Insights

April

• 2014
  • Lisa Pierce Reisz
  HIPAA/HITECH Resource Guide
  Lisa Pierce Reisz, a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the health care group, authored a portion of the first edition of the American Health Lawyers Association’s HIPAA/HITECH Resource Guide.
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• 4/3/2014
  Client Alert: The 8 Gotchas of Technology Contracting - Part 1
  This is the 1st 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.
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March

• 3/31/2014
  No Settled Answers On State Medicaid Waivers
  Sylvia Brown, an associate in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the health care group, authored a column titled “No Settled Answers On State Medicaid Waivers," which appeared in the March 31, 2014 edition of Health Law360.
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• 3/31/2014
  • Evelyn Lundberg Stratton
  The Judge's Role As an Agent of Change
  Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, of counsel in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the litigation group, authored an article for the National Law Journal titled "The Judge's Role As an Agent of Change."
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• 3/27/2014
  Labor and Employment Alert: NLRB Regional Director Holds Northwestern University Football Players Are Employees, And Can Unionize
  Yesterday, the NLRB’s regional director for Region 13, Peter Ohr, issued a 24-page ruling in which he held that college football players at Northwestern University were employees entitled to the right to organize. Ohr reasoned that the players met the standard for an employee under the NLRA and common law: a person performing services for another under a contract of hire, subject to the employer’s control or right of control, in return for payment.
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• 3/27/2014
  Whistleblower Defense Client Alert: Using Government Witnesses to Obtain Summary Judgment on a Qui Tam Relator’s FCA Claims
  A recent False Claims Act decision serves as an important reminder that although qui tam relators may “stand in the shoes” of the government for purposes of bringing a lawsuit, they are not entitled to substitute their judgment for that of key government decision-makers to avoid summary judgment.
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• 3/27/2014
  Health Care Alert: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Issues Home and Community-Based Settings Toolkit
  On March 20, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted a “Transition Plan Toolkit” to assist states in developing their Home and Community-Based Settings (HCBS) 1915(c) waiver and section 1915(i) state plan amendment or renewal application(s) so that they comply with new requirements in the HCBS Final Rule, released earlier this year.
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• 3/25/2014
  Ohio Statehouse Update: House Considers State Capital Appropriations, Mid-Biennium Review Bills
  The state’s two-year Capital Appropriations measure, House Bill 497, was introduced in the Ohio House on March 18. This year’s Capital Bill allocates $2.39 billion, largely bond-backed funding for brick-and-mortar construction and renovation projects for state agencies, colleges, universities and school districts. Also, for the first time in six years, the Capital Bill goes beyond funding construction and renovation needs for state-owned properties, providing approximately $160 million in funding for additional “community projects” identified as priorities across various regions of the state.
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• 3/21/2014
  Beware of Internet Defamation and Cyberbullying on ‘Anonymous’ Mobile Apps
  Thanks to mobile apps such as Secret and Whisper, people can now divulge their deep secrets anonymously, with fewer consequences – the key here being fewer, as there is no absolute guarantee of anonymity.
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• 3/21/2014
  Client Alert: Dodd Frank Compliance Date for Notification of Segregation on Horizon for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants
  In November of 2013, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued Final Rules on the Protection of Collateral of Counterparties to Uncleared Swaps (the Final Rules).
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• 3/21/2014
  Labor and Employment Alert: New Rules Regarding Affirmative Action Obligations for Disabled and Veteran Workers Take Effect March 24, 2014
  As discussed in Vorys’ September 3, 2013 Client Alert, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) previously issued final rules interpreting Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 503) and the Vietnam Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA). The final rules, aimed to improve hiring and employment opportunities for disabled and veteran workers, impose numerous new affirmative action obligations on federal contractors or subcontractors covered by Executive Order 11246 (contractors). The final rules take effect on March 24, 2014. However, any contractor with an affirmative action plan (AAP) already in place may maintain that AAP until the end of the AAP year.
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• 3/20/2014
  The Deletion of Data is Often Key Evidence in Proving Facts of a Case
  As investigators work to recover the data related to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, we are reminded that the deletion of data discovered through forensic analysis is something that has played a significant role in many of our cases.
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• 3/19/2014
  2013 Year in Review: Selected Nexus Highlights and Key Trends
  Laura Kulwicki, an attorney in the Vorys Akron office and a member of the probate and tax group, authored an article titled "2013 Year in Review: Selected Nexus Highlights and Key Trends," for the Spring 2014 edition of the Journal of State Taxation.
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• 3/18/2014
  Oil and Gas Alert: Supreme Court of Ohio to Weigh Portion of Dormant Mineral Act
  On March 12, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio accepted an appeal in Dodd v. Croskey (7th Dist. 2013) on one issue pertaining to the 2006 version of the Dormant Mineral Act, Ohio Revised Code § 5301.56. The Court will consider whether a notice of preservation timely filed after an abandonment notice was effective to preserve a mineral interest where no savings events occurred within the 20 years preceding the abandonment notice.
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• 3/2014
  Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Update March 2014
  Kevin Gormly, a partner in the Pittsburgh office, and Abbi Marusic, an associate in the Pittsburgh office, provided the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Update in the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Mineral Law Newsletter, Vol. 31, No. 1.
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• 3/14/2014
  Client Alert: New Focus on Tax Sharing Agreements for Financial Institutions
  As most bankers know, Ohio adopted a new Ohio Financial Institutions Tax (FIT), which is based on a consolidated entity formula explained below. Given the new consolidated approach to taxing financial institutions with a presence in Ohio and the bank regulatory issues that accompany any type of inter-company and bank liability sharing or exchange, it is important that financial institutions have in place an appropriate tax sharing agreement.
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• 3/14/2014
  • Jackie Ford
  No Good Deed Goes Unpunished When Hiring Convicted Criminals
  Jackie Ford, a partner in the Vorys Houston and Columbus offices, authored an article for the Houston Business Journal about new law in Texas that attempts to balance employers’ liability concerns with society’s interest in getting criminals out of crime and into legitimate employment.
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• 3/14/2014
  Labor and Employment Alert: President Proposes Changes to Overtime Regulations, Now What?
  On March 13, 2014, President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to “propose revisions to modernize and streamline the existing overtime regulations” related to the overtime exemptions for executive, administrative and professional employees. The memorandum does not specify exactly what the new rules should include. However, the administration’s intent to narrow these overtime exemptions is apparent from President Obama’s statement that, “Because these regulations are outdated, millions of Americans lack the protections of overtime and … the minimum wage.”
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• 3/14/2014
  Combating the Sale of Counterfeit Goods Online: Don’t Let Someone Get Away with Selling Knockoffs of Your Products
  Trademark counterfeiting, in general, refers to the placement of a trademark on a product that is not the legitimate product offered by the trademark owner. Meanwhile, the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal trademark statute – defines a counterfeit as “a spurious mark that is identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from a registered mark.”
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• 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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