Insights

March

• 3/14/2014
  Oil and Gas Alert: EPA Proposes Revisions to GHG Reporting Rule for Oil and Gas Industry
  On March 10, 2014, U.S. EPA published proposed revisions and confidentiality determinations for the petroleum and natural gas source category of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reporting Rule, 40 CFR Part 98, Subpart W. The proposed revisions to Subpart W include amendments of general applicability, revised calculation methods and reporting requirements for specified emission sources within the source category, and confidentiality determinations for the new and substantially revised data elements associated with the proposed amendments to the rule.
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• 3/11/2014
  State and Local Tax Alert: One Small Step Closer To Some Guidance on the CAT’s “Bright Line Presence” Nexus Standard: The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals Finally Rules in L.L. Bean
  On March 6, the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) issued its long-awaited decision in L.L. Bean, Inc. v. Levin, Case No. 2010-2853 (Ohio BTA March 6, 2014), the lead “test case” on Ohio’s controversial commercial activity tax (CAT) nexus standard. Although this is the first case in a long line of CAT nexus challenges, the BTA’s decision offers very little in the way of any meaningful guidance.
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• 3/10/2014
  Judge Orders Philadelphia Media Company to Disclose Identity of Anonymous Commenter
  For several years now, news outlets have grappled with how to civilize the comments sections on their online articles. Some have chosen the path of requiring users to sign in through their Facebook accounts, while many still permit readers to comment anonymously on their websites.
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• 3/6/2014
  Internet Defamation Removal and the Known Defamer: How Knowing the Identity of a Defamer Changes the Court Order Technique
  Defamatory content posted online can significantly harm the reputation of a business or individual, especially when it is listed among top search engine results.
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• 3/6/2014
  Oil and Gas Alert: Oil and Gas Lease Provisions – Arbitration Clause
  Two appellate cases were recently decided by the Seventh District Court of Appeals enforcing arbitration clauses within oil and gas leases. There are two major questions Ohio courts must answer when they evaluate arbitration clauses and their applicability to disputes involving parties to an oil and gas lease.
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• 3/3/2014
  Client Alert: Delaware Decision Limits Lender’s Credit Bid in Bankruptcy Sale
  In a recent decision in a Delaware Chapter 11 case, the court took the unusual step of capping the amount of a secured lender’s loan that could be used in the lender’s credit bid in a Section 363 sale.
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• 3/3/2014
  Immigration Alert: Time to Prepare for April 1 H-1B filings
  At the beginning of each fiscal year, which for the federal government starts October 1, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) makes available an allocation of new H-1B visa numbers.
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• 3/3/2014
  Defamation and ‘TheDirty’: Why You Don’t Want to Sue TheDirty.com
  The problem for the individuals upset with TheDirty.com (that want to sue the owner) is that ythe owner is not the speaker of these controversial statements. Rather, other people (members of the so-called “Dirty Army”) submit the content to him directly through his website or via email.
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• 3/2014
  • Evelyn Lundberg Stratton
  Connecting the Dots: Using the Courts and your own Initiative to Navigate the System
  Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, of counsel in the Vorys Columbus office, authored a chapter in the book The Attorneys Guide to Defending Veterans in Criminal Court, published by the Veterans Defense Project.
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February

• 2/28/2014
  False Review Removal Strategies: How to Deal with Bogus Online Reviews Written by Competitors
  All too often, dishonest companies damage their competitors’ reputations online by making a series of false statements on review-based websites. Competitors regularly seek refuge on websites such as Ripoff Report, Pissed Consumer and Yelp, which are structured such that users can anonymously post false reviews.
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• 2/27/2014
  Health Care Alert: Aggressive Federal Health Care Fraud and Abuse Actions Result in Record $4.3 Billion Recovery in 2013
  The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that 2013 was a record breaking year for health care fraud recovery. In total, $4.3 billion was returned to the federal government, primarily to the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs.
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• 2/27/2014
  • Carey C. Jordan
  • Iona N. Kaiser
  Nanotechnology Innovation Trends
  Carey Jordan and Iona Kaiser, partners in the Houston office and members of the intellectual property group, co-authored an article for IPWatchdog titled "Nanotechnology Innovation Trends."
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• 2/26/2014
  Dispelling Misconceptions about False and Defamatory Information Online
  Since launching the internet defamation group, we have encountered several misconceptions about the removal of information from the internet. If you or your company has been disparaged online, realize you are not helpless and have several options on how to deal with your potential internet crisis.
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• 2/25/2014
  Ohio Statehouse Update: Governor Kasich Announces New Initiatives at Ohio State of the State Address
  Governor John R. Kasich announced new policy initiatives relating to education, workforce development and tax reform at his Monday night State of the State address in Medina. His proposals will be presented to the legislature as part of the Mid-Biennial Budget Review (MBR). The timetable for introduction of the MBR remains uncertain.
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• 2/24/2014
  Harmed but Not Defamed: Other Internet-Related Claims a Plaintiff Can Bring
  Based on the negative impact on its business, a company may initially believe certain statements or information posted about it online are defamatory. Although the content may be very damaging, it might not be defamatory at all.
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• 2/21/2014
  Labor and Employment Alert: Employer Pay or Play Penalties in 2015
  The employer pay or play penalties were originally scheduled to apply in 2014 but the IRS gave employers a one-year reprieve. Final regulations and FAQs published February 10, 2014 explain how the penalties will work in 2015 and provide several helpful transitional rules.
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• 2/21/2014
  How to Deal with False and Damaging Pissed Consumer Posts
  Pissed Consumer, as the name suggests, has become a destination for disgruntled consumers to share their unpleasant experiences with various products or services. In fact, the website reports having more than a quarter million reviews about 40,000-plus companies spanning 120 industries.
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• 2/20/2014
  How to Avoid Website Domain Conversion by Former Employees
  Companies often instruct individual employees to register domain names for the construction of a website on the companies’ behalf. In these instances, the employee will enter his or her own name as the domain registrant, thereby giving the employee administrative control over the domain.
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• February 2014
  2013 Ohio Oil and Gas Law Review
  This past year proved active for Ohio’s oil and gas industry. We saw exploration and drilling operations increase substantially and migrate further south (there are currently 44 rigs operating in Ohio, and some operations have extended further south into Washington County). We also saw the first quarterly production report issued by the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management (“Division”), showing strong production results for the third quarter of the year (33.6 Bcf of natural gas and 1.33 MMbbls of oil). And we saw significant midstream infrastructure growth throughout the year, including the opening of the Momentum processing and fractionation plant and the opening – and temporary closing – of Dominion’s Natrium processing and fractionation plant right across the Ohio River near Natrium, W.Va.
  
  But the activity hasn’t been only on the operational side – there have been several substantial developments on the legal side of Ohio’s oil and gas industry as well. To assist our clients and friends, we have summarized a number of those developments.
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• February 2014
  2013 Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Law Review
  In 1878, the nation’s first commercial natural gas well was drilled in Murrysville, Pennsylvania. Since then, oil and natural gas have played a vital role in Pennsylvania’s economy. Despite this history of oil and natural gas production, the Commonwealth has relatively little case law and legislative regulation to guide the industry. Due to the recent surge in production of Marcellus Shale gas, Pennsylvania’s production of natural gas increased by 72% from 2011 to 2012. According to a report issued by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on December 17, 2013, Pennsylvania is the fastest-growing natural gas-producing state, and preliminary data suggests that Pennsylvania may have been the second-largest producer of natural gas in 2013. Not surprisingly, the current state of oil and gas law in Pennsylvania reflects the Commonwealth’s attempts to manage this rapid increase in natural gas production.
  
  The judiciary, legislature and regulatory agencies have attempted to balance the benefits of natural gas production against the concerns of the public. However, many issues remain unresolved. To assist our clients and friends in navigating this quickly developing area of the law, we have summarized a number of the important decisions and enactments of the past year.
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