Publications
On June 18, 2019, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed Substitute Senate Bill 3, publicly known as the “Time’s Up” bill and identified as Public Act 19-16, “An Act Combatting Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment.” The law significantly changes the sexual harassment laws affecting Connecticut employers. A majority of these provisions will go into effect as […]
Greetings, Court Fans! On the penultimate D-day of OT18, the Court handed down three decisions, including one of the most anticipated of the term, leaving five for tomorrow morning. The biggie today was Kisor v. Wilkie (No. 18-15), in which the Court declined to overrule the so-called Auer doctrine, under which courts defer to agencies’ […]
Greetings, Court Fans! On the last decision day of the term, the Chief Justice put on his AMK hat, casting the decisive vote on opposite (political) sides in the two most politically salient cases of the term, involving the census and partisan gerrymandering. In Department of Commerce v. New York (No. 18-966) (consolidated with Lamone […]
Those seeking federal registration benefits for their scandalous or immoral trademarks are now in luck. On Monday, the United States Supreme Court held in Iancu v. Brunetti No. 18-302 (U.S. June 24, 2019) that the Lanham Act’s Section 2(a) prohibition against registration of “immoral or scandalous” marks, like Brunetti’s “FUCT” mark, violates the First Amendment. […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Earlier this month, in her annual report to the Second Circuit Judicial Conference , Justice Ginsburg remarked that, to that point, only 11 decisions of the term had produced 5-4 or 5-3 outcomes, but that she could “not predict that the relatively low sharp divisions ration will hold.” Everyone thought that hinted […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Nine have gone their separate ways, but we’re still soldiering on (albeit from vacation and paternity leave, respectively). We’ve got six more cases for you, so we’ll split them up into manageable trios. Read on for summaries of Kisor v. Wilkie (No. 18-15), in which the Auer doctrine narrowly escaped the […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Three more decisions to report this week, adding to the list we’ll be discussing next week at the New Haven Lawn Club. We’re grateful and excited to have Professors Kate Stith and Stephen Gilles on board to help us talk through OT18’s cases and themes, as well as what to expect in […]
Greetings, Court fans! As promised, we’re back with summaries of the four decisions the Court handed down earlier this week. There’s a lot to get through, so we’ll proceed right to it. First up, in Taggart v. Lorenzen (No. 18-489), a unanimous Court provided helpful guidance to anyone who wants to try to collect a […]
Wiggin and Dana partner, David L. Hall, provides prepared testimony before the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security and Trade Committee on Foreign Affairs, with respect to, “Understanding Odebrecht: Lessons for Combating Corruption in the Americas.”
On May 31, Connecticut’s legislature approved comprehensive legislation establishing paid family and medical leave and drastically increasing both the employers covered by the state family and medical leave law and the employees eligible for such leave. This bill is now headed to Governor Lamont for signature, who has already expressed his support for the legislation […]
The National Law Review has published a recent article titled, Why Correctly Understanding Antitrust Risk is Crucial to Properly Addressing Brand Dilution in the E-Commerce Age, which was authored by Wiggin and Dana Partner, Benjamin Diessel and Associate, Timothy Cowan. To read the full article, please click here.
Greetings, Court Fans! Well, we’d hoped to have last week’s update out by Friday, but guess who had other plans? Virginia Katherine Roth, born Thursday, June 13, 2019. Congratulations, Dave! (Nice timing, Virginia.) Since Virginia was born, the Supreme Court has handed down four more opinions (two of which bear her name!): Gamble v. United […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Four more decisions this morning, including a couple of biggies. In American Legion v. American Humanist Association (No. 17-1717), the Court reversed the Fourth Circuit’s decision holding that a memorial “peace cross” on public land violated the Establishment Clause, albeit in a highly fractured decision. Justice Alito wrote a partial-majority/partial-plurality opinion, joined […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court was back today with another four decisions (still leaving a modest twelve for next week). In Flowers v. Mississippi (No. 17-9572) the Court vacated (by a vote of 7-2) the conviction and death sentence of Curtis Flowers, a black defendant, based on Mississippi prosecutors’ repeated use of peremptory strikes to […]
Effective January 1, 2020, there will be significant changes to Connecticut law concerning the formation, administration and termination of trusts. The recently adopted Connecticut Uniform Trust Code modernizes current law and establishes standards for individuals serving as trustees or in other fiduciary capacities. The new law makes our state an appealing venue for trusts by […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Nine appear to have settled on four as the ideal number as they lurch toward the end of the term. Just as on Monday, Thursday, and Friday last week, the Court handed down four decisions this morning, bringing the total remaining down to eight. In Iancu v. Brunetti (No. 18-302), involving […]
Wiggin and Dana partners, Robert Langer and John Doroghazi along with Associate Amanda Brahm, have co-authored an important article regarding a key development concerning state consumer protection laws that affect both businesses as well as consumers.
On June 19, 2019, the New York State Assembly and Senate passed legislation making sweeping changes to the New York Human Rights Law. The proposed amendments will make it far more difficult for employers to defend against harassment claims, as a result we are forecasting a significant increase in the number of complaints brought under […]
Effective May 1, 2019, E-1 Treaty Trader and E-2 Treaty Investor visa categories will become available for Israeli nationals. After completing negotiations over several years, the U.S. and Israel have agreed to program specifics for implementing legislation signed by President Obama in June 2012. Israeli traders and investors will now be able to apply for […]
Most employers know that they need to distribute a Summary Plan Description (or “SPD”) that describes the key features of their retirement plans to their employees when they first become eligible to participate in the Plan. But when do SPDs need to be updated? The 210 Day Rule. ERISA (i.e., the federal Employee Retirement Income […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Last week, The Nine heard the final arguments of the term, so we’re officially in the home stretch. We’ve got two decisions and a few orders to report to you today, but first: Save the Date! On May 30th, we will be hosting a discussion of the current term—both a look back […]
On April 23, 2019, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities issued a Best Practices Blue Paper offering guidance to employers on how to deal with accommodation requests related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions. The full text of the guidance is available here. This guidance explains the obligations imposed on companies with three […]
On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued revised guidance for evaluating corporate compliance programs. DOJ’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance sets forth eleven key evaluation topics that prosecutors may consider when deciding whether to file criminal charges against a company or what penalty to impose. Unlike DOJ’s original 2017 guidance, the revised […]