Alert

June 18, 2014

IRS Begins Code Section 409A Audit Program

Background Congress added Section 409A to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Section 409A”) as part of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. Section 409A dramatically increased the federal regulation of deferred compensation. The sc...

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June 09, 2014

Canada Cracks Down on Bribery - Charges Two Americans under Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act

By Thomas M. Larned, Of Counsel The Royal Canadian Mounted Police issued arrest warrants for former Cryptometrics Inc. CEO Robert Barra and former COO Dario Bernini, charging both with violations of the CFPOA. Details of the bribery scheme involve...

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June 05, 2014

Deadline Looming to Amend Retirement Plans for Same-Sex Benefits

The recent IRS Notice 2014-19 provides much needed guidance on how qualified retirement plans should treat the marriages of same-sex couples following the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor. The Windsor decision invalidated Section...

 Article

June 02, 2014

Fallout from the SEC's Move to Reverse 'No Admit or Deny' Policy

In 2013, Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") Chairman Mary Jo White announced that the SEC will turn away from its "no admit or deny" policy...

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May 29, 2014

Eleventh Circuit Opinion Extends Reach of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

By Brian E. Dickerson, Partner In a decision with broad implications for any company doing business overseas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has become the first U.S. appeals court to attempt to define the term “instrumentality...

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May 16, 2014

Appellate Court Agrees Bureau of Workers' Compensation's Group-Rating Plan was Unlawful, But Remands to Lower Court to Review Damages

An appellate court has ruled that the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (“BWC”) violated Ohio law by developing and maintaining an unlawful rating system under which excessive premium discounts were given to group-rated employers at the expense of...

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May 13, 2014

Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer Chastises Immigration and Customs Enforcement for Overreaching in Form I-9 Penalties

Very recently, the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO) issued a decision admonishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for assessing excessive penalties against a small employer for Form I-9 violations. ICE filed a c...

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May 07, 2014

The Obama Administration Proposes Rules that Allow Spouses of H-1B Visa Holders to Obtain Employment in the United States

On Tuesday, May 6, 2014, the Obama administration unveiled proposed rules that would grant employment authorization to spouses of skilled workers (H-1B visas holders) that have been sponsored by their employers for permanent employment in the United...

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April 25, 2014

FDA Issues "Deeming Regulations" Covering Additional Tobacco Products Including Electronic Cigarettes and Cigars

On April 24, 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its long-awaited proposed regulations (Deeming Regulations) to bring electronic cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, water pipe (hookah) tobacco, dissolvables and nicotine gels (Newly Cove...

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April 25, 2014

Northwestern University Football Players' Union Election Held; Results Impounded

Last month, Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that scholarship football players at Northwestern University were employees of the university and able to vote whether they wanted to form and join a union at the school. The election...

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April 24, 2014

Unions Successfully Strike Non-Union Companies to Represent Workers

Companies that think only union employees can go on strike are sorely mistaken. Non-union employees can and do strike - oftentimes as part of a broader union organizing strategy. An auto parts supplier in Toledo, Ohio recently learned this the hard w...

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April 16, 2014

Prominent Illinois Businessman and Former County Treasurer Sentenced in Sherman Antitrust Case

Southern Illinois businessman Barrett R. Rochman, head of Rochman Investments, was sentenced in United States District Court in East St. Louis to 16 months in prison and fined $30,000 for his role in a scheme to rig tax lien sales in exchange for c...

 Article

April 2014

Oil, gas and mineral rights - How courts are deciding issues about ownership

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April 08, 2014

Financial Regulators Issue Statements on ATM Fraud and DDoS Attacks

Financial regulators at the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)[i] recently issued two joint statements to financial institutions on the risks associated with cyber-attacks on Automated Teller Machine (ATM) and card authorizati...

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April 08, 2014

Pharmacy Trends with Medicare Part D Sponsors & Pharmacy Benefit Managers

Medicare Part D Sponsor Files Another False Claims Complaint In a lawsuit unsealed in late March, Fox Rx Inc. (Fox), the parent company of a Medicare Part D sponsor, alleges in a 36-page Complaint that CVS Pharmacy Inc. (CVS) knowingly submitted c...

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April 07, 2014

Ohio Supreme Court Decision Concludes Sixteen-Month Saga Regarding Who Can Serve and Run for Sheriff of Stark County, Ohio

On April 2, 2014, the Ohio Supreme Court issued its decision in State ex rel. Balas-Bratton v. Husted, Slip Opinion No. 2014-Ohio-1406, an expedited elections’ law matter, definitively ruling that the incumbent Sheriff of Stark County, Ohio meets t...

 Article

Spring/Summer 2014

Dot Anything

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March 27, 2014

NLRB Region 13 Rules Northwestern University's Football Players Can Unionize

In a case of first impression, Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined that football players who are on scholarship at Northwestern University are “employees” of the school and eligible to vote whether they want to be repres...

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March 25, 2014

Small Business Administration Eliminates Personal Resource Test for 504 and 7(a) Loan Programs

On March 21, 2014 the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued its final rule in Federal Register Vol. 79, No. 55, regarding the personal resource test for the 504 and 7(a) Loan Programs. The final rule eliminates this test for loan applicants...

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March 19, 2014

Ohio Hospital Agrees to $8.5 Million Settlement with Department of Justice

ProMedica Memorial Hospital (Memorial), a small, 71-bed facility in Fremont, Ohio, will pay $8.5 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law. In 2012, Memorial conducted...