5/24/21
By: Phil Savrin
The Supreme Court of Georgia has dealt a severe blow to an insurance company’s ability to require advance notice of a lawsuit against its insured before being exposed to extra-contractual liability for the full amount of the …
5/21/21
On the heels of the May 7th ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline—resulting in a temporary shutdown of its 5,5000 mile pipeline system carrying 45% of the East Coast’s fuel supply— President Biden issued an Executive Order…
5/19/21
A recent decision from the Superior Court of New Jersey held that the New Jersey First Act (“Act”) and its residency requirements are unconstitutional in their present form.
The Act, signed by Gov. Chris Christie in 2011, …
5/18/21
By: Victoria Fuller and Matthew Schwartz
In 15 LaGrange Street Corporation v. MCAD, Civ. A. No. 20-P-726, the Massachusetts Appeals Court partially vacated a judgment entered by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (the “Commission”) against an employer to the …
5/17/21
By: Kevin Kenneally and William Gildea
The United States District Court, District of Massachusetts (Hillman, J.), recently held that Plaintiffs must affirmatively plead and prove that there is a safer alternative product design in order to maintain defect claims against …
Superior Court Erodes Pennsylvania’s Fair Share Act
5/17/21
By: Erin Lamb
In 2011, Pennsylvania enacted the “Fair Share Act,” Senate Bill 1131. The bill substantially limited the applicability of joint and several liability in civil cases. There is no question that it was the goal of the legislature …
Determining Ownership In Premises Liability Cases
5/17/21
By: Brian Goldberg
There are fewer more important preliminary inquiries in a premises liability case than determining who owns the underlying land where a plaintiff was injured. Most of the time this is a simple inquiry. But sometimes disagreements may …
5/13/21
By: Phil Savrin and Alexia Roney
In an appeal before the Supreme Court of Georgia involving two multi-million dollar judgments, the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association tapped FMG Attorneys Phil Savrin and Alexia Roney to author an amicus brief on the …
Proposed Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rule
5/13/21
By: Joseph Colette
The United States Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has announced new changes to the Standards for the Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability …
5/12/21
On April 26, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced that it was opening the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection on its recently relaunched data collection website. Eligible employers have until Monday, …
Two Lawsuits Test the Permissibility of Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policies in Employment
5/11/21
By: Michael Hirota
As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more widely available within the United States, many employers are grappling with how to incorporate employee vaccination into their return-to-work requirements. Two recent lawsuits in New Mexico and California challenging mandatory vaccination …
At the Intersection of FMLA and Workers Compensation: Ramji v. Hospital Housekeeping Systems, Inc.
5/11/21
By: Tia Combs
The Eleventh Circuit recently weighed in on how the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) and state law workers compensation schemes interact in Ramji v. Hospital Housekeeping Systems, LLC, No. 19-13461, 2021 WL 1257247 (11th Cir. April …