In California Lawyer-Client Sex Will Soon Be A No-No
5/14/18
By: Greg Fayard
In California, lawyers can have consensual sex with their clients as long as it is not based on coercion or in exchange for legal services. That will change this Fall. On May 10, 2018, the California Supreme …
DOJ Fails to Challenge 5th Circuit Ruling Striking Fiduciary Rule
5/3/18
By: Theodore C. Peters
On March 15, 2018, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal stuck down the “fiduciary rule” proposed by the Department of Labor (DOL), which required brokers to act in the best interests of their clients in retirement …
Circuits Now Split Three Ways Over False Claims Act Limitations Period
4/26/18
By: Robyn Flegal
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (governing Georgia, Alabama, and Florida), recently held that the three-year statute of limitations for the False Claims Act (FCA) begins when the government learns of alleged violations of the FCA, rather …
Ordinarily, Is It Professional Negligence? Georgia Supreme Court Thinks So In $22 Million Reversal
4/17/18
By: Shaun Daugherty
The Georgia appellate courts have addressed the issues between claims of ordinary and professional negligence in medical malpractice cases for a number of years. The standards for liability are distinctly different, but in certain factual scenarios there …
Has Fiduciary Rule Suffered a Fatal Blow?
4/4/18
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) defined a “fiduciary” as someone who provides investment advice for a fee. The following year, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) promulgated regulations that provided a five-part …
Service Advisors Once Again Exempt From Overtime
4/3/18
By: Brad Adler & Michael Hill
After years of back and forth in the lowers courts, the Supreme Court has ruled that service advisors at auto dealerships are exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). It’s the rare …
Supreme Court on Prolonged Detention and Bond for Immigrants
3/27/18
By: Layli Eskandari Deal
Immigration has been a hot topic in the news lately due to the various issues being litigated in the Courts. Recently the Supreme Court made a ruling on the issue of prolonged detention by Immigration and …
When the Midas Touch Does Not Protect You From Your CLE Obligations
3/15/18
By: Jonathan M. Romvary
As part of every attorney’s ongoing duty of competence, each jurisdiction requires attorneys to attend Continuing Learning Education classes each year. The failure to attain the minimum required credit hours for substantive and ethical topics may …
3/9/18
By: Glenn M. Kenna
The Supreme Court is set to decide a vital question this term – Can the government use a warrant served in the United States to obtain emails stored abroad? The United States Government says it can, …
3/2/18
By: Erin E. Lamb
Citizens from outside Pennsylvania can now sue Pennsylvania businesses for transactions that occurred outside the commonwealth, under the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, affirmed such …
3/1/18
By: Bill Buechner
The Second Circuit which covers New York, Connecticut and Vermont, has issued an en banc decision holding that Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Zarda v. Altitude Express, 2018 U.S. U.S. App. …
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Data Breach Standing Case
2/23/18
By: Amy C. Bender
The ongoing issue of when a plaintiff has grounds (“standing”) in data breach cases saw another development this week when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to weigh in on the debate.
CareFirst, a BlueCross BlueShield health …