation of the key documents for the offering of its interests. The sale of PE fund interests to investors constitutes an offering of securities that must be registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and state authorities...

February 10, 2017

Best Practices to Reduce Litigation Risks When Hiring From A Competitor

By: Michael P. Pappas , Michael P. Pappas Law Firm, P.C. This article discusses ways to reduce the risk of litigation when hiring someone away from a competitor. Litigation involving trade secrets, non-compete agreements, and other postemployment restrictive covenants has grown exponentially, roughly doubling every decade since 1980. Often, these lawsuits are directed not only at the departing employee, but also at...

November 09, 2016

The Demise of Safe Harbor and Rise of Privacy Shield: How Can Personal Information Now Be Exported from the EU to the United States?

By: David Bender Special Counsel, Data Privacy, GTC Law Group. Since 2000, the Safe Harbor program has provided a relatively painless way for U.S. companies to import into the United States the personal information of European Union (EU) residents in compliance with the EU’s rigid restrictions on export of personal information. THIS PROGRAM WAS CREATED IN 2000 BY AGREEMENT between the United States and the EU...

November 09, 2016

Mobile App Privacy Considerations

By: Mark W. Brennan , Hogan Lovells US LLP. AS THE USE OF MOBILE DEVICES SUCH AS SMARTPHONES and tablets has become increasingly prevalent, mobile applications (mobile apps or apps) have also proliferated. Consumers use mobile apps to access social networks, conduct online banking, play games, listen to music, take photos and videos, find nearby restaurants or stores, monitor health and wellness, and perform many other...

November 09, 2016

Complying with the CAN-SPAM Act

By Mark W. Brennan , Hogan Lovells US LLP The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM Act), 15 U.S.C. §§ 7701–7713 , imposes a number of detailed requirements on persons and entities that initiate and send commercial e-mail messages. Complying with the CAN-SPAM Act is crucial, as the failure to do so may lead to regulatory scrutiny, steep fines of up to...

November 09, 2016

A Guide to Protecting Children’s Privacy Online

By: Angela Bozzuti Product Manager, Lexis Practice Advisor. THE CHILDREN’S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT AND Rule ( COPPA ) is a federal law that places parents and legal guardians in control over the collection, use, and disclosure of their children’s personal information (PI). COPPA applies to: Operators of a commercial website or online service (including apps) directed to children under the age of...

November 09, 2016

Attorney Cloud Computing for Technology Clients: A Patent and Trade Secret Perspective

By: Eric M. Dobrusin, Kristen L. Pursley, and Daniel P. Aleksynas , The Dobrusin Law Firm. A broad range of attorneys represent technology companies in some capacity, and therefore, potentially handle and store sensitive information related to patents or trade secrets. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU MAY BE A PRODUCT LIABILITY attorney engaged in discovery about product redesign by a client. You may be a mergers and acquisition...

November 09, 2016

Helping Protect Clients from Cyber Threats

By: Geoffrey H. Wold As cyber criminals become more sophisticated in their efforts to target cyber victims, organizations must also grow their capabilities to successfully combat and defeat them. The evolving nature of Internet crime presents a unique set of challenges, as crimes often overlap jurisdictional boundaries and perpetrators can attack from anywhere on the globe. Because of the increasing threats of cyber...

November 09, 2016

Credit Card Data Breaches: Protecting Companies from Hidden Surprises

By: David A. Zetoony, Bryan Cave LLP and Courtney K. Stout, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. MOST RETAILERS DO NOT REALIZE THAT BY ACCEPTING credit cards they expose themselves to the risk of a data security breach and significant costs and legal liabilities. This article examines the key risks that a retailer faces following a data security breach of its payment card systems as well as the potential for addressing some of...

November 09, 2016

Cell-Site Simulators and the Fourth Amendment: Government Surveillance

By: James B. Astrachan and Christoper J. Lyon , Astrachan Gunst Thomas, P.C. IN JUNE 2001, THE LATE JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA REMARKED , “It would be foolish to contend that the degree of privacy secured to citizens by the Fourth Amendment has been entirely unaffected by the advance of technology.” Kyllo v. U.S., 533 U.S. 27, 33–34 (2001). The Supreme Court, addressing government surveillance, confronted...

November 09, 2016

Drafting Privacy Policies

By: Elizabeth C. Rogers , Greenberg Traurig, LLP.                  While there is no universal legal requirement that every company have a published privacy policy, consumers have become increasingly sensitized to the data collection practices of companies with which they do business. OFTEN, CONSUMERS EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO EXAMINE A company’s privacy policy to learn...

November 09, 2016

Planning & Managing a Data Breach

By: Elizabeth C. Rogers , Greenberg Traurig, LLP. A data breach occurs when sensitive, protected, and/or confidential information is stolen, accessed, or used without authorization. The information may include an individual’s personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI), cardholder data, or a business’s trade secret or other confidential information. WHEN A DATA BREACH...

November 08, 2016

A Briefing on Emerging Issues Impacting Transactional Practice - Special Edition: Cybersecurity Privacy & Data Protection 2016

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION STAYS FOCUSED ON CYBERSECURITY THE FDIC UPDATED ITS CYBERSECURITY WEBPAGE TO highlight what it called “a number of important steps to significantly enhance the protection of information held by the agency.” The FDIC said it has in the past several months: Expanded use of multi-factor authentication for securely downloading assessment invoices and official FDIC...

September 14, 2016

Rule of Law: Introducing the Rule of Law Impact Tracker

TO FURTHER THE GOAL OF ADVANCING the rule of law around the world, LexisNexis Legal & Professional has launched a first-of-its-kind interactive rule of law awareness tool, the LexisNexis Rule of Law Impact Tracker. According to the United Nations, approximately four billion people live outside the protection of the rule of law. There is growing recognition by lawyers, businesspeople, governments, academics, NGOs...

September 14, 2016

A Briefing on Emerging Issues Impacting Transactional Practice - Fall 2016

STUDY ON INJECTION WELL INDUCED EARTHQUAKES THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (USGS) RECENTLY released its short-term forecast for seismic activity. For the first time, it includes a discussion of “Induced Earthquakes.” The study, which comes after a significant hike in the incidence of earthquakes in the United States, reports that the states facing the highest risk from human-induced earthquakes are, in order...

September 14, 2016

Contract Drafting Landmines

By: Timothy Murray , Murray, Hogue & Lannis. There are innumerable articles, books, and seminars that offer guidance on contract drafting style. Among many other things, they typically counsel drafters to avoid legalese, redundancy, inconsistency, and ambiguity—all important suggestions. CLARITY, FOR EXAMPLE, IS PARAMOUNT. I CAN’T EVER recall hearing a judge complain that a contract was “too...

September 14, 2016

Cloud-Based Outsourcing

By: James E. Meadows , Culhane Meadows PLLC. Cloud computing is a subscription-based service that offers on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computer resources (e.g., networks, applications, servers, storage, etc.) that is usually hosted by the supplier and provided over the Internet. Such services can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal transition services and management effort. Cloud...

September 14, 2016

Examining the Duty to Provide Religious Accommodations

By: Peter T. Shapiro , Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) prohibits discrimination based on an individual’s religion, and also requires employers to furnish reasonable accommodations for an individual’s religious practices or beliefs unless the accommodation imposes an undue hardship on the employer’s business operations. THIS ARTICLE ANALYZES...

September 14, 2016

The NYSE’s Complex Shareholder Approval Rules: Issuing New Securities? Do You Need Shareholder Approval?

By: Stuart H. Gelfond and Burcin Eren. THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE (NYSE) HAS SPECIFIC requirements applicable to listed companies to receive shareholder approval in connection with certain transactions, including issuing equity and convertible securities, which are in addition to any applicable requirements under state law and SEC rules. Although these rules can be seen as complex and technical, it is very important...