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Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | February 2024

In preparation for H-1B CAP Registration season, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a final rule that limits each foreign worker to one entry into the H-1B lottery system. The H-1B Registration process had previously required companies, or other petitioners, to register with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and submit their requests for the individuals they sought to sponsor as part of the H-1B process ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | June 2023

In an opinion issued on June 5, 2023, the Federal Circuit provided a useful framework for overcoming obviousness rejections during patent prosecution, where a proposed modification to a prior art reference renders it unsatisfactory for its intended purpose.[1]  Appropriately applying this framework may provide a strong position against a motivation to combine references, or otherwise modify a prior art device in an obviousness rejection. In Medtronic, Inc. v. Teleflex Innovations S.A.R.L ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | November 2020

As concern over cybersecurity continues to grow,[1] defense contractors have been waiting for the Department of Defense (DoD) to roll out its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. That rollout has occurred, with DoD’s recently published interim rule Assessing Contractor Implementation of Cybersecurity Requirements (DFARS Case 2019-D041)[2] (“Interim Rule”), effective Nov. 30, 2020, and providing for a five-year phase-in of CMMC ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | March 2023

Prepare for another big shift in health care operations. On January 30, 2023, President Joe Biden announced he would not extend the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) beyond its current expiration date of May 11. The PHE was declared by former President Donald Trump in March of 2020 as COVID-19 began to spread around the nation. The waivers and other regulatory changes instituted in its wake have impacted nearly every facet of health care services ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | October 2019

Elite Dental Associates, Dallas (“Elite”) has agreed to pay $10,000 to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and to adopt a corrective action plan to settle potential violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule[1]. According to OCR, Elite is a privately owned dental practice in Dallas, Texas, providing general, implant, and cosmetic dentistry ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | November 2018

Educational institutions (“recipient” or “recipient institutions”) have been waiting for the Department of Education to issue formal Title IX regulations after it issued interim guidance in September 2017.  This interim guidance rescinded previous Obama-era guidance that called for strict enforcement of Title IX and indicated that new formal guidance would be forthcoming ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | September 2017

On Friday, September 22, 2017, the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) officially withdrew two guidance documents issued under the Obama administration regarding implementation of Title IX on school campuses. In place of these guidance documents, the OCR issued new interim guidance documents regarding how schools should handle sexual assaults. The OCR indicated official guidance and directives will be issued after a formal notice and comment period ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | March 2018

Last week, United States Attorney General Sessions announced the creation of the Department of Justice Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (PIL) Task Force to combat the prescription opioid crisis.  According to the Department of Justice (Justice), the PIL Task Force will rely on “all available criminal and civil enforcement tools” to hold those at “at every level of the [opioid] distribution system” accountable for unlawful conduct ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | April 2019

On April 1, 2019, the Department of Labor announced it will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its existing regulations, currently codified at 29 C.F.R. part 791, regarding whether a business qualifies as a joint employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA requires covered employers to pay nonexempt employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime for all hours worked more than 40 in one workweek ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | January 2024

On January 9, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) announced the final rule regarding when employers can classify workers as independent contractors under federal labor law. The DOL first proposed the rule in October of 2022. What Employers Need to Know The DOL’s new rule has consequences for employers. More individuals are likely to be classified as employees rather than independent contractors. Most federal and state labor laws apply only to employees ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | April 2018

On April 12, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage Hour Division released three opinion letters regarding the legality of certain arrangements under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA). The first letter addresses a question commonly faced by employers—whether an employee is entitled to compensation for time spent traveling away from the employee’s home community ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | October 2017

On Oct. 6, 2017, during a speech at New York University School of Law, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein explained the Department of Justice (DOJ) is reexamining current DOJ policy as part of an effort to streamline and centralize internal guidance. As of now, DOJ policies span multiple sources, including internal manuals, memoranda, speeches and articles interpreting policies ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | July 2023

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that the policy it put in place in March of 2020 allowing employers to remotely review Form I-9 employment authorization verification documents during the COVID-19 pandemic will end on July 31, 2023.  United States Citizenship and Immigration Services also announced that employers must complete the required physical (in-person) inspection for all Forms I-9 created under the temporary policy no later than August 30, 2023 ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | June 2020

As seen in Bank Director The federal government has a history of assisting businesses when a crisis occurs, but one of its latest interventions may have created risk for bank partners providing aid ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | April 2022

On March 31, 2022, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Staff) issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 121). SAB 121 applies to businesses that provide  an operating platform that allows users to transact in crypto-assets coupled with a service to safeguard the platform users’ crypto-assets, including maintaining the cryptographic key information necessary to access the crypto-assets, crypto-asset trading platforms ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | February 2022

Dinsmore taxation associate Sierra Williams wrote an article for the American Bar Association's Journal of Affordable Housing titled "Power Couples: Twinning Opportunity Zones with Other Economic Tax Incentives." An excerpt is below. Since this country’s inception, federal economic development programs have been fundamental and innovative tools to incentivize both public and private sector investment in distressed areas ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | February 2022

Dinsmore employment partner Tammy Bennett wrote a column for Savoy Network on the actionable steps law firms can take to boost diversity efforts. An excerpt is below. Under the immediate impact of Covid-19 and the “race pandemic,” businesses expressed support in public statements; some made long-overdue changes to company logos and other aspects of branding. Such gestures matter ...

Many clients who are engaged in litigation may also now be facing the added burden of decreased cash flow due to the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. While courts around the country may view the situation differently, Dinsmore attorneys were recently able to help a corporate client obtain an early, administrative closure of their case due to the economic crisis they are experiencing at this time ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | October 2023

The Department of Justice (DOJ) hopes to incentivize timely disclosure of misconduct uncovered during the M&A process with the announcement of a Department-wide Safe Harbor policy on October 4, 2023. The policy, which applies across the entire DOJ, shields companies from criminal prosecution for misconduct they discover in companies they are acquiring or have recently acquired ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | March 2020

In an effort to streamline the provision of COVID-19 patients’ Protected Health Information (PHI) to public health authorities, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently published practical guidance explaining the methods by which Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Covered Entities may disclose COVID-19 patient PHI to law enforcement, first responders, and public health authorities ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | January 2019

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Massachusetts Bay Insurance Company v. Christian Funeral Directors, Inc., No. 18-5267 (6th Cir. Dec. 26, 2018), recently upheld a district court’s declination of jurisdiction over an insurer’s declaratory judgment action on coverage ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | January 2019

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Massachusetts Bay Insurance Company v. Christian Funeral Directors, Inc., No. 18-5267 (6th Cir. Dec. 26, 2018), recently upheld a district court’s declination of jurisdiction over an insurer’s declaratory judgment action on coverage ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | July 2017

Most employers are familiar with Glassdoor, Inc.’s website, which allows current and former employees to post anonymous reviews of an employer. But Glassdoor is often a thorn in the side of employers because many negative posts are the result of disgruntled employees or competitors seeking an advantage in recruiting ...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) suffered an unusual defeat when its motion for late intervention in a False Claims Act (FCA)[1] qui tam case, United States ex rel. Odom v. Southeast Eye Specialists, PLLC,[2] was rebuffed by the Middle District of Tennessee, rejecting the magistrate judge’s recommendations ...

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | September 2020

A Florida district court recently dismissed without prejudice a False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam action, finding the action precluded by the first-to-file bar. See United States ex rel. Cho v. H.I.G. Capital, LLC, No. 8:17-cv-983-T-33AEP, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155373 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 26, 2020) ...

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