Articles

06.17.13

NY's Limits on Executive Compensation and Administrative Expense Take Effect

New regulations limiting executive compensation and administrative expense by entities that contract with New York State are about to take effect and affected entities must now assess whether their current executive compensation practices and administrative expense experience will comply with the ...


06.10.13

New Blood: Replacing Opportunity Investors

Necessity being the mother of invention, the market turmoil of the past few years gave birth to many creative solutions to the problem of illiquidity in a down real estate market. One of those solutions was the sale to opportunity investors of preferred equity interests in entities holding real ...


06.01.13

Navigating the FCPA in Healthcare and Life Sciences

In 2012, companies and executives operating in the healthcare and life sciences industries had an outsize presence in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions. Given recent Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pronouncements, coupled with more ...


05.22.13

When Rights Of Publicity Trump 1st Amendment

In a recent 62 page decision by the Third Circuit obviously intended to give guidance in an unclear area of the law, the rights of publicity of a college athlete in a video game trumped the First Amendment arguments of the video game manufacturer: Ryan Hart v. Electronic Arts Inc., No. 11-3570 ...


05.01.13

Provider-Owned Health Plans

In the 1980s and 1990s, innovative healthcare providers created their own health insurance plans in an effort to develop a vertically integrated care financing and delivery system. Perhaps they were ahead of their time. As they confronted the risks and challenges of being in the insurance business, ...


05.01.13

A Shield For Software

In March, Congressmen Peter DeFazio and Jason Chaffetz introduced HR 845, the Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes (SHIELD) Act of 2013.According to DeFazio, the act is intended to "force patent trolls to take financial responsibility for their frivolous lawsuits[,]" ...


04.30.13

Risk Allocations in Construction Contracts

In the world of real estate development, one of the most significant and often undervalued agreements is the contract between the owner/developer and the general contractor.  Drafting and negotiating construction contracts for commercial and/or large scale construction projects is, in its ...


04.15.13

Protecting Fashion Product Designs Under the Lanham Act

Unlike in other countries, especially in Europe, the legal protections afforded to the design and appearance of fashion clothing and accessories in the United States are relatively limited. Under U.S. copyright law, "useful articles," such as clothing, handbags and footwear, are expressly ...


04.08.13

Commentary: A Vision for the Future of Fannie and Freddie

In a little-noticed report issued in February, the Bipartisan Policy Center's Housing Commission recently painted an interesting picture of the future role of the federal government in housing finance. Titled Housing Future: New Directions for National Policy, the paper takes a view that is both ...


03.26.13

Real Property Buy Goes Bad: Who to Call?

Commercial property buyers spend a lot of time carefully negotiating for seller representations and warranties that the seller is authorized to do the deal, no litigation affects the property, the property is in good condition, and the seller is not a registered terrorist.Sellers counter by ...