Publications
The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent a strong HIPAA enforcement message this summer, entering four resolution agreements, including the highest financial settlement to date, and announcing an initiative to investigate smaller breaches more widely. Each new resolution agreement resulted from self-reported breaches and demonstrates OCR's focus […]
In November 2014 President Obama announced a series of executive actions regarding immigration reforms, stating that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) should make efforts with respect to modernizing, improving and clarifying immigrant and nonimmigrant programs to grow our economy and create jobs. This initiative was to focus on, among others, foreign investors and […]
In a decision that should be of concern to any company that engages in national marketing campaigns or distributes products nationwide, the California Supreme Court has rolled out the welcome mat to nonresident plaintiffs who want to sue nonresident defendants in mass tort cases. The case – Bristol-Myers Squibb Company v. Anderson (Cal. Sup. Ct. […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that might clarify the scope of the “personal benefit” prong of insider trading law.[1] As we have written in the past, clarity of insider trading law could be a welcome development for prosecutors, defendants, traders and compliance professionals. The Supreme Court’s case also has the […]
Introduction As discussed in greater detail below, there were a number of notable developments in intellectual property law in 2015. Patent eligibility challenges to the validity of software, business methods, and medical diagnostic methods continued at a record pace. 2015 also saw the introduction of a new pleading standard for patent suits, which require plaintiffs […]
On December 18, 2015, the President signed into law the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 (“the Act”). The intent of the Act is to encourage more interaction between the government and the private sector, as well as within the private sector, on the sharing of cybersecurity threat information. One feature of the Act is to require […]
2016 has certainly started out to be an active year for employers. Of particular note, New York lawmakers and regulators, as well as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), have been busy promulgating impactful new employment-related regulations. The EEOC recently released a proposal to expand reporting obligations on EEO-1 forms and guidance on the agency’s […]
The European Union (E.U.) College of Commissioners has approved an agreement between the E.U. and the United States regarding the transatlantic data flow of E.U. citizens’ personal information. Referred to as the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield, the new agreement replaces the prior Safe Harbor framework that had been in place for fifteen years prior to being […]
On February 12, 2016, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the long-awaited Final Rule on Reporting and Returning Overpayments. The Final Rule: 1. Explains that an overpayment has been identified when the provider or supplier has, or should have, through the exercise of reasonable […]
On December 31, 2015, the FDA released a draft policy which would alter how and, more significantly, when the public is notified of a potential risk associated with a medical device that has already been approved for the market. Historically, upon receipt of a complaint or information regarding an issue with a medical device, the […]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued an Administrator’s Interpretation (“AI”) on January 20, 2016, setting forth the agency’s approach to evaluating whether putatively separate entities are joint employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the latter of which applies to employers […]
Since the end of 2013, an important question has loomed over the computer security industry: would the U.S. government impose strict controls on the sharing of technology and research related to cybersecurity vulnerabilities? In a letter dated March 1, 2016, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker finally answered that question: no, the government would not enact […]
Wiggin and Dana successfully represented the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania (ISOP) in a recent case before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirming insurers’ rights to equitable contribution from co-insurers and rejecting the so-called selective tender doctrine in Massachusetts. ISOP issued a workers’ compensation insurance policy to a Massachusetts company, Progression. One of […]
On March 23, 2016, U.S. law enforcement authorities announced that Su Bin, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China and a resident of Canada, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). The investigation and prosecution of […]
On April 4, 2016, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation which will, over the next few years, grow into the nation’s most comprehensive paid family leave program. New York employees will be eligible for 12 weeks of partially paid leave to care for a new child, a family member with a serious health condition, […]
We are pleased to share this latest issue of the Wiggin and Dana Insurance Practice Group Newsletter. We circulate this newsletter by e-mail periodically to bring to the attention of our colleagues in the insurance industry reports on recent developments, cases and legislative/regulatory actions of interest, and happenings at Wiggin and Dana. We welcome your […]
Employers looking to further protect their ever-valuable trade secrets are welcoming the arrival of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), a new federal law permitting trade secret owners to file misappropriation claims in federal court, but they must implement some important changes before enjoying the full scope of these statutory protections. The DTSA, which applies […]
On May 5, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a proposed rule that drastically limits the effectiveness of arbitration clauses in consumer financial product agreements. Specifically, the proposed rule bans providers of “consumer financial products” from including arbitration clauses in their contracts that prohibit consumers from filing or participating in class actions. The […]
Last week the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision in Browning-Ferris Industries, reversing decades of precedent to revise the standard it will use to determine when two companies are joint employers. The NLRB’s new standard significantly expands the reach of joint employer status in ways that will make businesses responsible for unfair labor practices […]
On October 27, 2015, the U.S. Senate passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (“CISA”) by a vote of 74-21. CISA had been stalled in the Senate since its submission in April 2015 by Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Richard Burr (R-NC), the Vice Chair and Chair, respectively, of the Senate Intelligence Committee. There […]
As employees continue to flock to social media in droves, employers have been craving additional guidance about how, if at all, they can regulate work-related posts. While it is no secret that employees in unionized and non-unionized workplaces can discuss, and even complain about, the terms and conditions of their employment under Section 7 of […]
On November 4, 2015, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central Division of the District of Utah filed a criminal complaint against a citizen of India, Kolar Rahman Anees Ur Rahman, alleging that he violated the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), 22 U.S.C. § 2778 and its implementing regulation, the International Traffic in Arms […]
On October 30, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) voted to approve final rules on crowdfunding, marking the adoption of the last major provision of the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”). The new rules for issuers and investors will become effective in the Spring of 2016. With its new […]
On November 2, 2015, Leslie R. Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), announced the hiring of a new corporate compliance counsel, Hui Chen, who will act as an expert advisor to prosecutors in the DOJ’s Fraud Section. It is expected that Chen will advise DOJ prosecutors […]
Sophisticated and complex commercial litigation and criminal investigations often involve many participants and their lawyers. In these cases, it is often beneficial for the lawyers to share confidential information pursuant to a joint defense or common interest privilege. Under such an arrangement, the lawyers for clients with common legal interests can disclose information without waiving […]
After repeatedly losing various challenges to the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC’s”) authority to investigate and sanction it for alleged data security violations, LabMD Inc. (“LabMD”) has finally come out on top, at least for the moment. On November 13, 2015, the FTC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) D. Michael Chappell held that LabMD did not […]
The Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council periodically makes adjustments to federal contracting jurisdictional thresholds to compensate for inflation. Last month, the threshold under Section 4212 (for protected veterans) and Section 503 (for individuals with disabilities) were modified: Section 4212 increased from $100,000 to $150,000 (not aggregated) Section 503 increased from $10,000 to $15,000 (aggregated) While […]
With data breaches on the rise, an oft-repeated piece of advice is to purchase cyber-insurance, a relatively new type of insurance policy specifically designed to insure against the potentially astronomical costs associated with breaches. However, a recent lawsuit filed in California underscores that while obtaining cyber-insurance may be prudent, it cannot replace conducting a thorough […]
We are pleased to share this latest issue of the Wiggin and Dana Insurance Practice Group Newsletter. We circulate this newsletter by e-mail periodically to bring to the attention of our colleagues in the insurance industry reports on recent developments, cases and legislative/regulatory actions of interest, and happenings at Wiggin and Dana. We welcome your […]
In United States v. Litvak, 14-2902, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the conviction of a securities trader after concluding that the district court erroneously excluded his proffered expert witnesses. Two aspects of the Court’s 84-page decision are of particular significance for defendants in fraud cases. First, the Court rejected an […]