Law Reports

By Stephanie M. Acree A debtor was not defrauded by his mortgage servicer when he failed to receive a loan modification after rejecting a proposed modification during his bankruptcy proceeding, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held May 29 (McFarland v. Loan Care, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:12-cv-02847-JPO, 5/29/13). Judge J. Paul Oetken found [...]

By Jeff Bater Witnesses testifying before a congressional panel holding a hearing June 12 on reducing barriers to capital formation suggested ways for small companies to raise capital more efficiently, including “regulatory re-engineering” and tick size reform. The House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises explored obstacles to obtaining funding in [...]

By Tamlin H. Bason A 1978 agreement that ostensibly transferred all copyright interests in the Ghost Rider comic book character from the character’s creator to Marvel was ambiguous with respect to renewal rights, and therefore the district court erred when it dismissed the creator’s copyright infringement claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [...]

By Alison Bennett Final regulations (T.D. 9619) on how taxpayers can make an election for the treatment of stock sales under tax code Section 336(e) are the exclusive means of making the election, the principal author of the rules said June 11. Mark Weiss, an attorney in IRS’s Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Corporate), said following [...]

By Tony Dutra A $250,000 award of attorneys’ fees was vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit June 7 in a nonprecedential opinion (Precision Links Inc. v. USA Products Group Inc., Fed. Cir., No. 2012-1461, 6/7/13, unpub). Though the court agreed with many points the lower court made in finding the litigation an [...]

By Michael Bologna CHICAGO–The Chicago City Council has enacted an ordinance requiring lenders and landlords taking control of foreclosed rental properties to provide tenants with either a rent-controlled lease or a $10,600 payment to assist with relocation. By a vote of 45 to 4, the council June 5 endorsed the “Protecting Tenants in Foreclosed Rental Property [...]

By Lawrence E. Dubé A federal district court in Oregon June 7 held that a Labor Department regulation prohibiting an employer from taking or distributing employee tips even when the employer does not claim a tip credit under the Fair Labor Standards Act is inconsistent with the federal wage and hour law and is therefore invalid (Oregon Rest. [...]

By Sara Hansard Health insurers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have asked the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department to take steps to reduce the tax burden of the nondeductible health insurance fee that begins in 2014. America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the trade association that represents most health insurers in the United States, [...]

By Mike Ferullo The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants debt collectors to “adequately document” claims before obtaining judgments against consumers, Acting CFPB Deputy Director Steve Antonakes told a June 6 joint CFPB-Federal Trade Commission Roundtable. Reform efforts, Antonakes disclosed, are underway in some courts. “As litigation has become an increasingly used collections activity, we have been [...]

By Diane Davis A district court did not err in affirming the bankruptcy court’s determination that a debtor’s transfer of assets into brokerage accounts at Wachovia through a “stock loan” lending program, and the payment of commissions, fees, and margin interest to Wachovia were not fraudulent conveyances under Bankruptcy Code Sections 544 and 548, the [...]

By Kevin P. McGowan Two former Darden Restaurants Inc. employees in California must arbitrate their sexual harassment, retaliation, and related state law claims because the arbitration agreements they signed when hired are enforceable under the California Arbitration Act, the state appeals court ruled June 4 (Leos v. Darden Rests. Inc., Cal. Ct. App., No. B241630, [...]

By Jimmy H. Koo Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) June 5 sent a letter to New York Stock Exchange Euronext and Nasdaq OMX Group, urging them to consider proposing rules requiring a “one-share-one-vote” corporate structure for listed companies. “I believe the investing public would benefit greatly if you issued proposals for public comment soliciting input on this most fundamental [...]

By Tony Dutra President Barack Obama’s June 4 announcement of executive actions and suggested legislation to fight patent trolls hit a nerve among American business organizations and patent attorneys. Though the bulk of the announcement reflected actions already underway by the Patent and Trademark Office and legislation already introduced in Congress, stakeholders had largely been silent [...]

By David McAuley A counter-piracy organization’s ex parte application for early discovery of the identities of suspected infringers of a copyrighted movie that had been assigned to it was denied because of serious questions regarding the organization’s standing to sue, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled May 31 (Contra Piracy v. Doe, N.D. [...]

BNA Snapshot Case Summary: The Supreme Court justices’ questions during oral argument in the Myriad case indicated the court was leaning toward the government’s compromise position supporting cDNA patent claims but not those drawn to isolated DNA. Key Takeaway: However, the parties did not satisfy the court’s attempt, from the standpoint of either science or business expectations, [...]

By Pat Ware The Environmental Protection Agency released a report June 4 showing that $384 billion in improvements are needed for drinking water infrastructure through 2030. The total includes the needs of 73,400 drinking water systems across the United States, as well as American Indian and Alaska native village water systems, according to the report, which is based [...]

By Susan R. Hobbs Members of Communications Workers of America Local 1298 “by a strong majority of workers voting” ratify a four-year labor agreement with AT&T Inc. in the East region covering about 3,200 wireline workers in Connecticut, the union and company announced June 3. CWA Local 1298 President William Henderson praised union members and the [...]

By Yin Wilczek Most public companies are falling behind in their compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s conflict minerals disclosure rule, according to a survey released May 29 by risk management consultant Aravo Solutions Inc. The firm, in a survey of its customers, other companies, and industry participants, found that most issuers have yet to begin their [...]

By Florence Olsen Recently issued rules on wellness programs under the Affordable Care Act did not address the tax treatment of wellness incentives because that was not the purpose of the regulations, an Internal Revenue Service official said May 31. “Unfortunately, there’s been some confusion,” said Stephen B. Tackney, IRS deputy division counsel and deputy associate [...]

By Bebe Raupe CINCINNATI–Public employees’ statements made under threat of job loss during an administrative investigation are inadmissible in subsequent criminal proceedings against them, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled May 29 (State v. Graham, Ohio, No. 2012-0338, 5/29/13). In a 7-0 decision, the court reversed a ruling by the Ohio’s Court of Appeals, saying it [...]