Compliance with laws and regulations, financial reporting, disclosures, securities, employment, safety, advertising, consumer protection, tax, IP, environmental.

Psychedelics Decriminalization and Regulation with Griffen Thorne

March 10th, 2021|Categories: Corporate Compliance, ELP, Emerging Litigation & Risk, HB Risk Notes, Intellectual Property, News|Tags: , , , , |

Psychedelics Decriminalization and Regulation with Griffen Thorne Listen to my interview with Griffen Thorne, an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Harris Bricken LLP.  He focuses on corporate, transactional, intellectual property, data security, regulatory, and litigation matters across a wide variety of domestic and international industries. As part of Harris Bricken’s corporate cannabis team, he works closely with cannabis and hemp clients, whom he advises on obtaining licenses and permits, regulatory compliance, entity formation and structuring, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance issues, contract drafting and negotiation, obtaining and protecting intellectual property rights, and administrative appeals and litigation. He also represents clients throughout a wide range of industries regarding compliance with United States, European, and Asian Internet, technology, and data security laws and regulations. We hope you enjoy the interview. Tom Hagy Send questions or comments to Editor@LitigationConferences.com. What does the future hold for psychedelics in America? How are states approaching the ownership and use of these drugs, either for recreational or their controlled therapeutic use?

Couple Pleads Guilty to $1.1 Million COVID-Relief Fraud After Falsely Claiming to Be Farmers

March 8th, 2021|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, Corporate Compliance, News|Tags: , , , , |

Couple Pleads Guilty to $1.1 Million COVID-Relief Fraud After Falsely Claiming to Be Farmers News From the U.S. Department of Justice A Florida couple pleaded guilty for their participation in a scheme to file four fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $1.1 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.  On Aug. 26, 2020, Latoya Stanley, 38, and Johnny Philus, 33, both of Miami, were originally charged via a complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida. In Stanley’s PPP application, she claimed to employ 18 individuals from her company, Dream Gurl Beauty Supply LLC. Philus, meanwhile, stated that he employed 29 individuals at his company, Elegance Auto Boutique LLC. In actuality, Stanley and Philus did not employ anyone at their respective companies. In her EIDL application, Stanley claimed to generate over $800,000 in income and to employ five individuals from a farm based in the yard of her Miami home. In his EIDL application, Philus claimed to generate $400,000 in income and to employ 10 individuals from a farm located in the yard of a small residential home. In actuality, Stanley and Philus employed no one and the farms did not exist. Stanley [...]

Does Data Sharing and Zoombombing Cause Actual Harm?

January 14th, 2021|Categories: Corporate Compliance, HB Risk Notes, Technology Law|Tags: , , , |

Legal Writer Law Street Media FTC Settles Health Data Sharing and Privacy Suit With Fertility App Flo Health Nothing in this life is free. Or cheap. Free and low-cost apps. Free internet searches. Free email. Free iPhones. Yeah. We're paying for it one way or the other. In this case, once again, it's private health information some folks are paying with.  Here is an excerpt of a post shared with the permission of Fastcase and Law Street Media. --Tom Hagy, HB Litigation Conferences WASHINGTON, DC -- Jan. 13, 2021 -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)  announced that that it has reached a  proposed settlement with Flo Health, Inc., the “developer of a period and fertility-tracking app used by more than 100 million consumers,” over claims that the company shared user health information with third-party data analytics providers despite promising that this information would remain private. In the complaint, the FTC alleged that Flo promised users that it would keep their health data, which includes menstrual cycle tracking and a PMS symptom log, as well as ovulation, fertility, and pregnancy information, private because it would only use this information to provide the app’s services to users. However, the FTC averred that Flo disclosed millions of users’ health data from its Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker app to third-parties “that provided [...]

Does Data Sharing and Zoombombing Cause Actual Harm?

December 22nd, 2020|Categories: Class Actions, Complex Business Litigation, Corporate Compliance, HB Risk Notes, Technology Law|Tags: , , , |

Legal Writer Law Street Media Zoom Says Data Sharing, Zoombombing Doesn't Cause Personal Harm Zoom is a good name for this company. It seems to have come out of nowhere to become the new verb for web meetings, robbing that distinction from many more established competitors like WebEx and GoToMeeting, maybe because they don't have cool web-sounding names, although people don't seem to be saying "let's Skype later," as much as they used to. Sure, we still "Facetime," but Zoom really shot to the top when it comes to name recognition. According to CNBC's Ari Levy, Zoom reported fiscal third-quarter revenue growth of more than 300% after seeing 355% expansion in the prior period. The company's stock was up almost seven-fold this year but "pulled back in November on positive news surrounding a coronavirus vaccine," Levy reported. And with success comes risk, especially when dealing with private data.  Here is an excerpt of a post shared with the permission of Fastcase and Law Street Media. --Tom Hagy, HB Litigation Conferences Dec. 4, 2020 (San Francisco) -- On Wednesday [Dec. 2], in the Northern District of California, Zoom Video Communications filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ first amended consolidated class action complaint (FAC) on the grounds that the FAC failed to state a claim for which relief may be [...]

FTC’s Case Against Facebook Will Test the Flexibility of U.S. Antitrust Law

December 10th, 2020|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, Corporate Compliance, HB Risk Notes, News, Technology Law|Tags: , , , |

MoginRubin LLP Washington, DC | San Diego Explore more from MoginRubin LLP! Blog: Emboldened by New Resources and Expanded Authority, Feds Continue 10-Year Look Back at Chinese Investment. By Dan Mogin, Jonathan Rubin, Jennifer Oliver, and Timothy LaComb. List OnDemand CLE Webinar: The Antitrust Case Against Google. Dan Mogin, Jonathan Rubin, Jennifer Oliver, Timothy LaComb, John Newman, Dr. Alan Grant Blog: FTC’s Case Against Facebook Will Test the Flexibility of U.S. Antitrust Law.Authors: Jonathan Rubin and Jennifer Oliver, MoginRubin LLP Blog: Full Ninth Circuit Removes Unwarranted Hurdles to Class Certification. Jonathan Rubin, Dan Mogin. Journal: Policy Derailed: Can U.S. Antitrust Policy Toward Standard Essential Patents Get Back on Track by Jonathan Rubin Webinar: Class Certification After Olean v. Bumble Bee with Jonathan Rubin, James Bogan lll, Jonathan Cohn, Bradley Hamburger. Journal: FTC v. Amazon: Market Definitions and Section 5 of the FTC Act Podcast: Algorithmic Software Facilitated Price Fixing with Jonathan Rubin Plus, additional insights from the MoginRubin Blog. FTC's Case Against Facebook Will Challenge the Adaptability of U.S. Antitrust Law Society leads, and the law follows. This is especially true in antitrust, where industries and markets undergo constant change brought about by innovation and changing consumer behavior. Confronted with ever evolving commercial circumstances, the courts face a constant struggle to keep up. With the filing of the antitrust cases against [...]

Chubb’s COVID-19 Claim Denials Draw Litigation from Hollywood

December 7th, 2020|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, Corporate Compliance, HB Risk Notes, HB Tort Notes, Insurance, News|Tags: , , , |

Editor and Managing Director HB Litigation Conferences Editor@LitigationConferences.com Chubb’s COVID-19 Claim Denials Draw Litigation from Hollywood Well-known policyholder and insurance recovery attorney Kirk Pasich and his firm have sued Chubb insurance companies on behalf of policyholders in the entertainment industry to recover millions in losses they suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Entertainment Business Interruption On Nov. 11, 2020, the firm filed suit on behalf of United Talent Agency LLC in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Vigilant Insurance Co. and Federal Insurance Co. UTA seeks coverage for the millions it lost when concerts and television and movie projections had to be cancelled. The complaint says both carriers are part of the Chubb group, “which has adopted a universal practice of denying coverage for all business interruption claims associated with SARS-CoV-2, Covid-19, and subsequent events” (UTA v. Vigilant, No. 20STCV43745, Calif. Super. Ct., Los Angeles). Acts affected include Post Malone, Guns N' Roses, and Toby Keith. The case hinges in part on the carriers’ assertion that there was no “physical loss or damage.” UTA finds Vigilant based its finding on little information, and knowing for decades that "many courts have held that the presence of a hazardous substance on a property, including the airspace inside buildings, constitutes property damage and that there may be ‘direct [...]

Emboldened by New Resources and Expanded Authority, Feds Continue 10-Year Look Back at Chinese Investment

October 17th, 2020|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, Corporate Compliance, HB Risk Notes, News|Tags: , , |

MoginRubin LLP By Dan Mogin, Jonathan Rubin, Jennifer M. Oliver, and Timothy Z. LaComb Journal: Policy Derailed: Can U.S. Antitrust Policy Toward Standard Essential Patents Get Back on Track. Author, Jonathan Rubin, MoginRubin LLP. Podcast: Algorithmic Software Facilitated Price Fixing with Jonathan Rubin Journal:  FTC v. Amazon: Market Definitions and Section 5 of the FTC Act. Author, Jonathan Rubin, MoginRubin LLP Blog: Full Ninth Circuit Removes Unwarranted Hurdles to Class Certificatio. Authors, Jonathan Rubin and Dan Mogin, MoginRubin LLP Blog: FTC’s Case Against Facebook Will Test the Flexibility of U.S. Antitrust Law. By Jonathan Rubin and Jennifer Oliver, MoginRubin LLP OnDemand CLE Webinar:   The Antitrust Case Against Google. Speakers Dan Mogin, Jonathan Rubin, Jennifer Oliver, Timothy LaComb, John Newman, Dr. Alan Grant OnDemand CLE Webinar: Class Certification After Olean v. Bumble Bee, Jonathan Rubin, James Bogan, Jonathan Cohn, Bradley Hamburger Interested in More CLE OnDemand? Click Here. Interested in this program? Click here to send us a note. Emboldened by New Resources and Expanded Authority, Feds Continue 10-Year Look Back at Chinese Investment At a conference earlier this year on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, Assistant Treasury Secretary Thomas P. Feddo spoke with pride of the Committee’s increased funding, jurisdiction, expenditures, and more aggressive review activities. Feddo began [...]

Cryptocurrency Article and Webinar

September 23rd, 2020|Categories: Corporate Compliance, HB Risk Notes, News, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

Cryptocurrency: The Good, The Bad, and the Tricky According to a recent Visual Capitalist article, there are now more than 5,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation, fueling an exploding $200 billion industry. Clearly it is a boom time for virtual asset service providers, or VASPs, like cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet providers. Despite its notoriety, mystique still surrounds cryptocurrency, from its use of blockchain technology, to the benefits and weaknesses of trading decentralized money, to national security implications. With crypto’s rise comes global implications. Its use often makes its way into headlines about criminal activity, such as the recent arrest of a 19-year-old and his friends for their alleged roles in a highly publicized Twitter hack. Forensic tools are in a constant state of development. For example, blockchain analysis tools assisted investigators in quickly identifying the young Twitter hackers, according to a post on the CipherTrace blog. Two Sides of the Digital Coin. There are many upsides to cryptocurrency. Transactions are secure without bank oversight. They can be processed at any time, not just during business hours. It has purchase power anywhere. Finally, cryptocurrency may provide greater benefit to developing countries where the local currency may swing due to exchange rate instability. In such countries, and where many citizens may be unbanked, supplanting traditional coinage with cryptocurrency could stabilize finance and open its doors to many. With crypto’s rise comes global implications. Shortcomings [...]

European Union’s Top Court Strikes Down EU-US Privacy Shield

August 25th, 2020|Categories: Corporate Compliance, Emerging Litigation & Risk, HB Risk Notes, News, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

European Union's Top Court Strikes Down EU-US Privacy Shield The Court of Justice for the European Union has invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield as an approved mechanism for transferring personal data from the European Union to the United States. The Privacy Shield had been in place since October 2015, and enabled U.S. companies to more easily receive personal data from EU entities. The decision by the court “leaves many companies scrambling to implement alternative mechanisms to safeguard personal data transfers to the U.S.," says Sten-Erik Hoidal of Frederikson & Byron, P.A. With the invalidation of the privacy shield, companies are essentially left to decide on their own how data will be lawfully transferred. Attorneys from Perkins Coie recommend companies “consider amending any data processing addenda (DPAs) which companies have signed with vendors or customers to incorporate the EU Standard Contract Clauses.” Moving forward, U.S. and European companies will now attempt to create a new deal that complies with the privacy standards for transferring digital information. The first large company to weigh in on the decision, Microsoft tells customers that they “can continue to use Microsoft services in full compliance with European law” and that the ruling “does not change the data flows of our services to Consumers.”   Photo by Tabrez Syed on Unsplash Send Us Your News

Organizational Values & Business Risks: Properly Balancing Stakeholder Concerns

August 6th, 2020|Categories: CLE OnDemand, Complex Business Litigation, Corporate Compliance, Employment, HB Risk Notes, Mass Torts, News|Tags: , , , |

Accommodations. Appropriate accommodation for high-risk employees or employees with family members who are at a heightened risk. Mitigation. Attention to means of mitigating transmission and infection. Tracing. Contact tracing and management of data collected, including health data, as well as responses to employees who refuse to report. Patient Sensitivity. Duty to avoid discrimination and stigmatization. Preparedness. Developing plans to address possibility of re-occurrence in the fall and managing possible outbreaks in company’s offices. On-demand on the Thomson Reuters West LegalEdcenter as part of the HB catalog. Organizational Values & Coronavirus Business Risks: Properly Balancing Stakeholder Concerns Produced for Emory University Center for Ethics by HB Litigation Conferences The current pandemic confronts businesses, nonprofit organizations, governments, and the legal profession with innumerable ethical challenges.  Management issues and liability concerns, stakeholder demands and legal duties become even more complex in an environment of uncertainty and one where the consequences could result in serious illness or even death.  This program seeks to engage the participants in thinking through these challenges and developing processes of ethical response to them.  Managers must acknowledge and address the framework of fear associated with the pandemic, ranging from fear of contagion and death to fears of unemployment, childcare, and the duties of home-schooling.  Additionally, as the economy reopens there must be [...]

Microsoft Sued Over Data Sharing in Class Action

July 26th, 2020|Categories: Class Actions, Complex Business Litigation, Corporate Compliance, HB Risk Notes, HB Tort Notes, News, Technology Law|Tags: , |

Microsoft Sued Over Data Sharing in Class Action Consumers, including individuals and companies, filed a class action complaint  against Microsoft in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming the company shared consumer data without consent to subcontractors and third parties, including Facebook, despite policies that stated otherwise.  The plaintiffs accused Microsoft of “misrepresenting its privacy and security practices, violating federal and state law, and illegally sharing and using its business-class Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Exchange customers’ data.”  Read more from Law Street Media: https://lawstreetmedia.com/tech/microsoft-sued-over-data-sharing-in-class-action/

Healthcare Industry Antitrust Measures Advance as Pandemic Pressures Persist

July 15th, 2020|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, Corporate Compliance, Emerging Litigation & Risk, News|Tags: , , , , |

Healthcare Industry Antitrust Measures Advance as Pandemic Pressures Persist Did consolidation help frustrate U.S. COVID-19 preparedness? Clearly antitrust enforcers must consider external circumstances like the COVID-19 crisis when making enforcement decisions, and the agencies have bene able to pivot to respond to this crisis remarkably quickly. It is important, however, to also consider whether and how these emergency COVID-19 collaborations will unwind once the crisis has subsided. Collaborating competitors will have already shared critical information and resources, and that momentum can be difficult to halt. Jennifer M. Oliver, Partner, MoginRubin LLP READ MORE Jennifer M. Oliver Partner MoginRubin LLP

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