NLRB reversed again due to ‘invalid’ Obama recess appointment 
Published: May 17, 2013
Tags: National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, recess appointments
A second federal appeals court has ruled that an order issued by the National Labor Relations Board cannot be enforced because of an “invalid” recess appointment by President Barack Obama.
HHS proposes tougher child care safety measures
Published: May 17, 2013
Tags: child care, Department of Health and Human Services, federal agencies, safety
WASHINGTON – New proposed regulations would impose stricter safety requirements on child care providers who receive federal funding.
Supreme Court treads carefully in patent ruling
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: agricultural engineering, first sale doctrine, patent exhastion, patents, U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court’s surgically narrow ruling prohibiting a farmer from using seeds harvested from patented herbicide-resistant soybeans has left lawyers with more questions than answers about the extent of patent owners’ rights in other emerging, self-replicating technologies.
Court clarifies bankruptcy discharge standard
Published: May 13, 2013
Tags: bankruptcy discharge, breach of fiduciary duty, defalcation, trusts and estates
The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified that proof of malicious intent is not required to prevent the bankruptcy discharge of a debt that arose from a trustee’s self-dealing.
Lawmakers renew bid to ban mandatory arbitration
Published: May 10, 2013
Tags: arbitration, Arbitration Fairness Act, consumer protection
Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., has reintroduced a bill that would prohibit the enforcement of mandatory arbitration clauses against employees and consumers.
Report: Patent pools may stifle competition
Published: May 10, 2013
Tags: antitrust, competition, Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, patent law, patent pools
WASHINGTON – Patent pools, designed to spur innovation and reduce the cost of litigation, may actually be having anticompetitive effects according to a report released by the former competition policy director for the Federal Trade Commission.
Circuit court strikes down NLRB notice posting rule
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: DC Circuit, First Amendment, labor law, National Labor Relations Act, National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, notice posting rule
WASHINGTON – A federal appellate court has struck down the National Labor Relations Board’s controversial notice posting rule, the latest in a series of blows to the agency that has been mired in legal controversy.
NLRB advice on confidential investigations has lawyers reading tea leaves
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: confidentiality, federal agencies, National Labor Relations Act, NLRB
WASHINGTON – The employment bar was roiled last year when the National Labor Relations Board ruled that a company policy requiring employees to keep interviews related to internal investigations confidential violated federal labor law.
But since then, the agency has been informally placing limits on that holding by issuing advice memoranda suggesting that companies can make reasonable case-by-case judgments about whether confidentiality is necessary — and attorneys have been eyeing them closely for guidance on how to advise clients.
Banking lawyers uneasy about national loan data collection
By:
Sylvia Hsieh
Published: May 7, 2013
Tags: CFPB, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Richard Cordray
Recent Senate hearings have sparked renewed debate over a national mortgage database that will hold information about millions of mortgage, credit card and auto loans, loan terms, borrowers’ credit profiles and financial information.
IRS issues new guidance for green energy tax credits
Published: May 6, 2013
Tags: American Taxpayer Relief Act, green energy, renewable energy, tax credits, taxation
The Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidelines for determining when construction has begun on a renewable energy facility in order for a taxpayer to become eligible for certain tax credits created under last year’s American Taxpayer Relief Act.
