|
|  |
|
|
|
This Week's Double Feature
|
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Is “Stimulating” Work for Human Resource Practitioners
By Kevin Nelson, Huddleston Bolen LLP
On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA or Act). While the economic effects of the law could be months from fruition, the Act will provide an immediate stimulus to the workload of employment lawyers and human resource departments throughout the country. ARRA contains numerous measures that impact business, including significant changes to COBRA health coverage, increased unemployment benefits, new HIPAA regulations, expanded tax credits, and broad protection for whistleblowers, as well as additional regulation of businesses that have or will receive funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
[FULL STORY]
|
The Ledbetter Effect: Staying on the Right Side of the Fair Pay Act
By Natasha L. Wilson, Greenberg Traurig, LLP
On January 29, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (the Ledbetter Act), the first real piece of legislation of his administration. The Ledbetter Act amends Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to clarify that a discriminatory compensation action occurs each time a discriminatory paycheck is issued. What this means for employers is the likelihood of more pay discrimination lawsuits looming on the horizon. Indeed, more individuals will be able to continue their lawsuits instead of having their cases thrown out because they are time-barred. However, this does not mean that employers must pay all their employees in the same job classifications the same from this point forward to avoid a pay discrimination lawsuit. Some simple actions by employers now will help curb the effects of the Ledbetter Act going forward.
[FULL STORY]
|
|
|
DRI News
|
Honorable Mention Award
Congratulations to the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel’s President-Elect, Rick Hammond, who was recently selected by The Lexis Nexis Insurance Law Center as its Honorable Mention "Insurer Person of the Year Award." Rick Hammond, a shareholder and co-chair of the insurance coverage group with Johnson & Bell, Ltd. in Chicago, was recognized by his peers as “one of the attorneys who did the most in 2008 to effectively advance insurer positions and improve insurance law from the perspective of insurers.”
|
American Academy of Appellate Lawyers
Congratulations to Linda L. Morkan, chair of the Appellate Practice Group at Robinson & Cole LLP, who was recently inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Ms. Morkan works in the firm's Hartford, Connecticut office and has been a DRI member since 1991.
|
NIFTEP Fellowship
Congratulations to Orrin K. (Skip) Ames, III of Hand Arendall LLC in Mobile, Alabama, who is the recipient of a fellowship for the National Institute for Teaching Ethics and Professionalism (NIFTEP), a consortium of the following five nationally-recognized centers on ethics and professionalism:
• The Louis Stein Center for Law & Ethics at Fordham University
• The Mercer University School of Law Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism
• The Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough Center on Professionalism at the University of South Carolina
• The Stanford Center on Ethics
• The W. Lee Burge Endowment for Law & Ethics at Georgia State University
|
Defending Damages Claims in Business Tort Cases
This new Defense Library Series publication tackles the difficult task of dealing with damages claims in cases in which business torts are alleged. The authors are experienced business litigators, who are also active members of the DRI Commercial Litigation Committee. The articles included in this publication address the following topics: Lost profits in business torts; Calculating damages for misappropriation of trade secrets; Potential impact of poaching (analysis of availability of punitive damages in corporate raiding cases);Damages in copyright and trademark actions; Corporate damages under Title VII and other civil rights statutes that apply to employment; Liquidated damages versus penalties; Damages for tortious interference; Prejudgment interest; The application of enhanced fines under the Alternative Fines Act for antitrust defendants. To pre-order your copy today, click here.
|
DRI’s Life, Health, Disability and ERISA Claims Seminar will be held April 22-24, 2009, at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers in New York City!
This seminar is the preeminent forum for the life, health and disability industry, providing exceptional presentations by a distinguished panel of inside and outside counsel, plus unparalleled networking opportunities. The 2009 seminar includes new features, such as a diversity luncheon, breakout sessions devoted to health insurance claims and a breakfast meeting for in-house counsel to facilitate an open dialogue about industry issues. In addition to advanced ERISA topics, this year’s program will include fascinating discussions on ethics and technology, class actions and the future of life, health and disability insurance. Come enhance your knowledge, hone your skills and see friends and colleagues from around the country. To register now, click here or call 312.795.1101 for more information!
|
|
|
And The Defense Wins!
|
DRI board member Charles Cole of Schuyler Roche, P.C. in Chicago successfully defended an emergency medicine physician in a two week jury trial in Danville, Illinois. The plaintiff was a 41-year-old male who fell in a grain bin, severely injuring his right leg. He initially went to the Emergency Department of Hoopeston Community Hospital in Hoopeston, Illinois with complaints of severe pain in his calf. The leg was cold and pulseless and thought to represent a compartment syndrome with a possible vascular insufficiency.
[FULL STORY]
|
On February 4, 2009, DRI member Alex Bullock of Kilpatrick Stockton, LLP’s Washington, D.C. office, along with a colleague and local counsel, obtained a defense verdict in a significant public and private nuisance lawsuit. The case, Pierson, et al. v. Bible Pork, Inc. involved claims of public and private nuisance against Bible Pork, Inc., a livestock producer located in Louisville (Clay County), Illinois was sued in Illinois Circuit Court by 21 nearby residents. The plaintiffs, many of whom had operated their own livestock operations, were claiming that Bible Pork’s newest facility constituted a public and private nuisance. The plaintiffs’ complaint alleged that odors from the facility constituted a criminal public nuisance, a common law public nuisance and a private nuisance at the plaintiffs’ homes.
[FULL STORY]
|
DRI members Charles H. Cassis and Aaron J. Silletto of Goldberg Simpson, LLC in Louisville, Kentucky, successfully obtained a victory in a product liability case for Jackson Furniture Industries, Inc., a furniture manufacturer based in Cleveland, Tennessee. The lawsuit involved a Bardstown, Kentucky house fire that killed 10 people on February 6, 2007, constituting Kentucky’s deadliest fire tragedy since the Beverly Hills Supper Club blaze in northern Kentucky that killed 165 people in 1977. The product involved was an article of upholstered furniture, which allegedly had ignited when it came into contact with a lit cigarette manufactured by co-defendant Philip Morris. The plaintiffs claimed that the design of the upholstered furniture was defective and unreasonably dangerous because there are safer alternative designs that incorporate additional fire retardants.
[FULL STORY]
|
Scott Bjorseth, a partner at Hoagland, Fitzgerald, Smith & Pranaitis in Alton, Illinois, teamed with associates Anne Garcia and David Schott recently to obtain two summary judgments for their clients. The first was obtained in a wrongful death matter pending in Madison County, Illinois, involving a shooting at a tavern. The defense successfully argued that the property owners owed no duty to the victim of the shooting because the shooting was not reasonably foreseeable. The plaintiffs failed to present any admissible evidence regarding the events that took place on the night of the incident.
[FULL STORY]
|
The legal team at Goforth Lewis in Houston, Texas, consisting of DRI members Daniel O. Goforth, Kate Harrison Easterling, and Casey A. Bell, recently obtained a defense verdict for a crane manufacturer in a product liability case in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. In the case of Allan v. Grove US, LLC, the plaintiff claimed that the crane manufactured by the defendant was defective and that the defendant negligently designed, manufactured and marketed the crane.
[FULL STORY]
|
DRI wants to hear about your latest win! Send a short summary and recent photo of yourself to Barb Lowery by email (blowery@dri.org).
|
|
|
Legislative Tracking
|
Fueled by DRI’s Young Lawyers Committee, this week’s report highlights legislation from California through Minnesota, plus Oregon. The Young Lawyers Legislative Subcommittee is led by co-chairs Emily Turner Landry of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC in Memphis, Tennessee and Sean W. Shirley of Balch & Bingham LLP in Birmingham, Alabama, plus vice-chair Paul A. Wilhelm of Dykema Gossett PLLC in Detroit, Michigan. Special thanks to these leaders, along with all of the other state contributors.
|
|
CALIFORNIA (Contributor: Amir Nassihi, Shook, Hardy & Bacon)
CLASS ACTIONS
Assembly Bill 298 – Introduced February 17, 2009
• This bill would add an order granting or denying class certification, as specified, to those judgments and orders from which an appeal may be taken under Code of Civil Procedure Section 904.1.
(Note, a similar bill was introduced last year, but died in committee.)
• AB 298 – Introduced February 17, 2009. Referred to Judiciary Committee on March 4, 2009.
E-DISCOVERY BILL
Assembly Bill 5
• This bill amends California’s Civil Discovery Act to establish procedures for discovery of electronically stored information. The bill contains an immediate effect clause.
(Note, a virtually identical bill overwhelmingly passed the legislature last year but was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger ostensibly because the Governor ran out of time to review it due to the “historic delay in passing the 2008-2009 State Budget.”)
• AB 5 – Read in the Senate and referred to Senate Rules Committee on March 12, 2009 . (Bill introduced December 1, 2008.)
EMPLOYMENT
Assembly Bill 335 – Introduced February 19, 2009
• This bill would make void and unenforceable as against public policy any provision in an employment contract that requires an employee, as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment, to use a forum other than California, or to agree to a choice of law other than California law, to resolve any dispute with an employer regarding employment-related issues that arise in California.
• AB 335 – Introduced February 19, 2009. Referred to Labor and Employment, and Judiciary Committees on March 9, 2009.
COLORADO (Contributor: Casey A. Quillen, Campbell, Latiolais & Ruebel, P.C.)
COMMERCIAL LITIGATION
HB 1194: Accrual of cause of action for breach of royalty obligation.
• Bill dead as of 3/5/09
• Introduced 1/28/09, assigned to Agriculture Livestock & Natural Resources
CONSTRUCTION LAW
SB 246: Concerning the award of moratory interest to claimants in residential construction defect actions; enacting the Homeowner Protection Act of 2009.
• Determines notice of claim process in “Construction Defect Action Reform Act” too often has delayed settlement of such claims; directs that moratory interest (interest paid as damages for a delay in performing an obligation) be awarded to claimants in residential construction defect cases from the time of the creation of the defect through the end of the statutory notice of claim process.
• Committee Meeting scheduled for April 1, 2009. Prior History: Introduced 3/13/09; Assigned to State, Veterans & Military Affairs.
GENERAL CIVIL LITIGATION
HB 1305: Concerning limitations on the requirement for cost bonds in civil lawsuits.
• Removes the ability of court to require cost bond from resident plaintiff in civil lawsuit. Also removes personal liability of attorney for a non-resident plaintiff to pay the costs of the lawsuit upon dismissal of the lawsuit. Limits the amount of a cost bond that can be required of a non-resident plaintiff to $5,000.00.
• Approved by Judicary. Prior History: Introduced 3/09/09; assigned to Judiciary Committee.
INSURANCE LAW
SB 103: Designation of providing financial incentives to denial of claims as deceptive trade practice.
• Would define any pay, salary, reward, bonus, or promotion to any person involved in review of a claim for benefits as an unfair claim settlement practice and deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance.
• As amended, passed 2nd Reading in the Senate on 3/20.
• Prior history: as amended, referred to Appropriations on 3/13; Introduced 2/2/09. Assigned to the Health and Human Services Committee.
TRUCKING LAW
HB 1193: Prohibition against shifting financial responsibility for negligence in Motor Carrier Transportation Agreements.
• Bill now dead. Prior history: introduced Jan. 28, 2009 assigned to Judiciary.
[MORE]
|
|
|
Quote of the Week
|
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
—Anais Nin
|
|
|
DRI CLE Calendar
|
|
Beyond a Great Lawyer: Masterful Marketing Skills for Your Practice (webconference)
April 14, 2009
Product Liability Conference
April 15-17, 2009
Hilton San Diego Bayfront, San Diego, California
Commercial and Intellectual Property Litigation Symposium
April 22-24, 2009
Wyndham Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Life, Health, Disability and ERISA
April 22-24, 2009
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, New York, New York
Corporate Representative Deposition (webcast)
April 29, 2009
Employment Law
April 30-May 1, 2009
JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes, Orlando, Florida
Electronic Discovery
May 7-8, 2009
Hilton New York, New York, New York
Culture Clash! Data Protection, Freedom of Information and Discovery — How to Protect Your Business in Transnational Disputes
May 13-14, 2009
Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski, Munich, Germany
Drug and Medical Device Litigation
May 14-15, 2009
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, New York, New York
First Response — Extra-Record Discovery Request Post-Glenn (webcast)
May 20, 2009
Young Lawyers
June 4-5, 2009
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Diversity for Success
June 11-12, 2009
Swissôtel, Chicago, Illinois
For all other seminars, webconferences and webcasts, click here.
|
|
| |
|
|
Evidentiary Privileges for Corporate Counsel
Trucking Policyholder's Duty to Preserve Coverage
|
