Insights

January

• 1/21/2015
  • Victor J. Ferguson
  • David A. Groenke
  • Emily S. Pan
  • Michael G. Schwartz
  • David A. Swift
  • Mark E. Vannatta
  Welcome to Legacy
  We hope you and your family enjoyed a happy holiday season. We’re writing to introduce you to a new e-newsletter we will begin publishing next week.
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• 1/20/2015
  Client Alert: U.S. Supreme Court Holds That Borrowers Need Only Give Notice of Intent to Rescind Under TILA within Three Years of Closing
  On January 13, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of homeowners seeking to rescind their loans and mortgages with written notice to lenders within three years of completion of a real estate transaction, where lenders allegedly failed to comply with the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Based on this decision in Jesinoski v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., it is not necessary that a homeowner actually file a court action within those three years.
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• 1/19/2015
  • M. Sean Purcell
  Don’t Buy an FCPA Problem in an Overseas Deal
  Justin Roberts, partner in the litigation group in the Cleveland office, and Sean Purcell, a partner in the corporate group in the Washington, D.C. office, authored an article for Crain’s Cleveland Business titled “Don’t Buy an FCPA Problem in an Overseas Deal.”
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• 1/16/2015
  How to Remove False and Defamatory Citysearch Reviews
  Before there was Yelp, there was Citysearch. Founded in 1995 as an online guide for finding local businesses, Citysearch helped pave the way into an era of consumers posting online reviews. While Yelp has blown Citysearch and other competition out of the water in recent years, Citysearch is nevertheless still active and businesses are still very much vulnerable to false reviews on the website.
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• 1/15/2015
  Health Care Alert: Federal Court Strikes Down DOL’s New Companionship Services Exemption Regulations
  New U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations concerning the companionship services exemption to the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) were scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2015.
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• 1/15/2015
  Ohio Statehouse Update: Ohio House Speaker and Minority Leader Announce Key Committee Posts
  Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger (R-Clarksville) and House Minority Leader Rep. Fred Strahorn (D-Dayton) announced House committee leadership positions this week for the new two-year session.
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• 1/15/2015
  • Ashley M. Manfull
  Staying on Top of Employee Performance as an Effective Way to Mitigate Risk
  Ashley Manfull, an associate in the Vorys Akron office and a member of the labor and employment group, authored an article for Crain’s Cleveland Business regarding employee performance improvement plans (PIPs) and year-end reviews.
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• 1/14/2015
  Whistleblower Defense Alert: Fourth Circuit’s Opinion Shows Influence of Government’s Decision to Intervene on Court’s Determination of Materiality
  On January 8, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reinstated the government’s False Claims Act (FCA) claims in United States v. Triple Canopy, Inc., No. 13-2190. In reversing the district court’s dismissal of the government’s case, the Fourth Circuit highlighted, both explicitly and implicitly, the importance of the government’s decision to intervene in the case.
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• 1/14/2015
  Client Alert: President Obama Announces Privacy and Data Security Priorities for 2015
  Earlier this week, President Obama gave a speech at the FTC laying out an agenda on privacy and data security issues, and indicating that the topic is important enough to the administration that it will be included in his upcoming State of the Union address. Generally, the initiative’s goals include tackling identity theft, protecting the privacy of student data and working toward a general privacy “bill of rights” to provide comprehensive data and privacy protections.
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• 1/13/2015
  Securities Alert: 2015 Proxy Season Action Items
  It is once again time for public companies to march into proxy season. While the SEC has not adopted any significant new rules or amendments effective for the 2015 proxy season, you should keep the following items in mind as you prepare.
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• 1/12/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: Meal Period Interruptions Do Not Always Render Time Compensable
  The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a decision regarding whether interruptions of an employee’s meal period automatically render that time compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
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• 1/9/2015
  Whistleblower Defense Alert: District Court Imposes $1.6 Million Sanction Against Relators for Violating the FCA Seal
  Earlier this week, Judge Amy Totenberg of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia imposed significant monetary sanctions against a pair of relators who blatantly and repeatedly violated the seal order in a pending qui tam action, United States ex rel. Bibby v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Case No. 1:06-CV-0547-AT.
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• 1/9/2015
  State and Local Tax Alert: Ohio General Assembly Passes Municipal Income Tax Reform Legislation
  On December 19, 2014 Governor Kasich signed Am. Sub. H.B. 5 (the Bill) into law thus concluding three years of contentious lobbying between selected trade associations on one side of the debate (primarily The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, The Ohio Society of CPAs and The National Federation of Independent Business) and Ohio’s roughly 600 municipalities on the other side of the debate.
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• 1/9/2015
  How to Remove Fraudulent TripAdvisor Reviews
  With 70 million-plus members, TripAdvisor has developed a reputation as a well-trusted source for information and trip planning options for hotels, restaurants, and various attractions. Of course, like any website, TripAdvisor is not free of false or otherwise fraudulent reviews.
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• 1/5/2015
  Oil and Gas Alert: Supreme Court Holds That Evidence of Amount in Controversy Not Required to Remove Class Action to Federal Court
  On December 15, 2014, the United States Supreme Court decided that a party seeking to remove a class action to federal court need not include evidence of the amount in controversy as part of its petition for removal. Instead, the party seeking removal need only plausibly state that the amount at stake exceeds $5 million. The case is Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. LLC v. Owens, 574 U.S. ---, 2014 U.S. LEXIS 8435 (2014).
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• 2015
  • J. Bret Treier
  Mergers and Acquisitions for Distributors: Expert Advice for Buyers and Sellers
  Bret Treier co-authored Mergers and Acquisitions for Distributors: Expert Advice for Buyers and Sellers.
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December

• 12/30/2014
  • Margaret Dodane Everett
  Workers' Compensation Fraud Investigations: Old School Meets New Tools
  Margaret Everett, of counsel in the Vorys Cleveland office and member of the litigation group, authored an article for Crain’s Cleveland Business titled “Workers' Compensation Fraud Investigations: Old School Meets New Tools.”
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• 12/23/2014
  Ohio Statehouse Update: Ohio General Assembly Concludes Work – Passes Flurry of Legislation in Lame Duck
  Members of the 130th Ohio General Assembly officially finished their business and headed home after the conclusion of a lengthy Ohio House floor session December 17. The hectic final days were notable both for the legislation that passed as well as for some high profile bills that did not pass.
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• 12/22/2014
  Labor and Employment Alert: OSHA Updates Recordkeeping Rule for Reporting Fatalities and Severe Injuries
  Effective January 1, 2015, employers with facilities located in states subject to federal OSHA jurisdiction will have new reporting requirements. Previously, employers were required to report all work related fatalities and work related hospitalizations of three or more employees within eight hours of the event.
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• 12/22/2014
  New York Hotel’s Policy Against Negative Online Reviews Backfires
  Whitney Gibson, the leader of the firm’s internet defamation group, and Jordan Cohen, an associate in the internet defamation group, co-authored an article for Travel Law Quarterly titled “New York Hotel’s Policy Against Negative Online Reviews Backfires.”
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