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New York partner Jonathan C. Dickey is co-author of "'Inquiry Notice' on Trial: The Supreme Court to Clarify Standards for Statute of Limitations in Securities Class Actions" [PDF] published in the July/August 2009 issue of Thomson Reuters' Securities Litigation Report.
Client Alert | July 1, 2009
Alert: Potential Trap for the Unwary re Inaccessible InformationGovernor Schwarzenegger yesterday signed into law Assembly Bill 5, the "Electronic Discovery Act," enacting significant electronic discovery amendments to the California Code of Civil Procedure. Because the legislature deemed it "urgency" legislation, it is effective immediately. Although the legislation largely follows the 2006 electronic discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, it differs in its treatment of inaccessible information (such as backup tapes) and in its safe harbor for lost information. Of particular note, the Bill requires parties in their written responses to document requests to object to the production of inaccessible information to preserve th
Client Alert | June 30, 2009
In a much-watched employment discrimination case confronting the tension between the disparate treatment and disparate impact theories under Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964, the Supreme Court has ruled that an employer may not resort to intentional discrimination in order to avoid an unintentional, disparate impact absent "a strong basis in evidence" to believe it will be subject to liability if it fails to take the race-conscious, corrective action. Ricci v. DeStefano, No.
Client Alert | June 30, 2009
On June 24, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") announced that it was extending the June 30, 2009 deadline for filing Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts ("FBAR"), TD F 90-22.1, to September 23, 2009, for certain taxpayers, i.e., taxpayers that properly report and pay tax on 2008 income, but that only recently learned that they have FBAR filing obligations and do not have sufficient time to gather the information necessary to complete the form. The extension follows remarks made in mid-June by IRS representatives and confirmed on Friday, June 26, by an IRS spokesperson that, based on the instructions to the revised FBAR form that was issued in October 2008, foreign hedge funds and private equity funds are included in the definition of forei
Client Alert | June 29, 2009
On June 22, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in an important Clean Water Act case, Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, upholding a discharge permit issued by the U.S.
Client Alert | June 26, 2009
Munich partner Philip Martinius and associate Jan Querfurth are the authors of "Germany and Austria: Broad Measures" [PDF] published in the June 25, 2009 issue of Legal Week.
Client Alert | June 25, 2009
"What do we want?" "Gradual Change!"; "When do we want it?" "In due course." So goes the apocryphal English protest cry. There is nothing gradual about the proposals afoot to centralise policy-making on prudential supervision of financial firms at an EU level.
Client Alert | June 22, 2009
The Supreme Court has ruled that an employee bringing a disparate treatment claim for age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) must prove that age was the "but-for" cause of the adverse employment action. Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., No.
Client Alert | June 22, 2009
In three opinions issued between May 18 and 29, 2009, the Delaware Chancery Court has provided guidance on several key electronic discovery issues--triggering of the duty to preserve electronically stored information (“ESI”) and the scope of that duty; spoliation of evidence and the factors used to determine sanctions; and cost-shifting in relation to inaccessible data.
Client Alert | June 19, 2009
Washington, D.C. partner Susan K. Grafton and New York associate Dana H. Hamada are the authors of "Survey of Financial System Regulatory Reform Proposals and Legislation" [PDF] prepared for the ALI-ABA Broker-Dealer Regulation Seminar that took place in New York on June 18, 2009.
Client Alert | June 18, 2009
The Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Financial Markets Crisis Group is tracking closely government responses to the turmoil that has catalyzed dramatic and rapid reshaping of our capital and credit markets.
Client Alert | June 17, 2009
Washington, D.C. partner Karen L. Manos testified before the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement hearing titled: “The State of Federal Contracting: Opportunities and Challenges for Strengthening Government Procurement and Acquisition Policies” on June 16, 2009.
Client Alert | June 16, 2009
The U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division recently has launched an investigation into whether certain recruiting and hiring practices of technology companies violate the antitrust laws.
Client Alert | June 15, 2009
Common issues confronting acquirors involve retaining the target company’s key employees and protecting against the loss of business to defecting employees. A recent Delaware Court of Chancery decision addressed issues faced by an acquiror, where a group of the target company’s employees plotted to leave the target company and launch a competing business prior to the acquisition’s close. The court’s decision in Ivize of Milwaukee, LLC v. Compex Litigation Support, LLC will likely cause acquirors to more aggressively seek and obtain employment and/or non-competition agreements from key target employees, particularly where the success of the acquisition depends upon a relatively small number of key employees. The Case In early 2007, Compex Legal Services (&qu
Client Alert | June 15, 2009
Orange County partner Alan Bick, and associates James Sabovich and John Carter are the authors of "Damaged Before Repair" [PDF] published in the June 11, 2009 issue of the Daily Journal.
Article | June 11, 2009
Long-Awaited Treasury Guidance Issued on Executive Compensation Standards Applicable to TARP Recipients The Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Financial Markets Crisis Group is tracking closely government responses to the turmoil that has catalyzed dramatic and rapid reshaping of our capital and credit markets.
Client Alert | June 10, 2009
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is closely monitoring risks and opportunities arising from the recent and dramatic reshaping of our capital and credit markets. We are providing updates on key transactions as well as regulatory and other legal developments that we believe could prove useful as financial institutions, investors, financial sponsors and other entities navigate these transformative times.
Client Alert | June 9, 2009
Current market conditions have produced an uptick in unsolicited merger and acquisition activity, as well as shareholder activist campaigns. However, many unsolicited bidders and activists have been forced to rethink their strategies by the presence of change-in-control put provisions in the documents governing their targets’ publicly traded debt. These provisions--commonly referred to as "poison puts"--are not an uncommon feature of publicly traded debt and other finance instruments and give bondholders and other creditors the right to call the issuer’s debt upon the occurrence of certain fundamental change-in-control events. Such events often include a forced change in the composition of a majority of the issuer’s board (a so-called "continuing dire
Client Alert | June 8, 2009
Los Angeles partner Marcellus McRae is the author of "Racial Diversity at the Counsel Table " [PDF] published in the June 2009 issue of California Lawyer.
Client Alert | June 8, 2009
Washington, D.C. partner Thomas G. Hungar is the author of "Observations Regarding the Supreme Court's Decision in Quanta Computer, Inc v. LG Electronics, Inc." [PDF] published in the June 2009 edition of IDEA: The Intellectual Property Law Review.
Client Alert | June 8, 2009