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Lawmakers worked to complete their legislative “to do” list during the lame duck session of Congress, including tax relief legislation, a continuing resolution to keep the government running into next year in the absence of regular FY 2011 appropriations bills, and a host of other end-of-session priorities. In health-related news, such priorities included a one year patch to prevent deep reimbursement cuts from impacting physicians. In addition, two legal challenges to the new healthcare reform law also made headlines last week. …
Read More Healthcare News From Capitol Hill and The Department of Health and Human Services – December 20, 2010

Following the reasoning of the First Circuit in its Genzyme decision (see prior blog entry here), a federal court in Virginia has granted summary judgment to an insured whose carrier had sued to recoup a $15 million settlement under a D&O policy.  Houston Casualty Company v. Sprint Nextel Corporation, No. 09-cv-1387 (E.D.Va. Nov. 22, 2010). …
Read More Virginia Court Follows First Circuit’s Genzyme Reasoning, Rejects Carrier’s Bid to Recoup $15mm D&O Payout

The federal government filed a lawsuit yesterday in federal district  court in New Orleans — U.S. v. BP Exploration & Production Inc., et al. – seeking damages under the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act for all costs and harms caused by the BP disaster, including damages to the environment. …
Read More Obama Administration Sues BP and Others For the Deepwater Horizon Disaster

In Templeton Insurance Ltd v Motorcare Warranties Ltd [2010] EWHC 3113 (Comm) the Commercial Court heard a dispute between Templeton, an insurance company incorporated in the Isle of Man, engaged in the business of selling mechanical breakdown insurance (MBI), and its UK agent, Motorcare. …
Read More UK: Fraudulent Misrepresentation by Onshore Agent to Offshore Insurer

A federal court in Florida ruled this fall that a D&O policy does not cover the insured company’s costs in responding to an SEC investigation, nor its internal investigation costs in response to a whistleblower complaint. …
Read More Court Holds That D&O Policy Does Not Cover Internal Investigations Or Costs In Responding to SEC Investigations

Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling denying the motion of plaintiffs-appellants (collectively “LSED”) to compel arbitration of a dispute with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (“MLPFS”), finding that LSED waived its right to arbitrate by litigating the case for nearly a year before filing its motion. …
Read More Second Circuit Determines Party Waived its Right to Arbitrate

A recently-filed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) complaint asserts that a company’s social media policy, which forbids employees from engaging in certain activities on the Internet, violates federal labor law. …
Read More NLRB Complaint Asserts That Employer’s Social Media Policy Violates Federal Labor Law

On December 8, 2010, the United States House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 3987, the Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010, to exempt lawyers, doctors, accountants, and other professionals from the Red Flags* Rule.  Having been approved by both Houses of Congress, the Act requires only President Obama’s signature to become law. …
Read More Congress Passes Act to Exclude Attorneys, Other Professionals From Reach of Red Flags Rule

In the wake of the worldwide financial crisis and election of the UK’s coalition govrnment, HM Treasury proposed a wholesale overhaul of the financial regulatory system in the UK in a consultation document issued in July 2010 entitled “A new approach to financial regulation: judgement, focus and stability“. …
Read More UK: Treasury Publishes Responses to its Consultation on Reforming the Financial Regulatory System