New England Biz Law Update

Companies and their lawyers are scrambling mightily to comply with the sweeping provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act since its passage in July 2002, and as a result have been largely successful in setting up appropriate corporate governance procedures, experts tell New England In-House. But while compliance programs have been set up, in-house lawyers are now faced with an even harder task: Making it all work effectively.

(Below is the Call To Action written by Roderick Palmore, general counsel of Sara Lee, and circulated to general counsel at Fortune 500 companies, along with his cover letter. The letter was edited for length and clarity, while the Call ...

Below are summaries of important opinions affecting in-house attorneys issued by the 1st and 2nd Circuits and Delaware Court of Chancery from late July 2004 through early October 2004. Readers can access the full text of the opinions at www.newenglandbizlawupdate.com. ...

A landowner that was never subject to a CERCLA suit but voluntarily cleaned up toxic waste on its property can’t seek contribution from the prior owner, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 7-2 decision. The ruling could mean ...

Richard Clarke, former special assistant to the President for global affairs, recently spoke at a meeting of the New England Legal Foundation on the topic of cyber-security and what corporate lawyers can do to help their companies reduce the threat, ...

In the first criminal prosecution under the privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), a Seattle man has been indicted and has pled guilty to wrongfully disclosing an individual’s health information for economic gain. ...

It's not uncommon for savvy employees to assert false employment law claims as a way to shield themselves from termination, suspension, a poor job review, or as a bargaining chip to win a severance package, experts say. The problem of false claims is taking place at a time when retaliation complaints linked to underlying employment claims are skyrocketing.

With retaliation charges increasingly being tacked onto workplace discrimination and sexual harassment claims, employers can learn from the example of a Massachusetts-based mechanical contractor that saved itself from litigating a false claim and fired a dishonest employee all at once. ...

Given the unique, natural resources that Rhode Island has to offer, and the importance of those resources within the state, it’s helpful every so often to remind people that the U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with the state Attorney General’s Office ...

A defendant in a trademark infringement case could assert it made “fair use” of a descriptive term without having to disprove any consumer confusion resulting from that use, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. “It takes a long stretch to ...