Client Alerts
Client Alerts
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- On July 3, the Second District Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Cartwright v. Batner, 2014-Ohio-2995 (Ohio App. 2 Dist.), which interprets both the Ohio Trust Code and Ohio’s Uniform Power of Attorney Act, recognizes a new claim for treble damages by vested beneficiaries, and provides guidance on a variety of issues important to estate planners, fiduciaries, beneficiaries and those who represent them.
- In a unanimous decision that was a surprise to most in the benefits community, the Supreme Court, in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, rejected the commonly accepted rule that fiduciaries of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) are entitled to a “presumption of prudence” in connection with their decision to buy or hold employer stock.
- Earlier this month, federal banking regulators finalized their December 2013 guidance on Income Tax Allocation Agreements. This guidance confirms that all financial institutions should have in place an appropriate tax sharing agreement not just for federal and state income taxes but also for the Ohio Financial Institutions Tax (FIT).
- Last week, the D.C. Circuit provided good news to defense contractors, health care providers and all other corporate entities doing business with the government. In a forceful opinion, the court overruled a trial court decision that portended disastrous consequences for privileged internal investigations by corporate legal departments.
- Today, the Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Kellogg Brown & Root Servs., Inc. v. United States ex rel. Carter. The petition presented two questions: (1) whether the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act (WSLA) applies to claims of civil fraud brought by qui tam relators, and (2) whether the False Claims Act’s (FCA) first-to-file rule is an absolute bar or whether it permits subsequent actions so long as the first-filed action had been dismissed on non-merits grounds prior to filing of the subsequent action.
- Substitute House Bill Number 117 (Ohio’s Captive Legislation) will become effective mid-September 2014. Ohio’s Captive Legislation creates a regulatory scheme that permits the formation in Ohio of pure captives (a captive that insures only the risks of its parent and affiliates), protected cell captives (a captive that is made up of separate segregated cells that each contain their own assets and liabilities) and a special purpose financial captive. This alert will focus only on pure captives, but we are available to answer any questions you may have regarding protected cell captives and special purpose financial captives.
- On June 20, Florida’s governor signed into law a replacement to its former breach notification statute, called the Florida Information Protection Act of 2014. This law is going into effect very quickly (July 1, 2014), and will be one of the most robust breach notification laws in the country. The Florida law did not necessarily break new ground, but it incorporated into one law many of the recent trends that have been passed in other states.
- The Federal Trade Commission mandates that material connections between endorsers and advertisers be disclosed. Yet there are countless misleading review websites out there, masking payments received in exchange for positive publicity.
- The Third Circuit’s recent decision in U.S. ex rel. Foglia v. Renal Ventures Mgmt., LLC, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 10549 (3d. Cir. June 6, 2014), evens the circuit split regarding whether a FCA plaintiff must identify at least one representative false claim before being granted a ticket to discovery—a troubling development for anyone who does business with the federal government and therefore runs the risk of dealing with an FCA lawsuit.
- On June 16, 2014, Governor Kasich signed Substitute House Bill 483 (HB 483), the primary mid-biennial review bill for the current State biennium, and amended Substitute House Bill 492 (HB 492), which includes several tax law changes. The most significant tax law changes contained in HB 483 and HB 492 are described in this Alert.
- Company reputations today are largely dictated by what is posted on the internet, both about the companies themselves and their executives. Gone are the days where reputation is based on building up and maintaining goodwill with consumers over time.
- On Wednesday, June 11, 2014, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will hold a public listening session to solicit information regarding the Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records Regulations, 42 C.F.R. Part 2. Under these regulations, a federally assisted substance abuse program generally may only release identifiable patient information related to substance abuse treatment services with the individual’s express consent.
- A recent decision dismissing a whistleblower’s complaint with prejudice is good news for companies facing a False Claims Act (FCA) case that turns on the interpretation of a regulation or contractual provision. In U.S. ex rel. Thompson v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc., Case No. CV 12-2214-JAK (C.D. Cal.), the court articulated a clear and defendant-friendly formulation of the pleading standard for scienter in such cases.
- On June 2, 2014, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the case of Limelight Networks, Inc. v. Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Case No. 12-786), that will have the immediate impact of limiting liability for inducement to infringe under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) where no party is liable for direct infringement under §271(a). In at least the short-term future, defendants accused in a patent suit of inducing infringement of a method claim, where no one party has performed or controlled the performance of all steps of the method, should have a solid basis for seeking dismissal of that suit for failure to state a cause of action.
- Legislators returned to Columbus this week after the Memorial Day weekend for what is likely their last two weeks of work before they break for the summer. Several high profile bills are scheduled for action before the summer break. They include SB 310, a controversial measure to put a two-year freeze on renewable and alternative energy standards, and HB 483, one of the Mid Biennial Budget Review (MBR) bills introduced by Governor John Kasich earlier this year.
- The Ohio Senate last week passed the state’s main mid-biennium budget bill, Substitute House Bill 483 (HB 483). HB 483 now heads to a conference committee to be reconciled with the version of HB 483 passed by the Ohio House. HB 483 includes a number of proposed tax law changes. Meanwhile, the Ohio Senate Finance Committee amended Substitute House Bill 492 (HB 492) last week to include a number of proposed tax law changes. HB 492 now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
- The Ohio House Finance and Appropriations Committee recently amended Amended Substitute Senate Bill 263 (SB 263) to expand the bad debt sales tax deduction. The amendment would extend the sales tax deduction to retailer vendors that make sales to customers through private label credit cards when the consumers later default, i.e., fail to pay the full purchase price to the credit card lender. Thus, in these special circumstances, the bad debt may be incurred by the lender, not just the vendor.
- This is the 4th of 4 installments on tips when contracting for technology products and services. Every business runs at least in part on technology – and when contracting for technology products and services, the “gotchas” don’t discriminate based on size or industry.
- On May 14, 2014, a substitute version of House Bill 375 (the Bill) was passed by the Ohio House of Representatives. The Bill contains several significant changes to the version of House Bill 375 that was first introduced in December 2013. If enacted, the Bill would make several significant changes to Ohio’s existing oil and gas severance tax laws. The most significant proposed changes in the Bill are summarized in this alert.
- On May 8 the Ohio Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management (the Division) made several changes to its Procedural Guidelines for Unitization Applications filed under Section 1509.28 of the Ohio Revised Code. The changes below will undoubtedly present new challenges to applicants submitting applications to the Division.