In 1968, Congress enacted the Federal Magistrates Act to institute a system of magistrate judges to replace the United States commissioner system, which had been in place in some form since the 1790s. The purpose of the act was “to improve the quality of the judicial officers serving just below the Continue Reading
Heads Up! Inflation Adjustments to Acquisition Thresholds Are Just Around the Corner
“Want Coke? Buy Pepsi!” Is This Confusing?
Suppose you walk into a greasy cheeseburger joint and ask for a Coke®. A cook who looks remarkably like the late John Belushi doesn’t say, “No Coke; Pepsi.” Instead, he says, “You want Coke? Have a Pepsi!” and you buy the Pepsi®. Does Coke have a claim that you were confused into buying Pepsi? That Continue Reading
New Pennsylvania Law to Simplify Entity Transactions
Pennsylvania’s new Entity Transactions Law is expected to streamline the process of effecting certain fundamental changes or change of control transactions. Effective July 1, 2015, companies doing, or wishing to conduct, business in Pennsylvania will now be able to seamlessly complete certain Continue Reading
Six Tips for Generating Buzz Without Getting Stung
A good marketing department knows how to generate product “buzz” by leveraging external influencers and promotions. The challenge for the company is to avoid being stung by the FTC’s recently published Endorsement Guides (the “Guides”), or older regulations. Influencers can be consumers, Continue Reading
State Toughens Spill Reporting Requirements
Connecticut’s spill reporting thresholds have been lowered, so you may now need to report releases that would not have triggered reporting requirements in the past. The changes to the "Significant Environmental Hazard" Law took effect on July 1. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Continue Reading
In the Red: Decedent’s Creditors and Non-Probate Assets
Traditionally, wills were the primary vehicle under which wealth was transferred to heirs. A will generally contains an express declaration that the executor satisfy the testator's debts. Very generally, the executor or administrator is not merely the representative of the decedent's estate, but Continue Reading
FTC Eyes Kickstarter Campaigns for Consumer Protection
Most Kickstarter projects never reach the funding threshold, so funders never pay anything into the venture. However, as shown by recent enforcement action, agencies such as the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) have become interested in the 37% that do receive funding. Those using crowdfunding Continue Reading
New Delaware Law Invalidates “Fee-shifting” and Validates “Forum-selection” Provisions
The legislation signed into law last week responds to the Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in ATP Tour, Inc. v. Deutscher Tennis Bund, 91 A.3d 554 (Del. 2014) in which the Court upheld as facially valid a nonstock corporation bylaw imposing liability for the corporation’s legal fees on members who Continue Reading
1F Y0U CAN R3AD TH15—Security and Scam Alert
You may think there is no value in chasing domain name squatters because customers find your website through search engines, but consider squatters as internal and external security risks. A constantly evolving threat, there are new variations on old domain name scams. Spear-Phishing Among Your Continue Reading