1. JD Supra Morning Brief: HJ Heinz, Consumer Fraud, Animal Testing, Buy American

    Sudoku, crossword puzzles, KenKen, ha! Be the first on the bus to take the JD Supra Morning Brief’s True or False quiz instead. And when you’re done, send us an email with your T/F answers and you might win a JD Supra hoody! 

    We’ll pick five people at random from emails we get with correct answers, so be sure to include your name, address, and jacket size. And while you’re at it, let us know what’s working, what topics you’d like to see covered. Feedback welcome…

    T or F? The acquisition of H.J. Heinz by Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital took less than two months to come together (Bloomberg Law) 

    T or F? Consumer fraud was the top complaint logged in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network database in 2012 (Foley & Lardner) 

    T or F? Richard Cordray, nominated by President Obama to be Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was put through the wringer at his Senate Banking Committee hearing (Ballard Spahr) 

    T or F? Large employers must provide minimum essential healthcare coverage to at least 85% of full-time employees and their dependents to avoid paying under “pay-or-play” rules of the Affordable Care Act (Leonard, Street and Deinard) 

    T or F? The nation’s biggest banks continue to avoid disclosure of data security risks and breaches in public SEC filings (Mintz Levin) 

    T or F? The first mandatory recall made by the FDA under the authority of the Food Safety Modernization Act was issued for pet treats (Morgan Lewis) 

    T or F? The National Labor Relations Board will petition the Supreme Court for review of the DC Court of Appeals ruling in Noel Canning v. NLRB (JD Supra Contributors) 

    T or F? Implementation of Europe’s total ban on animal testing of cosmetic products was delayed for 90 days from its planned March 11, 2013 start (K&L Gates) 

    T or F? Commissions paid to an independent sales representative hawking medical equipment violate the federal anti-kickback statute (BakerHostetler) 

    T or F? Canada is fighting the U.S. “Buy American Act” via the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations in Singapore (King & Spalding) 

    T or F? Shoppers in Los Angeles County have to pay a 10¢ tax on every paper carryout bag they receive from retailers (Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard) 

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  2. JD Supra Morning Brief: Lance Armstrong, Kim Dotcom, Debt Buyers, Musical Chairs

    Mondays are rough all around. Let the JD Supra Morning Brief smooth off the edges: 

    Should the feds impose greater transparency on corporate political spending? This Columbia Law professor thinks so (Bloomberg Law) 

    FCPA compliance practitioners can learn a lot from Lance Armstrong… (Thomas Fox) 

    Does the Communications Decency Act provide immunity to website operators for defamatory statements that they actively encouraged? (Holland & Knight) 

    Wondering how to spend your management training dollars? The EEOC can tell you (Littler) 

    Kim Dotcom’s new “sharing” website Mega? It’s already received a host of copyright infringement warnings… (Baldwins) 

    The Federal Trade Commission has issued a “first-of-its-kind” study of debt buyers (Ballard Spahr) 

    A public market for private company shares? Yep. And it’s growing (Cohen & Gresser) 

    Can’t keep up with the musical chairs game in President Obama’s cabinet? This will help (King & Spalding) 

    Thinking of putting full-time employees on part-time schedules to avoid health care costs next year? (Akerman Senterfitt) 

    New rules for foreign banks operating in the United States (Dechert) 

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    @JDSupraBuzz

  3. JD Supra Morning Brief: The SEC & Social Media, Workplace Romance & Love Contracts, Zombies & Foreclosures, Bitcoins & the FBI

    Why did the chicken cross the road? To read the JD Supra Morning Brief, of course:

    What does the American Taxpayer Relief Act mean to individual taxpayers? Watch and learn… (Warner Norcross & Judd) 

    The SEC should stop fighting social media, and embrace it as a tool for communicating information to the investing public (Morvillo Abramowitz) 

    2013 promises to be a very, very busy year for healthcare reform (Carlton Fields) 

    Run for your lives – the zombies are coming! To foreclosed real estate properties, that is… (Bilzin Sumberg) 

    It’s not very romantic when workplace sweethearts are required to sign an employer-mandated “love contract.” But it may keep everyone out of court… (Mintz Levin) 

    New accessibility rules for hotels and other places of public accommodation go into effect on January 31, 2013 (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips) 

    Afraid to use the “home office deduction” for fear of inviting an IRS audit? The Taxman wants to help (Fein Such)

    California Attorney General Kamala Harris continues to set the standard for consumer privacy protections in the mobile app industry (JD Supra Contributors) 

    California high school suspends senior for her poem about the Sandy Hook tragedy (Franczek Radelet) 

    Bitcoin: it’s not just for heroin users and online gamblers anymore. But is it a legal currency? (Ifrah Law) 

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    @JDSupraBuzz

  4. JD Supra Morning Brief: Too Sexy for this Job, Nanotechnology Makes Big Gains, Facebook Firings (and Rehirings) Continue, More

    Our 2013 resolution: keep up the steady stream of law news and updates in the JD Supra Morning Brief: 

    Bankruptcy lawyers and turnaround managers can expect another lousy year in 2013 (Bloomberg Law) 

    Fired for being too attractive? Yep – and it’s perfectly legal, too… (Looper Reed & McGraw) (Akerman Senterfitt)

    California lawmakers want nonprofits participating in state political campaigns to disclose the names of their donors (Proskauer) 

    2012 was a very big year for patenting very little things… (Foley & Lardner) 

    Have something to say about the Department of Commerce’s proposed export control reform rules? It’s now or never… (Baker Donelson) 

    The NLRB has ordered Hispanics United of Buffalo to reinstate five employees fired over Facebook postings (Ballard Spahr) (Foley Hoag)

    The White House is quietly moving ahead with an executive order on cybersecurity (Carlton Fields) 

    Wonder how new taxes under the healthcare reform law will affect you? Read this (Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn) 

    No, it won’t help your New York state custody battle to secretly record a phone conversation and present it in court (Bryan L. Salamone & Associates) 

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is poised to change the rules for determining unfair lending practices (Ifrah Law) 

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  5. JD Supra Morning Brief: Year-end Tax Planning, Criminal Antitrust Fines, Social Media in the C-Suite, Good Advice from Bad Santa

    Made your dinner plans for New Year’s Eve yet? Our recommendation: smoked salmon, sparkling wine, and the JD Supra Morning Brief.

    Q: when is 30 hours a week full time? A: when the Affordable Care Act is counting (McNees Wallace & Nurick) 

    What’s all the uproar about arbitration, anyway? (BakerHostetler) 

    Corporate executives can get into a lot of hot water on social media. Here’s how to state cool (Social Media Today) 

    How’s your year-end tax planning coming? ‘Cause you only have, like, two weeks… (JD Supra contributors) 

    Will big data help us avert the next mortgage loan crisis? (Foley & Lardner) 

    It’s been a good year at the DOJ’s criminal Antitrust Division (and by good year we mean record fines and prison sentences) (Pepper Hamilton) 

    Bad Santa gives good advice – if you do the opposite of what he says, that is… (Constangy, Brooks & Smith) 

    UBS just agreed to a $1.5 billion fine for manipulating the LIBOR rate. But that’s not even the biggest bank fraud settlement of the week (Shipkevich PLLC) 

    Can Congress ban paid political ads from public television? We’ll know soon enough (Jackson Walker) 

    “Stevia in the Raw” is composed of approximately 5% stevia and 95% bulking agent (Foley Hoag) 

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  6. JD Supra Morning Brief: High School Fantasy Slut League? Police-File Confetti? Déjà Vu All Over Again for Health Care Reform?

    Still shaking off the effects of a four-day tryptophan feast? We’ve got the perfect cure – the JD Supra Morning Brief: 

    Featured Video: In honor of Movember, Bloomberg Law takes a look at some of the finest mustaches the legal profession has ever known (Bloomberg Law) 

    Note to self: make sure sensitive police files are shredded, not turned into confetti for the Macy’s Day Parade (BakerHostetler) 

    Everything you ever wanted to know about employee benefits administration and leaves of absence. Really. (Littler) 

    Whether it’s an early form of rape or merely a gossip page, Piedmont High School’s “fantasy slut league” sends an important warning to parents and administrators alike (Cullen and Dykman) 

    Shopping for a student loan will be a lot easier in a few years (Ballard Spahr) 

    Health care reform is here to stay. Are you ready? (Small Business Support) 

    Hold on, maybe we spoke too soon – another lawsuit over the constitutionality of Obamacare is winding its way through the courts (Barger & Wolen) 

    Is “texasworkerscomplaw.com” one of the seven words you can’t say on the internet? The Texas Department of Insurance wants you to think so (Ifrah Law) 

    Smoke may get into your eyes (and nose and mouth), but it’s not likely to get into the Washington workplace (Perkins Coie) 

    Pay it forward: how corporations can help reduce the 2013 tax burden of their highly compensated employees (Skadden Arps) 

    Kick off this year’s awards season with Crunched Credit’s third annual Golden Turkey awards (Dechert) 

    California’s Governor just signed into law two new weapons to use in the fight against religious discrimination (Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard) 

    Need time off to care for your mother on a week-long recreational trip to Las Vegas? The FMLA’s got your back (Franczek Radelet) 

    Time to pay the piper: court rules adult clubs must classify exotic dancers as employees, not contractors (BakerHostetler) 

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    @JDSupraBuzz

  7. JD Supra Morning Brief: Google Gets Sloppy, Pot Gets Legal, SEC Gets Third Strike…

    Hungry for the latest in law news? Enjoy this hearty helping of our Supra du jour:

    Dodd-Frank regulation and reform of the financial system is just getting started (Levick) 

    Google changed its search algorithms to punish websites with a high number of copyright infringement removal notices. But they haven’t quite worked out all of the fine points (McAfee & Taft) 

    The accounting fraud we know (and love?) – financial statement fraud à la Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, and others – is slowly fading away. But don’t worry: there’s a new fraud in town to take its place (Morvillo Abramowitz) 

    Washington and Colorado are abuzz with the news, but legal pot in those states probably doesn’t mean a lot for employers (Small Business Support) 

    The SEC is finding out that it’s not so easy to prove criminal fraud against individuals for their alleged roles in the financial crisis (Orrick) 

    It’s official: health care reform is here to stay. Time to get with the program (FordHarrison) 

    Employers may not be able to prevent harassment, but they’d better act decisively once it happens (Pullman & Comley) 

    China’s transfer of power could spell trouble for foreign internet content providers (Pillsbury) 

    Companies regulated by the FDA need to start using 21st century communications tools for product recall notifications (Sedgwick) 

    Sears and Darden Restaurants may be leading the way to consumer driven health care in the spirit of reform’s loftiest goals: to contain costs, increase quality, and expand coverage (Mintz Levin) 

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  8. JD Supra Morning Brief: Sandy’s Raw Sewage, Hobbit IP, Taxmageddon, and Weeding Out the Issues on Colorado…

    What’s more fun than a barrel full of monkeys? The JD Supra Morning Brief:

    Interesting interview with George Lucas’ lawyer on the Lucasfilm acquisition by Disney (bonus: no mention of Jar Jar Binks) (Bloomberg Law) 

    You might not want to go swimming in Long Island Sound for a while (and you certainly won’t want to read this update before, during, or right after breakfast) (Gilbert LLP) 

    Speaking of Hurricane Sandy, if you were affected by the storm, your tax deadline may have been extended (Is That Legal?) 

    Florida has finally adopted a plan to distribute its $300 million share of the national mortgage settlement (Eckstein Schechter Law) 

    As it turns out, employers aren’t responsible for paying unpaid time not reported by an employee (Miller Canfield) 

    Global Asylum – the film company that brought us yesterday’s Winchester Mystery House – is at it again. Their new “mockbuster”? Age of the Hobbits. And yes, there’s a new trademark infringement lawsuit (Foley Hoag) 

    Copyright “termination rights” were granted to protect artists who were taken advantage of before they got their big break. That’s the theory at least: the rights only go into effect 35 years after the copyright was originally created (Heenan Blaikie) 

    What does Colorado’s legalization of marijuana mean for employers in the state? Time to update their substance abuse policies (Sherman & Howard) 

    You’ve got less than two months to prepare for taxmageddon. Go (Sheehan Phinney) 

    The Affordable Care Act is here to stay. What do employers need to know? (Foley Hoag) 

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  9. JD Supra Morning Brief: Medical Pot Wins, GMO Labeling Loses, Health Care Reform Marches On…

    Going through election news withdrawals? One cure we like is the JD Supra Morning Brief:

    Think you know wine? Watch this, then answer that question (Bloomberg Law) 

    The election’s over, and It’s back to business for health care reform (McDermott Will & Emery) (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips) 

    Voters approved a referendum making Massachusetts the 18th state to allow the use of medical marijuana (Mintz Levin) 

    California voters apparently don’t want to know when they’re eating genetically modified foods (Morrison & Foerster) 

    Pandora has turned to the courts for help renegotiating the music licensing fees it pays to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) (Heenan Blaikie) 

    The ACLU has sued a financial institution for encouraging subprime loans in Detroit so that they could securitize and sell the loans (BuckleySandler) 

    On second thought, maybe mooning your boss isn’t such a good idea after all (Sherman & Howard) 

    This DOL Administrative Review Board decision that a whistleblower consultant to a non-public company is entitled to the same Sarbanes-Oxley protections as public company employees may leave your head spinning (Sheppard Mullin) 

    Contractor or employee? The question is just as relevant down under (Baker & McKenzie Australia) 

    Let them eat cake: bankruptcy court allows Hostess to reject the company’s collective bargaining agreements with the Bakers’ Union (Cadwalader) 

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  10. JD Supra Morning Brief: Politically Correct Outsourcing, Fired Over a Facebook Leak, Nightmare on Any Street, Sandy

    From the Buzz Files, your morning legal brief. Goes well with coffee and a Danish:

    Neither rain, nor wind, nor anything Hurricane Sandy throws at them will stop these lawyers from seeking justice (Bloomberg Law) 

    Speaking of Frankenstorm, here are five tips for a smooth disaster recovery (Small Business Support) 

    Loose lips sink careers, especially when you work at Citigroup (Pullman & Comley) 

    Onshoring is the new black. Or maybe the new offshoring. Either way, you can outsource your work AND keep it at home (Pillsbury) 

    Developers: if you’re going to claim your mobile app treats acne, you’ll need to back it up (Fenwick & West) 

    Everything you wanted to know about health care reform (spoiler alert: some deadlines are coming up fast) (McDermott Will & Emery) 

    The Work-for-Hire doctrine of the Copyright Act defines who owns a copyrightable work created by an employee (Wilson Sonsini) 

    How are you going to pay for that FCPA lawsuit? (Gilbert LLP) 

    School district: 1, Students and Free Speech advocates: 0 (Franczek Radelet) 

    There’s an oversupply of natural gas in the U.S. Really (Sedgwick) 

    Didn’t make it to the Mortgage’s Bankers Association annual convention? Here’s what they discussed (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips) 

    It’s almost Halloween. Time to find an alternate route for your morning commute (Greenberg Glusker) 

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