Washington, D.C. associate Dr. Tanya Mazur is the author of "Free for the Taking: Why States Should Not Be Able to Invoke Sovereign Immunity in Patent Infringement Disputes" [PDF] published in the February 2007 issue of The George Washington Law Review.
February 1, 2007
London partner Nicholas Aleksander, Los Angeles partner Dhiya El-Saden, Paris partner Ariel Harroch, Munich partner Hans Martin Schmid and of counsel Christian Schmidt are the authors of "A Reit Map: The Regional Idiosyncrasies of Real Estate Investment Trusts" [PDF] published in the February 2007 issue of the International Financial Law Review.
February 1, 2007
The European Court of First Instance (the "CFI") handed down a key and long-awaited antitrust Judgment today in France Télécom SA v Commission, addressing a number of issues relating to predatory pricing in the EU. The strict approach to EU law on predatory pricing has been confirmed.
January 30, 2007
Paris associate Jérôme Delaurière is the author of "News Analysis: Does Denkavit Signal the End of Withholding Tax?" [PDF] published in the January 29, 2007 issue of Tax Analysts's Tax Notes International (pg 303).
January 29, 2007
RevisedYesterday, the Division of Corporation Finance (“Staff”) at the Securities and Exchange Commission issued 18 pages of interpretations on its new executive and director compensation disclosure rules, which are applicable for 2007 proxy filings by companies with fiscal years ending on or after December 15, 2006.
January 25, 2007
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit this week struck down Maryland's controversial "Fair Share Health Care Fund Act," popularly known as the "anti-Wal-Mart law." Affirming a ruling by the federal district court in Maryland, the Fourth Circuit ruled that health-benefits mandates like the Maryland Act are preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).Gibson Dunn represented the plaintiff trade group, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), in both the district court and the court of appeals.
January 19, 2007
Congress has introduced a bill that, if enacted, would significantly elevate the financial and legal risks for overseas government contractors and increase the penalties for fraud and abuse in Iraq. On January 4, 2007, Sen.
January 18, 2007
On January 17, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved the Small Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007 (the "Act"). The Act includes a number of tax breaks for small businesses in connection with the proposed increase in the minimum wage.
January 18, 2007
In a recent decision of note, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled patent licensees in good standing may challenge the validity of the patent, or assert non-infringement, without first terminating their license agreements.
January 11, 2007
2006 has seen significant developments in UK labour and employment law with more to come in 2007. In this Briefing we will look back over some of the highlights of 2006.
January 5, 2007
2006 saw significant developments in UK labour and employment law with more expected to come in 2007. Copies of our Client Briefing concerning UK Labour and Employment Law Highlights of 2006 are available upon request.
January 5, 2007
New York associate Farrah Pepper is the author of "Overview of the E-Discovery Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure," published in the December 2006 edition of the Newsletter of the Federal Bar Association, Orange County Chapter.Reprinted with permission, © 2006, Federal Bar Association, Orange County Chapter.
December 31, 2006
Today, the SEC amended the Executive Compensation Rules that go into effect this coming year. A copy of the SEC's news release announcing this is attached below, together with links to the release and the rule amendment.
December 22, 2006
On September 12, 2006, the Governor of California signed legislation raising the minimum wage for workers in all industries from the current rate of $6.75 per hour to $7.50 per hour effective January 1, 2007, and $8.00 per hour effective January 1, 2008.
December 14, 2006
At a meeting today, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) worked through an ambitious agenda and issued a number of significant new proposals and final rules.
December 13, 2006
As part of comprehensive changes to its rules on disclosure of executive compensation and related party transactions approved in July of this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a new requirement that companies provide disclosure about their policies and procedures governing related party transactions. The requirement applies for fiscal years ending on or after December 15, 2006 and therefore, will be in effect for the 2007 proxy season. New Item 404(b) of Regulation S-K requires disclosure of the material features of a company’s policies and procedures for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions (referred to as "related person" transactions in Item 404). Although Item 404(b) does not mandate specific information, it
December 12, 2006
On December 5, 2006, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a significant blow to the plaintiffs’ bar, issuing an opinion that answered the “surprisingly unsettled” question of what standards govern a district judge in deciding a motion for class certification under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
December 8, 2006
Today, the SEC's amendments to the "best-price" rule became effective. As discussed in our previous client alert dated October 24, 2006, the Commission approved certain changes to the tender offer best-price rule.
December 8, 2006
As another year comes to a close, employers must take a number of actions to (i) address Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, (ii) amend their tax-qualified retirement plans to reflect certain rules that became effective in 2006, and (iii) begin operating their plans in compliance with new rules that become effective on January 1, 2007.
December 7, 2006
The new Companies Act 2006 (the "Companies Act") was published today. The Companies Act contains over 1,200 sections and 15 appendices and has taken 10 years to reach the statute books.
December 7, 2006