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Attorney	Latest Publications
Matthew H. Adler	U.S. Supreme Court Orders State Court To Adhere To Federal Arbitration Act And Compel Arbitration The United States Supreme Court recently entered the latest of a series of opinions that prevent state courts from interfering with arbitration on state policy grounds. On November 26, 2012, the Court issued its per curiam…more Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Federal Arbitration Act, Non-Compete Agreements, Preemption	See All Updates »
Gary Apfel	Will New U.S. Court Of Appeals Decision On ‘Recess Appointments’ Stay Dodd-Frank Powers Granted To CFPB And Vacate Certain Actions? Holding that recess appointments authorized by the Recess Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution are limited to “intersession recesses” – “the period between sessions of the Senate when the Senate is by definition not in…more Barack Obama, Canning v NLRB, CFPB, De Facto Officer Doctrine, Dodd-Frank	See All Updates »
Joan C. Arnold	As Foreign Banks May Disclose U.S. Depositors, Foreign Account Holders Should Consider IRS OVDI Program In December, Bank Leumi le-Israel BM issued a letter notifying its U.S. account holders about the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (the OVDI). The IRS OVDI is a type of amnesty program under which U.S. citizens and…more Bank Leumi, Foreign Banks, Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, Tax Evasion, UBS	See All Updates »
Hedya Aryani	Violence Against Women Act Of 2013 Creates New Clery Act Compliance Obligations On March 7, 2013, President Obama signed into law the reauthorized Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2013. The bill includes several important amendments to the Clery Act, which will require institutions of higher education…more Clery Act, Colleges, Compliance, Crime Statistics, Reporting Requirements	See All Updates »
Albert Llosas Barrueco	EEOC Makes Protecting Rights Of LGBT Workers A Top Priority As the debate over gay marriage continues to intensify throughout the country, so does the issue of workplace rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. LGBT workers currently face substantial legal…more EEOC, ENDA, LGBT, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Orientation	See All Updates »
Barak Bassman	Class Actions: A Tougher Row To Hoe On March 27, the United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 opinion, further heightened plaintiffs’ burden in seeking class certification. The Court held that, under Rule 23, plaintiffs must “‘tie each theory of antitrust impact’ to…more Cable Television Providers, Class Action, Class Certification, Comcast, Comcast v. Behrend	See All Updates »
Michael Baughman	Violence Against Women Act Of 2013 Creates New Clery Act Compliance Obligations On March 7, 2013, President Obama signed into law the reauthorized Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2013. The bill includes several important amendments to the Clery Act, which will require institutions of higher education…more Clery Act, Colleges, Compliance, Crime Statistics, Reporting Requirements	See All Updates »
Brian A. Berkley	Promotion Of Arbitration In The 21st Century While pundits complain about the United States Supreme Court’s diminishing docket, one area of law seems to have increased in popularity with the justices: arbitration law, and in particular the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)…more Arbitration, FAA, SCOTUS	See All Updates »
Daniel Boland	Just How Much Integration Is Enough: FTC Advisory Opinion Finally Provides Guidance For Competitors Seeking To Collaborate Or Jointly Negotiate The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued its first advisory opinion addressing clinical integration programs since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Without a doubt the advisory opinion is useful for the…more Affordable Care Act, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Clinical Integration, Competition	See All Updates »
Steven Bortnick	Integrating Foreign Currency Hedges With Respect To Stock Purchase And Sale Agreements Investment funds that invest globally must deal with volatility in the currency in which they agree to invest. Investment funds entering into obligations to purchase stock in a currency other than the primary currency of the…more Currency Fluctuation, Executory Contracts, Hedges, Income Taxes, Integration Clauses	See All Updates »
Stefanie L. Brennan	Worth A Second Glance: Boilerplate Provisions In Commercial Leases Landlords and tenants pay much time and attention to the basic economic terms of a lease as well as other highly contested provisions, such as assignment and subletting and defaults and remedies. But parties often skim over…more Boilerplate Language, Brokers, Commercial Leases, Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment, Estoppel Certificates	See All Updates »
Christine Waldmann Carmody	Summary Of HUD’s LEAN 232 Program E-Mail Blast: Office Of Residential Care Facilities (ORCF), April 29, 2013 In an effort to summarize the highlights of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) LEAN E-mail Blasts that we receive, and rarely have time to review in a timely fashion, we at Pepper are providing this quick…more Borrowers, Debt, Documentation, FEMA, HUD	See All Updates »
Frank Cerza	Navigating Commercial Lease Assignment Provisions: Tenants Beware Landlords use lease assignment provisions to maintain control over the quality, composition, and financial capability of their tenants. However, assignment provisions can have a chilling effect on a corporate tenant’s business…more Assignments, Change in Control, Commercial Leases, Contract Drafting, Landlords	See All Updates »
Randall I. Cherkas	IRS Provides Administrative Guidance On Excludable Transportation Benefit Limits, Retroactively Increased As Of January 1, 2012 On January 16, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2013-8 providing a special administrative procedure for employers with respect to 2012 transit benefits. Under Section 132(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of…more American Taxpayer Relief Act, FICA Taxes, Form 941, IRS, Refunds	See All Updates »
Annika Chin	American Taxpayer Relief Act Of 2012 Extends Temporarily Full Exclusion From Gross Income Of Gain From Qualified Small Business Stock To Encourage Investment On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed into law the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (H.R. 8) (the Act) to avert certain tax increases set to take effect in 2013. The Act included, among many other provisions, an…more Alternative Minimum Tax, American Taxpayer Relief Act, Capital Gains, Fiscal Cliff, Gain Exclusion	See All Updates »
Catherine Christopher	Best Practices In Structuring Co-Investments Originally Published in The Legal Special 2013 - A Private Equity International Supplement on April 1, 2013. Interest in co-investment rights has spiked recently as institutional and other fund investors have sought to…more Blocker Corporations, Co-Investment Rights, Conflicts of Interest, Investors, Limited Partnership Agreements	See All Updates »
Christopher Chuff	2013 Proposed Amendments To Delaware General Corporation Law On March 20, 2013, legislation proposing to amend the Delaware General Corporation Law, 8 Del. C. §§ 1-101, et. seq. (DGCL) was submitted to the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association. If the proposed…more Board of Directors, Corporate Governance, Proposed Amendments, Public Benefit Corporations, Safe Harbors	See All Updates »
Julia Corelli	Best Practices In Structuring Co-Investments Originally Published in The Legal Special 2013 - A Private Equity International Supplement on April 1, 2013. Interest in co-investment rights has spiked recently as institutional and other fund investors have sought to…more Blocker Corporations, Co-Investment Rights, Conflicts of Interest, Investors, Limited Partnership Agreements	See All Updates »
Michael J. Crumbock	409A Update: Employment Agreements Requiring Executed Releases May Need to Be Amended by December 31 It is standard practice that employment agreements condition payment of severance benefits or other separation compensation on the employee executing a general release of claims against the employer. However, unless structured…more Deferred Compensation, Employee Benefits, Employment Contract, IRS, Section 409A	See All Updates »
Matthew V. DelDuca	New Jersey Enacts Posting and Notice Requirements on Pay Equality Recently, the New Jersey legislature passed a bill, A2647, implementing new notice requirements on employers of 50 or more employees. This new law requires employers to conspicuously post a notice advising workers of their…more Gender-Based Pay Discrimination, Notice Requirements	See All Updates »
Tracey Diamond	Third Circuit Holds That Shareholder-Director Cannot Sue For Discrimination The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a shareholder-director of a closely held family corporation was not an “employee” under Title VII, and therefore could not sue for discrimination. See Mariotti v. Mariotti…more Board of Directors, Closely Held Businesses, Discrimination, Shareholders	See All Updates »
Jay A. Dubow	The SEC Is Scrutinizing Asset Valuations—Are You Ready? The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently has set its sights on registered entities and their officers and directors for overvaluing the entities’ assets…more Asset Valuations, Directors, Enforcement, Financial Accounting Standards Board, Hedge Funds	See All Updates »
Richard Eckman	The OCC’s New Stance: FDIC Insurance Required For ‘Trust-Only’ National Banks Traditionally, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) did not require a national bank seeking to engage in non-depository, trust-only activities (a “trust-only bank”) to obtain Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation…more Dodd-Frank, FDIC, OCC, Trust-Only Banks	See All Updates »
Benjamin Eichel	Promotion Of Arbitration In The 21st Century While pundits complain about the United States Supreme Court’s diminishing docket, one area of law seems to have increased in popularity with the justices: arbitration law, and in particular the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)…more Arbitration, FAA, SCOTUS	See All Updates »
Thomas Engellenner	The Curious Case Of Human Gene Patents The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last month in the matter of Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, a curious case that does not bode well for America’s biotechnology industry and could overturn 30…more ACLU, DNA, Free Trade Agreement, Human Genes, Myriad	See All Updates »
Henry Fader	Revocation Of EHR Certification Rocks Industry The news from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) about the revocation of the electronic health record (EHR) certifications of two EHR products that had previously been certified will have tremendous…more Certifications, Decertify, EHR	See All Updates »
John P. Falco	U.S. District Court Rebuffs ICI Challenge To CFTC Rule 4.5 Amendments On December 12, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia released its decision in Investment Company Institute v. U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rebuffing the Investment Company Institute (ICI)’s…more CEA, CFTC, CPO, CTA, Investment Adviser	See All Updates »
Ralph Finizio	Public Private Partnerships For Transportation Act Provides Partnership Opportunities To Private Firms In Pennsylvania Pennsylvania recently joined the ranks of more than 30 other states when Gov. Tom Corbett signed legislation permitting public-private partnerships (P3s) for transportation projects. 74 Pa. C.S. §§ 9101-9124. The Public and…more P3s, Public-Private Partnerships	See All Updates »
John M. Ford	U.S. District Court Rebuffs ICI Challenge To CFTC Rule 4.5 Amendments On December 12, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia released its decision in Investment Company Institute v. U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rebuffing the Investment Company Institute (ICI)’s…more CEA, CFTC, CPO, CTA, Investment Adviser	See All Updates »
Todd Fracassi	Fourth Circuit Brownfields Decision Stops Short Of Worst-Case Outcome In a closely watched Superfund case decided April 4, 2013, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals interpreted the scope of landowner liability protections Congress put in place in 2002 to "promote the cleanup and reuse of…more Bona Fide Purchaser, Brownfield Properties, CERCLA, Liability, Superfund	See All Updates »
Jeremy D. Frey	The Alien Tort Statute: Kiobel Dials It Back In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., No. 10-1491 (U.S. Apr. 17, 2013), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the presumption against extraterritoriality applies to claims under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). Consequently, there is…more Alien Tort Statute, Extraterritoriality Rules, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., Royal Dutch Petroleum, SCOTUS	See All Updates »
Robert Friedel	Social Media Use By Public Companies – The SEC Weighs In The increasing presence of social media has created new avenues for companies to market to and connect with consumers, customers and investors. Many heads of industry maintain very public profiles, appearing regularly on…more Facebook, Investors, Netflix, Public Disclosure, Reed Hastings	See All Updates »
Jeffrey M. Goldman	Newly Enacted State Laws Will Affect Companies Operating In California With the New Year comes a slew of California employment regulations that every company conducting business in the Golden State must follow. Unless otherwise stated, the following Assembly bills (ABs) go into effect…more Breastfeeding, Discrimination, FEHA, Over-Time, Passwords	See All Updates »
M. Duncan Grant	Third Circuit: Securities Fraud Liability May Be Imputed To Employer Whose Employee Ran Ponzi Scheme On The Side On February 22, 2013, in the precedential opinion in Belmont v. MB Inv. Partners, Inc., a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Judges Anthony J. Scirica, D. Michael Fisher and Kent A. Jordan)…more Negligent Supervision, Ponzi Scheme, Securities Fraud, Vicarious Liability	See All Updates »
Matthew Greenberg	2013 Proposed Amendments To Delaware General Corporation Law On March 20, 2013, legislation proposing to amend the Delaware General Corporation Law, 8 Del. C. §§ 1-101, et. seq. (DGCL) was submitted to the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association. If the proposed…more Board of Directors, Corporate Governance, Proposed Amendments, Public Benefit Corporations, Safe Harbors	See All Updates »
Frank H. Griffin	U.S. Supreme Court Orders State Court To Adhere To Federal Arbitration Act And Compel Arbitration The United States Supreme Court recently entered the latest of a series of opinions that prevent state courts from interfering with arbitration on state policy grounds. On November 26, 2012, the Court issued its per curiam…more Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Federal Arbitration Act, Non-Compete Agreements, Preemption	See All Updates »
Joyce Hackenbrach	Smart Contracting For Green Design And Construction Originally published in Green Building News, February 20, 2013. Successful green building requires more planning and, preferably, a greater degree of integration in overall project delivery, than building without green…more AIA Construction Forms, Construction Contracts, Design-Bid-Build, ENERGY STAR Program, Green Buildings	See All Updates »
Melissa Hatch	Supreme Court Limits State Action Immunity In FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc. On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court reined in the state action immunity doctrine, which exempts municipalities from scrutiny under the federal antitrust laws when they act pursuant to a “clearly articulated state policy”…more FTC, FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System, Governmental Immunity, Hospital Authorities Law, Hospital Mergers	See All Updates »
Robert Hertzberg	Federal Appeals Court Holds That Supplemental Unemployment Compensation Benefits Are Not ‘Wages’ Subject To FICA Taxation, Creating Circuit Split In an important recent decision, United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., et al., Case No. 01-1563, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 18820 (6th Cir. Sept. 7, 2012), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that supplemental…more FICA Taxes, IRS, Quality Stores, Tax Liability, Unemployment Benefits	See All Updates »
Kevin M. Johnson	As Foreign Banks May Disclose U.S. Depositors, Foreign Account Holders Should Consider IRS OVDI Program In December, Bank Leumi le-Israel BM issued a letter notifying its U.S. account holders about the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (the OVDI). The IRS OVDI is a type of amnesty program under which U.S. citizens and…more Bank Leumi, Foreign Banks, Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, Tax Evasion, UBS	See All Updates »
Michael Kadlec	IRS Provides Administrative Guidance On Excludable Transportation Benefit Limits, Retroactively Increased As Of January 1, 2012 On January 16, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2013-8 providing a special administrative procedure for employers with respect to 2012 transit benefits. Under Section 132(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of…more American Taxpayer Relief Act, FICA Taxes, Form 941, IRS, Refunds	See All Updates »
Odia Kagan	Whose Social Media Account Is It, Anyway? A detailed social media policy specifically addressing the ownership of social media accounts is key to a corporation’s ability to maintain ownership of an employee’s account after the employee leaves the corporation…more Eagle v Edcomm, Hiring & Firing, Misappropriation, Passwords, Social Media	See All Updates »
David Kaplan	NYSE And NASDAQ Compensation Committee And Compensation Advisers Listing Standards Section 952 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Act) provides standards and disclosure requirements related to the independence of compensation committees and their retained advisors. To…more Compensation Committee, Dodd-Frank, Listing Standards, Nasdaq, NYSE	See All Updates »
Sharon Klein	U.S. Responding To Cyber-Espionage: White House Acknowledges Increasing Threat No longer cut from the cloth of 007’s expensive suits, fast cars or well-mixed drinks, present-day espionage is carried out, to a great extent, through computer screens, proxy servers and spoofed e-mail addresses. Dubbed…more Barack Obama, China, Critical Infrastructure Sectors, Cyber Espionage, Cybersecurity	See All Updates »
Brian Korn	Is Crowdfunding Dead On Arrival? A Legal Perspective... "[Crowdfunding] lays the riskiest investments at the doorstep of those investors that can least afford the risk. And it won’t create jobs except for plaintiff’s lawyers…”…more Crowdfunding, JOBS Act, Kickstarter, Legal Perspectives, SEC	See All Updates »
Deborah Kovsky-Apap	Village At Camp Bowie: The Fifth Circuit Weighs In On Artificial Impairment A key tenet of reorganization under Chapter 11 is that if the debtor’s plan impairs creditors, at least some of those creditors must agree to the plan. More specifically, “if a class of claims is impaired under the plan, at…more Artificial Impairment, Chapter 11, Creditors, Debtors, Reorganizations	See All Updates »
Andrew Kupchik	Social Media Use By Public Companies – The SEC Weighs In The increasing presence of social media has created new avenues for companies to market to and connect with consumers, customers and investors. Many heads of industry maintain very public profiles, appearing regularly on…more Facebook, Investors, Netflix, Public Disclosure, Reed Hastings	See All Updates »
Kristin A. LaRosa	Textual Harassment Could CRE8 Liability For Employers Originally published in Westlaw Journal Employment (Volume 27, Issue 15), February 20, 2013. Consider the following three scenarios: Scenario one: Terrence worked as a flight attendant for Fly Right Airlines. While…more Anti-Harassment Policies, Harassment, Mobile Devices, Off-Duty Employees, Off-The-Clock	See All Updates »
Paul Legaard	Paying Your Dues ... Your Maintenance Fees Will Become Significantly More Expensive The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently published increases in maintenance fees that are effective on March 19, 2013. Careful attention to your maintenance fee schedule may provide a savings for those…more Maintenance Fees, Patents, USPTO	See All Updates »
Timothy Leska	American Taxpayer Relief Act Of 2012 Extends Temporarily Full Exclusion From Gross Income Of Gain From Qualified Small Business Stock To Encourage Investment On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed into law the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (H.R. 8) (the Act) to avert certain tax increases set to take effect in 2013. The Act included, among many other provisions, an…more Alternative Minimum Tax, American Taxpayer Relief Act, Capital Gains, Fiscal Cliff, Gain Exclusion	See All Updates »
Susan Lessack	OFCCP Echoes EEOC’s Recommendations On The Use Of Criminal Records In Making Hiring Decisions On January 29, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued Directive No. 306: "Complying with Non-Discrimination Provisions: Criminal Records Restrictions and Discrimination…more Criminal Background Checks, Criminal Records, EEOC, Hiring & Firing, OFCCP	See All Updates »
Thomas Letizia	Real Estate Alert - New Jersey Enacts New Rebuilding Rules In Response To Superstorm Sandy The impact of Superstorm Sandy on New Jersey was enormous: nearly 346,000 housing units either destroyed or damaged and 190,000 businesses affected. Sandy demonstrated just how vulnerable to damage much of the low-lying areas in…more ABFE Maps, Building Foundations, EPA, FEMA, Flood Act	See All Updates »
Jan Levine	Supreme Court Limits State Action Immunity In FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc. On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court reined in the state action immunity doctrine, which exempts municipalities from scrutiny under the federal antitrust laws when they act pursuant to a “clearly articulated state policy”…more FTC, FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System, Governmental Immunity, Hospital Authorities Law, Hospital Mergers	See All Updates »
William Liess	Anti-Corruption Law And The Oil And Gas Industry: Evolutions In Both Demand Vigilance Businesses in the oil and gas industry are cautioned to pay careful attention to evolutions in anti-corruption law in the jurisdictions where they operate. The U.S. government has successfully enforced the Foreign Corrupt…more Anti-Corruption, Canada, CFPOA, Corruption, Dodd-Frank	See All Updates »
Robert C. Ludolph	Be Careful What You Ask For: Michigan Limits Employer Access To Personal Social Media Michigan’s Internet Privacy Protection Act (IPPA) prohibits employers from gaining access to applicant and employee personal Internet accounts. When the IPPA became effective on December 28, 2012, Michigan joined Maryland, whose…more Data Collection, Electronic Devices, Internet Privacy Protection Acts, Passwords, Social Media	See All Updates »
Jane Luxton	Fourth Circuit Brownfields Decision Stops Short Of Worst-Case Outcome In a closely watched Superfund case decided April 4, 2013, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals interpreted the scope of landowner liability protections Congress put in place in 2002 to "promote the cleanup and reuse of…more Bona Fide Purchaser, Brownfield Properties, CERCLA, Liability, Superfund	See All Updates »
Thomas Madigan	Supreme Court Clarifies Jurisdiction Over Claims Arising Under Procurement Code The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently confirmed the absolute right of Commonwealth agencies to withdraw solicitations for contracts, as well as the exclusive jurisdiction of the Board of Claims to hear disputes with the…more Bids, Contract Solicitation, Jurisdiction, Sovereign Immunity	See All Updates »
Matthew J. Maguire	What’s The Big Idea? Protecting Employer-Owned Intellectual Property Originally published in the December 2012 issue of The HR Specialist. With the year-end holidays fast approaching, many businesses are in the midst of assessing their 2012 performance and planning for 2013. If those plans…more Bratz, Call of Duty, Copyright, Employer-Owned Intellectual Property, Employment Contract	See All Updates »
Andrew R. Mavraganis	The OCC’s New Stance: FDIC Insurance Required For ‘Trust-Only’ National Banks Traditionally, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) did not require a national bank seeking to engage in non-depository, trust-only activities (a “trust-only bank”) to obtain Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation…more Dodd-Frank, FDIC, OCC, Trust-Only Banks	See All Updates »
Frank A. Mayer, III	Pennsylvania Changes its Banking Law: Why Does it Matter? On October 25, 2012, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law a series of bills that legislators hope will modernize Pennsylvania’s banking laws. The amendments take effect on December 26, 2012…more	See All Updates »
Ellen McElroy	New Directive Correctly Resolves Use Of Transaction Cost Safe Harbor For Milestone Payments – Questions Nonetheless Linger A new directive specifies that Large Business & International (LB&I) examiners should not challenge a taxpayer’s treatment of eligible milestone payments when success-based fees are incurred, provided a safe harbor election…more IRS, Milestone Payments, Safe Harbors, Transaction Costs	See All Updates »
Deirdre McInerney	Just How Much Integration Is Enough: FTC Advisory Opinion Finally Provides Guidance For Competitors Seeking To Collaborate Or Jointly Negotiate The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued its first advisory opinion addressing clinical integration programs since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Without a doubt the advisory opinion is useful for the…more Affordable Care Act, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Clinical Integration, Competition	See All Updates »
Omar McNeill	Anti-Corruption Law And The Oil And Gas Industry: Evolutions In Both Demand Vigilance Businesses in the oil and gas industry are cautioned to pay careful attention to evolutions in anti-corruption law in the jurisdictions where they operate. The U.S. government has successfully enforced the Foreign Corrupt…more Anti-Corruption, Canada, CFPOA, Corruption, Dodd-Frank	See All Updates »
Timothy R. McTaggart	Virtual Currency: Recent Federal Regulatory Considerations Bitcoin is a virtual currency – it has no physical form in paper or metal and is not connected with any central bank or governmental authority. It is freely tradable via the internet or other electronic means. Transactions in…more Bitcoins, FinCEN, Money Services Business, Virtual Currency	See All Updates »
Cristina Meng	Navigating Commercial Lease Assignment Provisions: Tenants Beware Landlords use lease assignment provisions to maintain control over the quality, composition, and financial capability of their tenants. However, assignment provisions can have a chilling effect on a corporate tenant’s business…more Assignments, Change in Control, Commercial Leases, Contract Drafting, Landlords	See All Updates »
Reza Mollaaghababa	Top Ten Reasons To File Your Patent Applications Before March 16, 2013 The recently enacted America Invents Act (AIA) introduces major changes to the U.S. patent laws, with some significant provisions taking effect on March 16, 2013. These provisions provide several compelling reasons to file…more America Invents Act, Filing Deadlines, First-to-File, First-to-Invent, Patent Applications	See All Updates »
Rebekah Monson	The Omnibus Final HIPAA Rule Is Here On January 17, 2013, the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the omnibus final rulemaking (Omnibus Rule). According to HHS, this Omnibus Rule is needed to strengthen privacy…more Business Associates, Data Protection, Electronic Medical Records, HHS, HIPAA	See All Updates »
Christopher Moran	Tips For Telecommuting After Telebright In a case appealed from the tax court, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, recently affirmed that an out-of-state employer was subject to the New Jersey corporation business tax because it allowed one of its…more Business Taxes, Corporate Taxes, Telebright v Division of Taxation, Telecommuting	See All Updates »
Daniel Murray	CFPB Issues Final Mortgage Servicing Rules On January 17, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued two final servicing rules that amend and add new provisions to the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Rules), as…more Adjustable-Rate Mortgage, CFPB, Delinquent Borrowers, Dodd-Frank, Loss Mitigation	See All Updates »
Anne Davies Newman	Beyond Privacy Policies: Practical Privacy For Web Sites And Mobile Apps In this environment of growing attention to the risks of data security breaches, and in the midst of an explosion of mobile applications that make data storage an increasingly far-flung proposition, many organizations assume…more Data Breach, Data Protection, FTC, Mobile Privacy, Privacy Policy	See All Updates »
Gregory Nowak	Form PF Filing Deadlines Loom For Midsized Hedge And PE Fund Advisers – Some Key Mechanical And Timing Issues By now, most investment advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have either (a) filed a Form PF, (b) are preparing to file a Form PF, (c) have determined that, since they do not advise “private…more Form PF, Investment Adviser, Private Equity Funds	See All Updates »
Gregory Paw	Anti-Corruption Law And The Oil And Gas Industry: Evolutions In Both Demand Vigilance Businesses in the oil and gas industry are cautioned to pay careful attention to evolutions in anti-corruption law in the jurisdictions where they operate. The U.S. government has successfully enforced the Foreign Corrupt…more Anti-Corruption, Canada, CFPOA, Corruption, Dodd-Frank	See All Updates »
Ryan E. Peters	Promotion Of Arbitration In The 21st Century While pundits complain about the United States Supreme Court’s diminishing docket, one area of law seems to have increased in popularity with the justices: arbitration law, and in particular the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)…more Arbitration, FAA, SCOTUS	See All Updates »
Lisa B. Petkun	Federal Appeals Court Holds That Supplemental Unemployment Compensation Benefits Are Not ‘Wages’ Subject To FICA Taxation, Creating Circuit Split In an important recent decision, United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., et al., Case No. 01-1563, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 18820 (6th Cir. Sept. 7, 2012), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that supplemental…more FICA Taxes, IRS, Quality Stores, Tax Liability, Unemployment Benefits	See All Updates »
Gay Parks Rainville	Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Plaintiffs In Amgen Securities Class Action Continuing its recent trend of handing down plaintiff-friendly decisions in private securities class actions brought under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and SEC Rule 10b-5 (Rule 10b-5…more Amgen Inc. v Connecticut Retirement Plans, Class Action, Class Certification, Fraud, Fraud-on-the-Market	See All Updates »
Frank Razzano	The Alien Tort Statute: Kiobel Dials It Back In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., No. 10-1491 (U.S. Apr. 17, 2013), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the presumption against extraterritoriality applies to claims under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). Consequently, there is…more Alien Tort Statute, Extraterritoriality Rules, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., Royal Dutch Petroleum, SCOTUS	See All Updates »
Michael Reed	Federal Appeals Court Holds That Supplemental Unemployment Compensation Benefits Are Not ‘Wages’ Subject To FICA Taxation, Creating Circuit Split In an important recent decision, United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., et al., Case No. 01-1563, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 18820 (6th Cir. Sept. 7, 2012), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that supplemental…more FICA Taxes, IRS, Quality Stores, Tax Liability, Unemployment Benefits	See All Updates »
Richard J. Reibstein	A Look At The Toughest Unemployment Discrimination Law Originally Published in Employment Law360 on March 20, 2013. Employers in New York City are just beginning to grip the scope of a new law that gives job applicants protection from unemployment discrimination.1 Set to take…more Discrimination, Hiring & Firing, Job Applicants, Unemployment Discrimination	See All Updates »
Todd Reinstein	IRS Taking Tough Stand On Benefits And Burdens Of Ownership In Recent Section 199 ILM And Tax Court Cases On April 1, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released ILM 201313020 (ILM) in response to an IRS Appeals Division request. It concludes that planning and development activities undertaken by a publisher of books and other…more Domestic Production Gross Receipts, IRS, QPAI, Section 199	See All Updates »
Jason Reiser	FDA Proposes New Rules Regarding Growing, Harvesting, Packing And Holding Domestic And Foreign Produce On January 5, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as part of a continuing overhaul of the United States’ food safety laws under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), published proposed rules regarding the…more FDA, Food Manufacturers, Food Recalls, Food Safety, FSMA	See All Updates »
James Rosener	Private Equity Fund Considerations In Light Of Delaware’s LLC Debate Originally published in Private Equity and Contract Law360 on February 20, 2013. Partners of private equity funds and other investment partnerships should take notice of recent Delaware court decisions that have created…more Fiduciary Duty, Limited Partnerships, LLC, LLC Agreements, Private Equity Funds	See All Updates »
Jamie Rotteveel	Employers Must Use New I-9 Forms By May 7, 2013 On March 8, 2013, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a revised I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9 form). Employers were given until May 7, 2013 to begin using the new I-9 form…more Eligibility, Employer Liability Issues, Forms, I-9, Penalties	See All Updates »
Andrew J. Rudolph	IRS Provides Administrative Guidance On Excludable Transportation Benefit Limits, Retroactively Increased As Of January 1, 2012 On January 16, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2013-8 providing a special administrative procedure for employers with respect to 2012 transit benefits. Under Section 132(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of…more American Taxpayer Relief Act, FICA Taxes, Form 941, IRS, Refunds	See All Updates »
John Henry Schanne, II	In Confirming Indianapolis Downs Chapter 11 Plan, Delaware Bankruptcy Court Provides Guidance On Permissibility Of Binding Plan Support Agreements On January 31, 2013, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the court) upheld a post-petition “lock-up” agreement in approving confirmation of the proposed plan in In re Indianapolis Downs, LLC, 2013…more Chapter 11, Creditors, Debtors, Lock-Up Agreement, Reorganizations	See All Updates »
Blair L. Schiff	Summary Of HUD’s LEAN 232 Program E-Mail Blast: Office Of Residential Care Facilities (ORCF), April 29, 2013 In an effort to summarize the highlights of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) LEAN E-mail Blasts that we receive, and rarely have time to review in a timely fashion, we at Pepper are providing this quick…more Borrowers, Debt, Documentation, FEMA, HUD	See All Updates »
Daniel Scolnick	Paying Your Dues ... Your Maintenance Fees Will Become Significantly More Expensive The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently published increases in maintenance fees that are effective on March 19, 2013. Careful attention to your maintenance fee schedule may provide a savings for those…more Maintenance Fees, Patents, USPTO	See All Updates »
Barbara Sicalides	Class Actions: A Tougher Row To Hoe On March 27, the United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 opinion, further heightened plaintiffs’ burden in seeking class certification. The Court held that, under Rule 23, plaintiffs must “‘tie each theory of antitrust impact’ to…more Cable Television Providers, Class Action, Class Certification, Comcast, Comcast v. Behrend	See All Updates »
Matthew R. Silver	Virtual Currency: Recent Federal Regulatory Considerations Bitcoin is a virtual currency – it has no physical form in paper or metal and is not connected with any central bank or governmental authority. It is freely tradable via the internet or other electronic means. Transactions in…more Bitcoins, FinCEN, Money Services Business, Virtual Currency	See All Updates »
John Snodgrass	The Alien Tort Statute: Kiobel Dials It Back In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., No. 10-1491 (U.S. Apr. 17, 2013), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the presumption against extraterritoriality applies to claims under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). Consequently, there is…more Alien Tort Statute, Extraterritoriality Rules, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., Royal Dutch Petroleum, SCOTUS	See All Updates »
Frank P. Spada, Jr.	NLRB Focuses On Employers’ Internal Investigations Originally published in the November 2012 Issue of The HR Specialist. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency charged with enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), has increased its…more Banner Health System, Internal Investigations, NLRA, NLRB, Protected Concerted Activity	See All Updates »
Ryan Stewart	Supreme Court Clarifies Jurisdiction Over Claims Arising Under Procurement Code The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently confirmed the absolute right of Commonwealth agencies to withdraw solicitations for contracts, as well as the exclusive jurisdiction of the Board of Claims to hear disputes with the…more Bids, Contract Solicitation, Jurisdiction, Sovereign Immunity	See All Updates »
Angelo Stio III	Violence Against Women Act Of 2013 Creates New Clery Act Compliance Obligations On March 7, 2013, President Obama signed into law the reauthorized Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2013. The bill includes several important amendments to the Clery Act, which will require institutions of higher education…more Clery Act, Colleges, Compliance, Crime Statistics, Reporting Requirements	See All Updates »
M. Kelly Tillery	Patently Lincoln Some may know that Abraham Lincoln is the only president to apply for and be granted a U.S. Patent (No. 6,469 – “A Device for Buoying Vessels Over Shoals”), but few are aware that he was also an active patent litigator and a…more Abraham Lincoln, Infringement, Patent Applications, Patents, USPTO	See All Updates »
Ryan Tooley	CFPB Issues Final Mortgage Servicing Rules On January 17, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued two final servicing rules that amend and add new provisions to the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Rules), as…more Adjustable-Rate Mortgage, CFPB, Delinquent Borrowers, Dodd-Frank, Loss Mitigation	See All Updates »
Jeffrey Vagle	$45 Million Cyber-Attack Is Object Lesson From Verizon Study Showing No Business Is Safe, But Financial Institutions Bear Big Data Breach Risk Newspapers around the world recently reported that a sophisticated and well-coordinated cyber-attack resulted in the theft of $45 million from thousands of ATMs worldwide…more ATMs, Cyber Attacks, Cybersecurity, Cybertheft, Data Breach	See All Updates »
Bradley Voss	Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Chancery And Gives Collateral Estoppel Effect To California Federal Court’s Dismissal Of Derivative Claims In its widely followed Allergan decision, the Delaware Court of Chancery declined to apply collateral estoppel to dismiss a Delaware derivative complaint even though a California federal court dismissed (with prejudice)…more Derivative Complaint, Derivative Suit, Full Faith and Credit, Shareholders	See All Updates »
William J. Walsh	EPA Draft Vapor Intrusion Guidance Is Now Subject To Public Comment The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released and is seeking comments on draft general guidance on methods of addressing indoor vapor intrusion (VI) from contaminated soil and groundwater plumes (Draft VI Guidance) and…more Air Pollution, Contamination, EPA, Hydrocarbons, Risk Management	See All Updates »
Kali Wellington-James	New Jersey Bill Could Put An End To The Use Of Non-Compete Agreements As We Know It Last month, the New Jersey Legislature introduced a bill that could drastically limit the enforceability of non-compete, non-solicitation, and non-disclosure agreements that New Jersey employers routinely enter into with their…more Enforcement, Non-Compete Agreements, Proposed Legislation, Restrictive Covenants	See All Updates »
Lesley Welwarth	Village At Camp Bowie: The Fifth Circuit Weighs In On Artificial Impairment A key tenet of reorganization under Chapter 11 is that if the debtor’s plan impairs creditors, at least some of those creditors must agree to the plan. More specifically, “if a class of claims is impaired under the plan, at…more Artificial Impairment, Chapter 11, Creditors, Debtors, Reorganizations	See All Updates »
Gregory Williams	Top Ten Reasons To File Your Patent Applications Before March 16, 2013 The recently enacted America Invents Act (AIA) introduces major changes to the U.S. patent laws, with some significant provisions taking effect on March 16, 2013. These provisions provide several compelling reasons to file…more America Invents Act, Filing Deadlines, First-to-File, First-to-Invent, Patent Applications	See All Updates »
Audrey Wisotsky	CFPB Issues Final Mortgage Servicing Rules On January 17, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued two final servicing rules that amend and add new provisions to the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Rules), as…more Adjustable-Rate Mortgage, CFPB, Delinquent Borrowers, Dodd-Frank, Loss Mitigation	See All Updates »
Adam Wolfe	Be Careful What You Ask For: Michigan Limits Employer Access To Personal Social Media Michigan’s Internet Privacy Protection Act (IPPA) prohibits employers from gaining access to applicant and employee personal Internet accounts. When the IPPA became effective on December 28, 2012, Michigan joined Maryland, whose…more Data Collection, Electronic Devices, Internet Privacy Protection Acts, Passwords, Social Media	See All Updates »
Richard Zack	Will New U.S. Court Of Appeals Decision On ‘Recess Appointments’ Stay Dodd-Frank Powers Granted To CFPB And Vacate Certain Actions? Holding that recess appointments authorized by the Recess Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution are limited to “intersession recesses” – “the period between sessions of the Senate when the Senate is by definition not in…more Barack Obama, Canning v NLRB, CFPB, De Facto Officer Doctrine, Dodd-Frank	See All Updates »
Michele Zarychta	Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Plaintiffs In Amgen Securities Class Action Continuing its recent trend of handing down plaintiff-friendly decisions in private securities class actions brought under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and SEC Rule 10b-5 (Rule 10b-5…more Amgen Inc. v Connecticut Retirement Plans, Class Action, Class Certification, Fraud, Fraud-on-the-Market	See All Updates »
Lisa D. Zeises	U.S. District Court Rebuffs ICI Challenge To CFTC Rule 4.5 Amendments On December 12, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia released its decision in Investment Company Institute v. U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rebuffing the Investment Company Institute (ICI)’s…more CEA, CFTC, CPO, CTA, Investment Adviser	See All Updates »
Brian Zurich	FTC Strengthens Laws To Protect Children’s Privacy On December 19, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made major changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) for the first time in nearly 15 years, by significantly amending the Children’s Online Privacy…more Consent, COPPA, Data Collection, Data Protection, FTC	See All Updates »

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