On February 20, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada allowed the motion for leave to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Québec rendered in the case of Theratechnologies inc. v. 121851 Canada Inc.1. In this unanimous judgment, the Court of Appeal decided that a judgment authorizing a class action based on section 225 ...
The Fourth Circuit recently held that selling contaminated drugs in violation of FDA regulations does not give rise to False Claims Act liability where compliance with the regulations is not a condition of federal reimbursement. See United States ex rel. Barry Rostholder v. Omnicare, Inc., No. 12-2431 (4th Cir. Feb. 21, 2014) ...
Insurance Coverage for Cyber Attacks: What Do You Need in a Cyber Liability Policy?With more and more businesses suffering costly data breaches and cyber attacks, companies should utilize every tool they have to shift the potentially enormous expenses associated with those breaches and attacks. That’s where insurance comes in ...
Although trust has always been regarded as one of the best succession vehicles, it has never been attractive for the succession of shares in companies because of a rule of English trust law, the “prudent man of business rule”. It was established in the case of Bartlett v Barclays Bank Trust Co Ltd [1980] 1 Ch 515 that it is the duty of a trustee to conduct the business of the trust with the same care as an ordinary prudent man of business would extend towards his own affairs ...
Tailor-Made: Designing and Implementing a Bespoke Data Security Plan When you hear the term “bespoke,” you may think suits or dresses, but you should be thinking data security plans. Savvy organizations realize that there is no “one size fits all” approach to data security ...
The world of networked devices controlling our heating and household energy supplies, monitoring our health, and ensuring our cars do not collide, is now more reality than science fiction. This interconnected world — this ‘Internet of Things’ — promises to transform our lives, probably more than we can presently imagine ...
Investors analysing the possibility to acquire a Chilean corporation should carefully consider the specific structure of corporate control governing most of the legal entities in Chile, since it strongly determines the way mergers and acquisitions are carried out in this country ...
We are seeing a definite upswing in the number of entrepreneurs and start-ups for myriad reasons (including, as one example, the recent enactment of Law 14/2013, of September 27, 2013, to support entrepreneurs and their internationalization). As a result, we have decided to launch a series of posts on the subject of start-ups and the world of the entrepreneur. This first post discusses the shareholders’ agreement because from a legal angle it is one of the cornerstones of any start-up ...
CMS recently announced yet another delay to the full implementation of “two midnight rule,” which revises its longstanding guidance to hospitals and physicians relating to when hospital inpatient admissions are deemed to be reasonable and necessary for payment under Medicare Part A. Specifically, this latest “delay” is the result of CMS’s extension of the “Probe & Educate Period,” a period of partial non-enforcement for the two midnight rule requirements, until September 30, 2014 ...
The lengthy war of words between buyer and seller that has followed Hewlett-Packard’s acquisition of Autonomy gives an interesting insight into the world of international M&A. The allegations made by HP of “accounting improprieties” against the senior management team of Autonomy began soon after the completion of the deal in October 2011 and continue with the recent filing of Autonomy’s restated accounts by HP. Revised turnover and profit of £81 ...
The news has been filled with stories of high-profile data breaches, exposing breached companies to intense and negative scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, media, customers, and plaintiffs’ attorneys. Other companies that handle personal information have been asking us how they can avoid a similar fate. In the coming weeks, we will be exploring that issue through our special series, "A Desk Guide to Data Protection and Breach Response ...
On January 27, 2014, the parliamentary secretary of the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs tabled five treaties in the House of Commons dealing with intellectual property, of which three relate to trademarks ...
Welcoming the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, the Indonesian Government is planning to revise the current Negative List (Presidential Regulation No. 36 of 2010) to create more business opportunities for foreign investors and to improve the nation’s competitiveness. The Investment Coordinating Board (“BKPM”) is currently drafting the New Negative List in coordination with several other relevant government authorities ...
The Affordable Care Act, in a largely overlooked provision, bestowed broad powers on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to impose a moratorium on the enrollment of new Medicare or Medicaid providers, including whole categories of providers in certain geographic locations ...
The moniker "spam" for unsolicited and often indiscriminate electronic communications to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups derives from a famous sketch in the British television comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus. However, these days spam is no joke. It is a scourge on modern communications ...
St. Luke’s Health System’s 2012 acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group, Idaho’s largest independent multi-specialty physician practice group, violated federal and state antitrust laws according to a U.S. District Court holding issued on Friday, January 24, 2014. The Court ordered divestiture of the practice. The FTC and the Idaho Attorney General filed the Complaint seeking to block the sale on March 12, 2013. In response, St ...
On January 17, 2014 the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware issued a ruling in Fisker Automotive Holdings, Inc., et. al., Case No. 13-13087 (KG), which highlights potential risks to both secured creditors and purchasers of claims in bankruptcy section 363 sales. The facts in Fisker are straightforward ...
On January 17, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced increased jurisdictional thresholds for premerger notification filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act). The FTC adjusts the thresholds annually to reflect changes in the gross national product. The revised thresholds will apply to any transaction closing on or after the effective date, which is 30 days after formal notice is published in the Federal Register ...
On January 9, the US District Court for the Northern District of California found that Bazaarvoice Inc. violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act by acquiring its primary rival, PowerReviews Inc. — launching the new year with a significant merger trial win for the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ). But, this case also is important for businesses analyzing antitrust risks associated with potential competitor acquisitions ...
Traditionally, the estate administrator’s main duty has been to liquidate the machinery of the estate as quickly as possible. But there are alternative possibilities. Instead of seeing the bankruptcy estate as a pile of assets left behind by a company that has gone through financial hardship, smart thinking says you should see this as an opportunity to start a new business. At its best, bankruptcy means a fresh start for a successor company without burdens of the bankrupt one ...
Why Proportionality Should Be Considered As Part of the Preservation Parties have a general duty to preserve and produce relevant electronically stored information (ESI). This duty, however, is bounded by a proportionality requirement because e-discovery should not be allowed to be the tail that wags the dog. Courts and parties have been adept at applying proportionality requirements to the production of ESI, but they have struggled to apply proportionality to the preservation of ESI ...
CONTENT Notifying your insurer of potential legal proceedings : A sensible measure which may help you avoid significant costs!The ABCs of Managing Absenteeism at Work NOTIFYING YOUR INSURER OF POTENTIAL LEGAL PROCEEDINGS: A SENSIBLE MEASURE WHICH MAY HELP YOU AVOID SIGNIFICANT COSTS! Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin Company directors sometimes have the reflex of minimizing the importance of a letter of demand or of the threat of a legal action ...
Facts and judicial history The Supreme Court of Canada has rendered a decision which is likely to generate a lot of commentary in the Canadian class action scene. On December 12, 2013, the Court issued a ruling in the case of AIC Limited v. Fischer1 (hereinafter ''Fischer''), now frequently referred to as the ''market timing decision'' ...
