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New York
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May 24, 2013
B&L Unit To Pay $34M For Drug Marketing Guilty Plea: DOJ
A Bausch & Lomb Inc. affiliate will cough up $33.5 million as part of an agreement copping to federal charges that it promoted an anti-inflammatory eye-treatment drug for unapproved new uses that were billed to federal health programs, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday.
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May 24, 2013
Oppenheimer Suit Against Trans Energy Gets Judge's OK
A federal judge on Friday greenlighted a contract suit that investment firm Oppenheimer & Co. brought against natural gas producer Trans Energy Inc. over fees on a $50 million loan, denying Trans Energy’s request to throw the case out.
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May 24, 2013
Cerberus Settles Ex-Managing Director's Retaliation Suit
Cerberus Capital Management LP on Friday settled a lawsuit lodged by a former managing director who accused the firm of firing her in retaliation for alerting higher-ups to what she believed to be misleading marketing materials that violated securities laws.
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May 24, 2013
Smart Tech Gets Nod On $15M Deal With Investors Over IPO
A New York federal judge on Thursday gave preliminary approval to Smart Technologies Inc.’s $15.2 million class action settlement with shareholders over allegations that it misled investors ahead of a $660 million initial public offering.
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May 24, 2013
Extell, Carlyle Must Pay $5.8M Interest On Condo Refunds
A New York state judge Wednesday ordered a joint venture of Carlyle Realty Partners and Extell Development Co. to cough up $5.8 million in unpaid interest to a group of prospective luxury condominium buyers whose down payments had been held in escrow for years.
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May 23, 2013
Black Diamond Co-Founder Wins $6M Carried Interest Appeal
A Black Diamond Capital Management LLC co-founder can collect the final $6 million portion of the $17.5M in carried interest he earned there before he left to start another private equity firm, Z Capital Partners LLC, a New York appeals court ruled Thursday.
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May 23, 2013
Bankrupt REIT Gets $50M In Deal With BlackRock, Lenders
A New York bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved a settlement that BlackRock Inc.'s bankrupt real estate investment trust Anthracite Capital Inc. reached with BlackRock and two banks, allowing Anthracite to bring in $50 million and begin winding down the estate.
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May 23, 2013
NY Appeals Court Won't Cut BofA Faulty Underwriting Claims
A New York state appeals court refused Wednesday to dismiss claims against several Bank of America Corp. units in a putative class action over allegedly loose mortgage underwriting standards, saying the plaintiff had sufficiently alleged she had signed a release of claims under duress.
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May 23, 2013
FDNY Union Can't Contest Driver Selection Change, Court Says
New York City's decision to de-emphasize seniority when choosing who could drive fire trucks isn't subject to collective bargaining, a New York state appeals court panel ruled Thursday, finding that the change was a management decision that the firefighters' union couldn't challenge.
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May 22, 2013
$211M In Borders Gift Cards Worthless After Ruling
A New York federal judge on Wednesday dismissed appeals by customers who hold gift cards from bankrupt book seller Borders Group Inc. and sought refunds, saying the appeals are moot because the company’s distribution plan can't handle the approximately $210.5 million in claims.
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May 22, 2013
Media Big Didn't Defame Firm With Fla. Remarks, Judge Says
A New York state judge has tossed a suit alleging British media and advertising mogul Sir Martin Sorrell defamed a small Manhattan law firm and hurt its business prospects when he mistakenly said in an interview that the firm was based in Florida, not New York.
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May 22, 2013
Stockbrokers Win Initial Class Cert. In Unfair Wage, OT Suit
A New York federal judge on Wednesday conditionally certified a class of stockbrokers to bring claims that Fordham Financial Management Inc. that because they were paid on a commission-only basis, their wages dipped below minimum wage and they were denied overtime.
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May 22, 2013
2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Cab Drivers' Suit Over Use Of GPS Data
Second Circuit judges on Wednesday expressed skepticism about a class action aimed at blocking New York City’s use of GPS data in taxi-related prosecutions, questioning whether the case suffers from a technical problem.
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May 22, 2013
Patton Boggs Partner Must Testify in $19B Chevron RICO Suit
A New York federal judge Tuesday ordered a Patton Boggs LLP partner to give a deposition in a dispute over a $19.2 billion Ecuadorean pollution judgment against Chevron Corp. and refused to limit it to subjects related to documents he ordered the firm to turn over.
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May 22, 2013
Gristedes Must Pay Workers' $4M Attys' Fees, 2nd Circ. Says
New York grocery chain Gristedes Foods Inc. is still on the hook for a $3.8 million legal bill chalked up by workers in a long-settled class action against the company over overtime pay, the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday.
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May 22, 2013
Penguin To Pay $75M To Settle States' E-Book Antitrust Claims
Pearson PLC's Penguin Group USA Inc. has agreed to pay $75 million to resolve allegations, lodged by state attorneys general and a proposed consumer class, that it conspired with other publishers and Apple Inc. to fix e-book prices, Pearson said Wednesday.
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May 22, 2013
Internal Whistleblowing Deserves Protection, Judge Tells UBS
The Dodd-Frank Act protects whistleblowers from retaliation even if they report wrongdoing internally rather than to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a New York federal court ruled Tuesday, rejecting UBS AG’s bid to dismiss claims by a former mortgage-backed securities strategist.
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May 21, 2013
BNY Mellon Win In Lyondell LBO Case Upheld By NY Court
A New York state appeals court on Tuesday said Bank of New York Mellon Corp. did not breach a fiduciary duty in its handling of Basell AF SCA's leveraged buyout of Lyondell Chemical Co. that bankrupted both companies, affirming a lower court's decision.
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May 21, 2013
Appeals Court Backs RE Mogul In Nursing Home Buyout Row
A New York state appellate court on Tuesday unanimously affirmed decisions in favor of real estate investor Rubin Schron and against Mariner Health Care Inc. and others in a nursing home purchasing dispute, saying the defendants’ new evidence was cumulative and would not have changed the outcomes.
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May 21, 2013
Miami Beach Hotel Owner Can Dump Marriott, Judge Says
A New York state judge said Tuesday that the owner of a boutique Miami Beach hotel can kick out Marriott International Inc. as the swanky hotel's manager, but he stopped short of issuing a stronger, court-ordered heave-ho.
Expert Analysis
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The Importance Of Morning Mist
Morning Mist Holdings Ltd. v. Krys provides guidance to courts that need to determine the location of a foreign debtor’s “center of main interests.” While not outcome-determinative in this case, in other cases, the Second Circuit’s decision may ultimately affect the scope of relief available under the Bankruptcy Code to a foreign debtor, says Alexander Woolverton of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
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1 Step Forward, 1 Step Back In Enviro Self-Audit Policy
As the New York Department of Environmental Conservation moves forward with a self-audit policy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking ways to pare back its own audit policy. Because audit programs almost undoubtedly achieve compliance, eliminating self-auditing, self-reporting and self-correction is hardly smart or efficient, say Steven Russo and Adam Silverman of Greenberg Traurig LLP.
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NY Creates Tax Uncertainty For Unauthorized Life Insurers
In the past, surprisingly favorable tax treatment was afforded to life insurers that were not licensed to conduct business in New York but that owned real estate investments in the state. But following recent reinterpretation of New York Tax Law, some uncertainty has arisen with respect to how unauthorized life insurers should allocate income for franchise tax purposes, say attorneys with Duane Morris LLP.
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Answers To Your Compensation Committee Rules Questions
Recent changes to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's listing standards for national securities exchanges — including the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ — impose specific requirements related to compensation committee members. These rules have generated a number of frequently asked questions among public companies, say Kevin Douglas and Michael Carr of Bass Berry & Sims PLC.
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Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
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Unprecedented FCPA Wake-Up Call For US Broker-Dealers
The extraordinary criminal bribery charges against two registered representatives of a U.S. broker-dealer and a high-level Venezuelan government official highlight that a broker-dealer’s anti-money laundering procedures, as well as oversight of their registered people, should have a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act component if the firm is doing international business, say attorneys with Duane Morris LLP.
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Libor Litigation Must Overcome Significant Obstacles
When U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald dismissed a consolidated, multidistrict batch of antitrust and racketeering suits in Manhattan earlier this spring, she suggested plaintiffs seeking to recover from banking giants at the heart of the interest rate-fixing scandal might have better luck with securities fraud claims. But those plaintiffs will need to be lucky indeed. Two recent developments show that obstacles are inherent and, perhaps, insurmountable, say attorneys with Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.
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NY Jumps On Domestic Violence Protection Bandwagon
In the last few years, there have been significant legal developments to increase protections for victims of domestic or sexual violence, including New York state's recently approved bill that provides 90 days of job protection to victim-employees. If the bill passes, New York legislation, along with that of Illinois and California, would provide arguably the most expansive state protection in the country, say attorneys with Proskauer Rose LLP.
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Tips For Your Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plan Policy
Now that investigations have been initiated by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the SEC into possible abuses by corporate executives of Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, the private securities bar inevitably will follow suit and file litigation. Nevertheless, these plans continue to be an effective defense against allegations of insider trading, say attorneys with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
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4 Takeaways From 2nd Highest FCPA Penalty
A New York federal court recently entered a final judgment against a former Siemens AG executive for his alleged role in a purported $100 million bribery scheme for Siemens to obtain a $1 billion contract from Argentina. Third-party sham contracts continue to be a prevalent theme in the alleged facts contained in corruption enforcement filings and resolutions, say attorneys with Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.