Business Torts, Labor & Employment Law

Investment Management Legal + Regulatory Update -- May 2013

by Luke T. Bagley, Jay G. Baris, Thomas M. Devaney, Kelley A. Howes, Robert E. Putney, III, Isabelle Sajous | Morrison & Foerster LLP on 5/17/2013

In This Issue: Regulatory Updates - SEC Allows Limited Use of Social Media for Public Disclosure; Federal Reserve Board Publishes a Final Rule Specifying when Nonbank Firms are “Predominantly Engaged in...more

Second Circuit Further Curtails Duty of Prudence Claims in Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers v. Morgan Stanley

by Jennifer Clark, Angelo Savino | Cozen O'Connor on 5/8/2013

In a line of recent cases, the 2nd Circuit has limited ERISA plaintiffs’ claims for breach of the duty of prudence by holding that investments of benefit plan funds in employer securities pursuant to plans calling for such...more

Supreme Court of Georgia Rejects Independent Claim for "Inevitable Disclosure"

by Kenneth Vanko | Clingen Callow & McLean, LLC on 5/8/2013

The "inevitable disclosure" doctrine is one of the most discussed, controversial topics in unfair competition law. The commentary among academics and bloggers reminds me of the ongoing debate over the proper scope of the...more

Court Upholds Validity of ERISA Fiduciary Indemnification

by David Ackerman, John Kober | Morgan Lewis on 5/7/2013

Ruling rejects DOL challenge of an agreement by a 100% ESOP-owned company to advance defense costs and indemnify a trustee....more

C.D. Cal. Greenlights SOX Claim, Analyzing Whether Scienter Must Be Shown Where Violation Of Internal Controls Is Alleged

by Noa Baddish, Harris M. Mufson, Steven J. Pearlman | Proskauer - Whistleblowing & Retaliation on 5/7/2013

On April 24, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued its final ruling that a SOX whistleblower complaint survived a Rule 12(b)(6) challenge. Zulfer v. Playboy Enterprises, Inc., No....more

Who Owns an Employee’s LinkedIn Account?

by John Martin | Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 5/6/2013

LinkedIn is a social media site catering exclusively to professionals with 200 million registered users in 200 countries. For many businesses, marketing via social media is a critical component to success. Employees use...more

SEC Dings Investment Adviser for Custody Violations, Failure to Supervise

by David Smyth, Elizabeth Spainhour | Brooks Pierce on 5/3/2013

Readers of this space – and SEC observers generally – will recall a March 4 risk alert designed to warn investors about the ways U.S. investment advisers had recently been found to have violated the SEC’s asset custody rule....more

Settlements Redux: A Brief Follow-Up From My Bankruptcy Post

by Kenneth Vanko | Clingen Callow & McLean, LLC on 4/30/2013

I received a number of e-mails on my three-part series on settlements, which ran over the past few weeks. Of those e-mails, several dealt with a topic I raised in Part 3 - accounting for the possibility of a settling...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

"Executive Compensation and Benefits Alert: Skadden’s 2013 Proxy Watch: Emerging Say-on-Pay Trends and Litigation Developments"

by Michael R. Bergmann, Kristin M. Davis, Berit R. Freeman, Neil M. Leff, Barbara R. Mirza, Alessandra K. Murata, Timothy Nelson, Regina Olshan, David C. Olstein, Erica Schohn, more +Joseph M. Yaffe | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 4/26/2013

Early Lessons From the 2013 Proxy Season - As Skadden monitors the initial weeks of the 2013 proxy season, we are seeing the following preliminary trends: Vote Results - Of the first 279 companies of the...more

Decisions Highlight Split In Application Of Computer Fraud And Abuse Act

by Thomas Dye | Carlton Fields on 4/25/2013

Trade secret claims have historically derived from state common law causes of action and, subsequently, most states’ adoption of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which codifies that common law and generally proscribes the...more

Missouri Court of Appeals Joins Majority of Federal Courts in Holding the Prohibition Against Evidence of Subsequent Remedial...

by Williams Venker & Sanders on 4/25/2013

In a matter of first impression, the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District has held the exclusionary rule barring evidence of subsequent remedial measures does not apply when the remedial measure was implemented...more

Whistleblowers Protected Even If Employers Don't Violate Securities Laws, 3rd Circuit Says

by Marta Moakley | XpertHR - Partnered with LexisNexis on 4/23/2013

An employer need not actually violate the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) for its employees to receive SOX whistleblower protections, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Wiest v. Lynch, +2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 5345 (3d Cir....more

The Illinois Supreme Court 2012: The Year in Review

by Kirk Jenkins | Sedgwick LLP on 4/22/2013

During 2012, the Illinois Supreme Court filed seventy-one written opinions, thirty-nine in civil cases. Although the total opinion output was down somewhat from recent years, this represents the Court's highest number of...more

New Laws Increase Criminal Liability For Disclosure Of Trade Secrets: Are You Protected?

by Sarah Hopkins, Heidi Sachs | Perkins Coie on 4/17/2013

Two new criminal laws underscore the value of trade secrets as a critical asset to a corporation. These new laws, the Trade Secrets Clarification Act (TSCA) and the Foreign and Economic Espionage Penalty Enhancement Act...more

Settlements (Part 3 of 3): Dealing With a Defendant's Bankruptcy in Non-Compete Litigation

by Kenneth Vanko | Clingen Callow & McLean, LLC on 4/17/2013

This is largely a plaintiff-centric column, offering some practical points to consider when assessing the risk of bankruptcy in connection with non-compete (or other competition) litigation. Though many non-compete suits...more

Seventh Circuit Explains Non-Moving Party's Burden in Opposing "Somewhat Tricky" Summary Judgment Argument

by Williams Venker & Sanders on 4/16/2013

In a recent opinion, the Seventh Circuit noted parties served with summary judgment motions often misconceive what is required of them to effectively oppose the motion, and "such misunderstandings can have harsh consequences...more

Saskatchewan Trial Court Awards Record Punitive Damages for Insurer Bad Faith

by Michael Doerksen | Field Law on 4/15/2013

A Justice of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench has assessed punitive damages totalling $4,500,000 against two insurers in a recent trial decision, Branco v. American Home Assurance et. al., 2013 SKQB 98. In rendering a...more

De-Risking On Trial? U.S. Verizon Litigation Still Active

by Carol Buckmann | Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on 4/12/2013

In our March 13 webinar on de-risking defined benefit pension plans, I stated that the U.S. litigation launched by a group of Verizon retirees challenging the annuitization of their pensions was not dead, even though a...more

Presentation - Social Networking: An Ethical Issues Update.

by Gregory Thiess on 4/12/2013

The ethical issues surrounding the use of social media in the legal environment is constantly evolving, making it very important for attorneys to keep abreast of recent decisions, regulatory initiatives and legislative...more

The ERISA Litigation Newsletter - April 2013

by Stacey Cerrone, Amy Covert, Russell Hirschhorn, Robert Rachal, Myron Rumeld, Howard Shapiro | Proskauer Rose LLP on 4/12/2013

Editor's Overview - The importance of clear and unambiguous plan language cannot be overstated. The Second Circuit recently applied this well-established principle to conclude that a plan's administrative claims process must...more

Does The Alabama Trade Secrets Act Limit Remedies For Theft Of Information?

by Gillian Watson Egan | Burr & Forman on 4/10/2013

Alabama enacted the Alabama Trade Secrets Act (the “ATSA”) in 1987. However, since that time, there have been relatively few reported court decisions analyzing the impact of the ATSA on common law claims. A federal district...more

Monetary Damages Potentially Available For Inadequate Disclosure

by Brian S. Neulander | Proskauer - ERISA Practice Center on 4/10/2013

In Weaver Bros. Ins. Assoc., Inc. v. Braunstein, No. 11-5407, 2013 WL 1195529 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 25, 2013), a district court denied the plan administrator’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, ruling that monetary relief may be...more

Court Dismisses Another Say-On-Pay Disclosure Case

by Jill Radloff | Leonard, Street and Deinard - Dodd-Frank and... on 4/9/2013

The District Court for the Northeastern District of Illinois recently granted a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss an action styled Noble v. AAR Corp. The plaintiff alleged that the company failed to provide adequate...more

SOX Whistleblower Protection Expanded by a Federal Appeals Court

by Katherine H. Marques, Michael Starr | Holland & Knight LLP on 4/8/2013

A federal appeals court recently made it substantially easier for plaintiffs to assert claims that they were fired for "whistleblowing" activity protected by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("SOX"). In Wiest v. Lynch, 2013 WL 1111784...more

Ninth Circuit Decides Selection Of Retail Mutual Funds Was A Breach Of Fiduciary Duty

by Jeffrey P. Cairns | Leonard, Street and Deinard - Employee... on 4/2/2013

On March 21, 2013 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Tibble v. Edison International, in which the Court ruled that the plan fiduciaries of the Edison 401(k) Savings Plan (the “Plan”) had breached their...more

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