Articles

11.01.17

Are the Packaging Wars Coming to California?

The state of California potentially is embarking on a mandatory comprehensive program to address packaging waste. This is in line with what some other national, regional and local governments are considering for their respective jurisdictions. The European Union, many Canadian provinces, China, ...


11.01.17

Blockchain Biting Point

The hype surrounding cryptocurrency—think Bitcoin, Ethereum and an ever-expanding list of niche altcoins—has gone mainstream. As with any new industry, over the past five years there has been a rapid increase in applications for blockchain and cryptocurrency-related patents filed with ...


10.30.17

CA Tries Some New Affordable Housing Approaches

Many U.S. cities suffer from a serious lack of affordable housing, forcing lower-income workers into substandard housing and requiring them to drive long distances to get to work, exacerbating already serious traffic and air-quality problems. The Associated Press reports that California alone ...


10.30.17

Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument on Class Action Waivers

Why it mattersThe Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case that will decide the validity of class or collective action waivers in arbitration agreements and appeared—to no one’s surprise—split on the issue. The consolidated oral argument in a trio of cases from the U.S. Court ...


10.25.17

Keep Your Options Open

"When I teach takings litigation to law students (as I have for many years at several different law schools), I always urge them to proceed cautiously when pleading causes of action. Good advice in any substantive field, it applies with vigor to takings law because the law has been in a ...


10.24.17

Understanding New York State’s Proposed Single Payer Bill

New York State’s single payer bill has (in various forms) passed the New York State Assembly on numerous occasions including, most recently, in May 2017.


10.20.17

EEOC Wellness Regs Could Feel Better in 2018

Why it mattersThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has promised to revise its regulations for employer wellness programs by mid-2018 in a new filing in Washington, D.C., federal court. In 2016, the agency issued final rules attempting to clarify how the Americans with Disabilities Act ...


10.18.17

FCPA and Healthcare: The DOJ’s New Bedfellows

By John F. Libby, Partner, Corporate Investigations and White Collar Defense | Jacqueline C. Wolff, Partner, Corporate Investigations and White Collar Defense | Kenneth B. Julian, Partner, LitigationWhy it matters: In a speech on July 25, 2017, Sandra Moser, acting chief of the Fraud Section of the ...


10.18.17

Criminal Charges, Civil Fines for Bitcoin Exchange and Operator

By John F. Libby, Partner, Corporate Investigations and White Collar Defense | Jacqueline C. Wolff, Partner, Corporate Investigations and White Collar Defense | Kenneth B. Julian, Partner, LitigationWhy it matters: On July 26, 2017, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a grand jury in the ...


10.16.17

Far From 'Concrete'

Companies and class action defense attorneys jumped for joy in May 2016 when the Supreme Court issued its decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016). That opinion discussed a threshold constitutional requirement for being able to bring a lawsuit in federal court: standing (i.e., a ...