Publications
Wiggin and Dana proudly announces the release of the Unfair Trade Practices (Vol. 12, Connecticut Practice Series) 2006 Pocket Part. The 300 page pocket part contains an extensive discussion of the “unfairness doctrine” that is considered “must reading” for practitioners in the field. The Pocket contains a new antitrust chapter, Chapter 9, not found in […]
APPOINTMENT OF HEALTH CARE AGENT I appoint _________________________(NAME) to be my health care agent. If my attending physician determines that I am unable to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of health care decisions and to reach and communicate an informed decision regarding treatment, my health care agent is authorized to: Convey to my […]
Many years ago, there was a television show called “You Are There.” The premise was that the show would take the viewer back to watch historic events unfolding on a real-time basis. The article in this issue on the break-up of AT&T by Gerry Connell, the chief government prosecutor (who is now the chair-elect of […]
In the previous issue of The Nonprofit Advantage, I wrote about proposals being floated by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee that will have profound effects on nonprofits if enacted into law. The proposals are sweeping, including new rules for nonprofit governance, donor-advised funds, deductibility of appreciated property, supporting organizations (such as “friends of” groups) periodic […]
Pharmaceutical companies are discovering new and more effective pharmacologic products for diagnosing, preventing and treating disease on an almost daily basis. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires manufacturers to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of these products through, among other things, the conduct of clinical trials that test the new product in human subjects.1 […]
The US Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) issued a notice on June 13, 2007, indicating that it intended to challenge the position taken by some foreign investors in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) that a liquidating sale and distribution by a REIT is not subject to taxation under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax […]
Most civil litigation today culminates in settlement, not in verdicts or rulings, but the adjudicatory process and the negotiation process are inseparable. Professor Marc Galanter has written that “the negotiation of disputes is not an alternative to litigation. …[t]here is a single process of disputing in the vicinity of official tribunals that we might call […]
Many states have adopted the federal appellate rules for use in their courts in order to minimize procedural differences between state and federal appeals. [FN1] However, Connecticut courts continue to adhere to their own rules and practices. Therefore, different rules and procedures govern appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit […]
Yale’s newest law journal (Yale Symposium on Law and Technology) is in its third year of publication. It is an on-line journal, and is an off-shoot of their Law & Tech Society, an organization that W&D proudly sponsors. See the third issue in which the lead piece is a write-up of a talk that former […]
It is with some trepidation that one ventures into a discussion of the collateral order doctrine, an arcane and complicated area of appellate law. As the 1st U.S.Circuit court of Appeals has noted, “no one can make a seamless web out of all of the decisions on collateral orders.” U.S. v. Billmyer, 57 F3d 31, […]
Within the span of one month, the New Haven Register (the “Register”) prevailed in two libel cases. The two decisions, Mackowski and Alfano v. New Haven Register, Superior Court, judicial district of New Haven, Docket No. CV 99-0430252 S, (September 27, 2002) (Arnold, J.), and Fred Dellacamera v. New Haven Register, Superior Court, Docket No. […]
The story is, unfortunately, nothing new. A woman and a man long to bring a child into the world, but they are unable to do so because the woman is infertile. So they turn to the scientific stork – the field of assisted reproductive technology (ART) –to deliver their baby.
On February 8, 2006, President Bush signed into law the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), which aims to cut nearly $11 billion from Medicare and Medicaid program spending over the next five years. Buried within this extensive law are several provisions that, when pieced together, indicate that the federal fraud, waste and abuse spotlight […]
When you receive this issue, Wally Tillman will have taken over as our new Section chair. I have been extremely fortunate to work with Ray Bolze, Dave Poe and now Wally in an effort to provide the Section’s membership with interesting and yet relevant articles that can affect infrastructure industries and the companies in these […]
In the previous issue of The Nonprofit Advantage , I discussed the effect of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation on nonprofits. To refresh your memory: Sarbanes was enacted in response to corporate abuses in the commercial sector. Except for provisions concerning whistle-blower protection and document retention, Sarbanes does not directly apply to nonprofits. However, it is clear […]
In a recent public talk, Mary Jo White, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, lamented that waiver of corporate privilege has become a litmus test for whether a company is cooperating with an investigation. Her lament is apt.
During my two and half years of editing Infrastructure, we have sought to cover all of the utility, communications and transportation industries in which our members spend their professional lives. This is the first issue in which water is featured. I had the unique opportunity to interview the present and former chairmen of the water […]
Recent headlines have reported a startling number of security breaches and information thefts. A major university notified 120,000 of its alumni after a computer containing fundraising information including addresses and Social Security numbers was hacked by an unknown intruder; a subsidiary of the Lexis Nexis group announced that the records of 32,000 individuals may have […]
As I thought about the content of this issue of Infrastructure, I was struck by the difference between how we sometimes think of infrastructure industries — monolithic and moving about as fast as glaciers — and the reality that the industries we see today are changing dramatically. The change encompasses companies (AT&T is about to […]
A brief discussion of proposed New York Rules of Professional Conduct vis-à-vis the USPTO’s proposed ethics rules in terms of impact on patent attorneys in New York.
Cases involving antitrust claims are being brought with increasing regularity in the franchise and distribution arena. In the first of many antitrust cases decided during the past several months, a federal district court in Pennsylvania held that the claims of two GNC franchisees, brought pursuant to Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and […]
“Would yee both eat your cake and have your cake?” John Heywood [1497-1580] “The fool that eats till he is sick must fast till he is well.” George Walter Thornburg [1828-1876] “My cake is dough.” William Shakespeare [1564-1616] I. INTRODUCTION Although reexamination can provide an excellent vehicle for tightening a patent’s claim scope as a […]
Is this alternative dispute resolution – or a new way to turn up the heat when a big battle starts to look bad? That’s what American companies doing business abroad should be asking themselves about a little-known arbitration mechanism available under NAFTA. Can arbitration be used to generate an extra layer of appellate review? To […]
New technology has transformed the way society manages information, but has also raised significant privacy con-cerns,particularly when it relates to confidential personal matters such as health information. You undoubtedly have heard about the new HIPAA privacy requirements, but you should be aware of the impact of HIPAA on employers, which may affect their employment policies […]
Although the federal Department of Labor (DOL) has a history of rigorously auditing 401(k) and pension plan compliance, health and welfare plans have not been as high on the agency’s agenda. In 2000, the DOL began auditing health and welfare plan audits, focusing on a sample of employers to measure compliance with, among other laws, […]
E-mail has become the preferred method of communication in most business settings and has developed a vocabulary and syntax all its own. E-mail is a remarkably easy and efficient mode of communication. However, because e-mail is less formal, thoughts are often conveyed absent the care, discernment, and social governors that regularly accompany face-to-face communication and […]
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals grappled with the difficulty of relying on the “major life activity” of working to support a finding that an employee’s alcoholism is a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and ruled that it was not.
The Supreme Court’s opinion in Circuit City Stores v. Adams, — U.S. –, 121 S. Ct. 1302, 149 L.Ed.2d 234 (2001) illustrates how judicial attitudes towards arbitration have evolved from rejection to encouragement since the passage of the Federal Arbitration Act (the “FAA”), 9 U.S.C. §§ 1, et seq.
Sometimes it’s really fun to be editor of Infrastructure. That’s how I felt in early spring doing the final reading of the text for this issue. The articles are, across-the-board, informative and thought provoking.
Tackling the issue for the first time, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an employer may be held liable for discrimination when unbiased decision-makers rely on information manipulated by another employee harboring a discriminatory motive.