The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued its Annual Report to Congress, which provides statistics concerning bid protest filings for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, including the number of protests filed and sustained. The chart below, included in GAO's Annual Report, summarizes this information. Click here to view the summary table As shown above, most of the data points remained constant from the prior year ...
Managing General Agent (“MGA”) Agreements are unique and can be exceedingly complex. They often include detailed underwriting guidelines and strict limits on an MGA’s authority. After all, an MGA is authorized to bind an insurer on substantial risks often with little direct supervision by the insurer. While no two MGA Agreements are the same, all must incorporate certain required provisions. The NAIC has promulgated the Managing General Agents’ Act (NAIC Model No ...
Notwithstanding the optics of a healthy U.S. economy, beneath the surface there are many U.S. companies and consumers that have become casualties of the “trade war” with China. The first salvo in this trade war was fired in January 2018, and was followed by additional shots later in 2018 as the United States imposed punishing tariffs that affect hundreds of billions of dollars of trade with China and the rest of the world ...
If you are a U.S. business with international operations, here are four questions you should consider: Does your company have more than two foreign subsidiaries, at least one of which is profitable? Do you have a profitable foreign subsidiary that guarantees any U.S. debt? Are you considering the purchase of a company located outside the U.S.? Does your U.S ...
The access to records clause, sometimes called the inspection or audit clause, is a common fixture in reinsurance agreements and serves an important function. It enables the reinsurer to track the performance of the agreement and maintain an accurate view of the business ceded. More specifically, it allows the reinsurer to ensure the cedent is complying with the terms and conditions of the agreement, including timely reporting of losses and calculation of premiums ...
Effective November 1st, new guidelines came into effect for patent applications before the European Patent Office (“EPO”). One significant change affects what the EPO will accept as evidence of transfer of ownership of a patent application, an assignment ...
On July 11, 2018, then-U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb made a public statement about the agency’s efforts to advance the development of gene therapies.[1] Gottlieb pointed out that the FDA has approved three separate gene therapy products and the agency has issued six scientific guidance documents intended to serve as building blocks of a modern, comprehensive framework for how the FDA can advance the field of gene therapy ...
Loose lips sink ships. They also can sink the protections of the attorney-client privilege. A case in point is a recent decision from the Southern District of Florida. Guarantee Insurance Co. v. Heffernan Insurance Brokers, Inc., Case No. 13-23881-CIV (S.D. Fla. June 13, 2014). In that case, Guarantee Insurance had been sued for the alleged bad faith handling of a worker’s compensation insurance claim ...
On October 3, 2014 the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”), released a proposed rule to add new safe harbors to the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) and to amend the definition of “remuneration” in the Civil Monetary Penalties (“CMP”) regulations. The OIG additionally solicited comments on same which must be submitted no later than 5 pm EST on December 2, 2014 ...
Every day seems to bring word of a new data breach, and given the stakes of these breaches, it would be easy to assume that dealing with the damage they cause would be a top government priority. Unfortunately, a myriad of conflicting state laws, as well as the lack of one over-arching federal law, creates legal and compliance nightmares for companies that these breaches affect. For example, in late February and early March 2014, hackers successfully targeted eBay’s corporate network ...
On November 18, 2020, the IRS released Revenue Ruling 2020-27 stating that a taxpayer who received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan cannot deduct eligible business expenses (i.e., payroll costs, mortgage loan interest, rent payments and utility payments) paid or incurred in 2020 during the covered period (as defined below) if the taxpayer reasonably expects that the PPP loan will be forgiven in the future ...
As noted in numerous recent publications, captives have been receiving an increased amount of regulatory attention, not just from the domicile states which regulate them, but, more significantly, from national or international bodies. The NAIC Captives and Special Purpose Vehicles Working Group completed its examination of captives and now two captive related proposals are being considered at the NAIC ...
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act (the Act) into law. The Act provides $900 billion of relief, including expanding certain relief previously provided under the CARES Act (e.g., $600 additional stimulus checks for certain individuals and $275 billion in additional Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans) ...
Insurers are well aware of the typical bad faith scenario in third-party claims. Counsel for a claimant sends a demand for policy limits to the insurer in the hope that the insurer does not accept within a time limit specified in the demand ...
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ("CAFC") issued an important ruling today in the ongoing evolution of biosimilar product regulation. In the ruling today, the CAFC in Amgen Inc., Amgen Manufacturing Limited v. Apotex Inc., Apotex Corp. (CAFC Case No. 2016-1308) affirmed the district court ruling and held that the commercial-marketing provision in 42 U.S.C ...
President Obama has renewed his proposal to cut over $40 billion in tax breaks for oil, gas and coal producers over the next decade in an attempt to spend more for alternate energy and conservation. The $3.8 trillion budget proposal represents a 29% increase in renewable energy funds in 2013, as compared to 2012 ...
The rapid growth of the hospice industry has attracted the attention of Congress and federal and state healthcare regulatory and enforcement agencies. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”), signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010, included several provisions aimed at hospice providers ...
We are all too familiar with stories of contaminated food and drugs that sicken and even kill consumers. Given the increasing number of product recalls and their enormous financial impact, it is not surprising the demand for recall insurance has increased exponentially in the middle market. Why has the number of recalls increased so dramatically? The answer is twofold ...
The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) is a new federally-funded program providing emergency assistance for eligible venues adversely affected by COVID-19. The program, administered by the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Disaster Assistance, will offer over $16 billion in grants to shuttered venues, providing economic relief to eligible entities. This legal update summarizes the requirements and additional information related to the grant application process ...
On July 6, 2015, in response to an executive order signed by President Obama, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a proposed rule that could significantly impact overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Among other changes, the proposed rule will increase the minimum salary threshold to qualify for the “white collar” exemptions to $50,440 per year, which could affect an estimated 4.6 million workers ...
Managing Partner Simon Malko talked to Bloomberg’s Vivia Chen about how his own experiences dealing with stress and anxiety inspired him to make mental healthcare more accessible to everyone at the firm. He shared, “When I became a managing partner [in 2019], I had a lot of anxiety. I was dealing with a lot at work and the stress of raising two kids at home. I had an awful lot on my plate, and I was struggling with managing it all ...
More hotels are imposing mandatory “resort fees” on their guests for amenities, and the amount of those fees is increasing at many of those hotels. Many consumers dislike these fees, even when they appreciate the value of the included amenities. A legal battle is underway over mandatory resort fees ...
Patents and technology companies are often intertwined. The story of the startup company patenting its groundbreaking technology is a well-known one. We see this often on the television show "Shark Tank," as investors such as Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner routinely ask whether the founders of a potential investment opportunity have filed for patent protection ...
The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - arguably the most significant change to U.S. intellectual property laws in the past decade - was signed into law by President Obama on May 11, 2016. The DTSA creates a federal, civil remedy for misappropriation of a trade secret that is related to a product or service used in, or intended for use in, interstate or foreign commerce ...
As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more widely available, more employers are considering bringing their employees back to the office. In doing so, many employers have questions about whether or not they can require their employees to receive the vaccine before returning. Preliminary guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suggests that employers can mandate vaccination ...
