In the recent High Court decision of Shoalhaven City Council v Firedam Civil Engineering Pty Limited[2011] HCA 38, the Court reinforced its trend against setting aside expert determinations except in limited circumstances. The High Court held that an expert determination, which had been conducted in accordance with the provisions of a contract, expressed to be binding on the parties, generally prevented legal proceedings in respect of the same subject matter. read more…
Monthly Archives: October 2011
ILN Today Post
October 12, 2011
High Court set standard for expert determination – Shoalhaven City Council v Firedam Civil Engineering Pty Limited
October 11, 2011
Healthcare Alert: Construction Contracts for Medical Facilities–Key Legal and Practical Issues
ILN Today Post
October 11, 2011
Post-Google Buzz: Has Google+ Gotten Privacy Right?
In June, Google unveiled the test phase of its new social network, Google+. While Google+ is regarded as Google’s “response” to Facebook, the service is Google’s second attempt at social networking after privacy problems plagued Google Buzz, a Twitter-like service based around user updates.
Key questions that may impact the ultimate success of Google+ are whether Google+ has addressed those user privacy concerns and whether opening Google+ to third-party advertisers and brands will leave it vulnerable to the flaws that doomed Google Buzz.
For the full article, please click here.
October 11, 2011
Investigating Sexual Assault Claims – Even Private Colleges Are Vulnerable
E. Jason Tremblay
A recent Tennessee federal jury case involving a private university reminds the academy of the critical need to balance fairly the interests of the accused and accuser in investigating sexual assault cases. While private colleges and universities are not strictly obligated to follow the 14th Amendment due process restraints as are their public counterparts, their procedures must nonetheless be fair, balanced, and evenly applied. If not, the school can be liable, not just in contract for failing to follow its own rules (whatever they may be), but also in tort if actions taken are not reasonable and cause harm. On this basis, an institution can find itself both remediating a procedural failing and paying unlimited damages for emotional distress and similar non-contractual harms.
October 11, 2011
Employment Law Update: NLRB Posting Rule Postponed
E. Jason Tremblay
It was just announced that the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has postponed the effective date of its new rule regarding the posting of the Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act. As previously reported, the new poster was originally required to be posted by private employers on November 14, 2011. However, the Notice is now required to be posted on January 31, 2012. This delay will allow businesses subject to the National Labor Relations Act additional time to comply with this requirement as well as to “allow for enhanced education and outreach to employers, particularly those who operate a small and medium size businesses.” In short, the additional time will allow employers to prepare for and properly comply with the new NLRB Notice requirement.
Should you have any questions, or should you need any further information regarding the new NLRB posting requirement, please do not hesitate to contact E. Jason Tremblay of Arnstein & Lehr LLP at (312) 876-6676 or by email at ejtremblay@arnstein.com.
October 11, 2011
NLRB Extends Employer Notice Posting Deadline to 2012
By: Kara M. Maciel
On August 25, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) adopted a final rule to require all employers to post a notice of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). The required posting provides information to employees about the right to organize a union, bargain collectively, and engage in protected concerted activity – as well as the right to refrain from such activity. Significantly, this posting requirement is required for all hospitality employers – large and small — regardless of whether your operations are unionized or not.
Now, the NLRB has postponed the deadline to post the notice from November 18, 2011 to January 31, 2012. The NLRB stated the extension was “in order to allow for enhanced education and outreach to employers, particularly those who operate small and medium sized businesses.” A copy of the notice is now available on the NLRB’s website .
October 11, 2011
Trademark Interlocutory Injunction Denied to Target
In Target Brands Inc. v. Fairweather Ltd., the Federal Court of Canada refused to grant the interlocutory injunction sought by the American retail chain, this recent application being part of a continuing battle.
In 2002, Target’s counsel initiated proceedings under s. 45 of the Trade-Marks Act to cancel INC’s trade-mark registration for TARGET APPAREL. The Registrar of Trade-marks issued a notice on April 2002 requiring INC to show use of the trade-mark registration in Canada. INC filed an affidavit on its use of the trade-mark in response to the s. 45 notice. The Registrar of Trade-marks held that the evidence was insufficient to show use. INC appealed the Registrar’s decision and the Federal Court reversed that decision on October 19, 2006. Target’s counsel appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal, which affirmed the Federal Court decision on November 26, 2007.
October 11, 2011
Jason Tremblay gets reversal of IDOL wage payment demands on behalf of client
Jason E. Tremblay
Chicago Partner Jason E. Tremblay recently obtained the reversal of several Wage Payment Demands issued by the Illinois Department of Labor (“IDOL”) on behalf of a client. The client was an assignee for the benefit of the creditors of an Illinois company that was financially distressed. Instead of filing a bankruptcy, the company elected to conduct an assignment for the benefit of creditors. In that regard, the assignee continued to wind down the operations of the business in order to liquidate assets and to pay off creditors of the company. Thereafter, several former employees of the company who were allegedly not paid wages filed wage claims before the IDOL. The IDOL Administrative Law Judge held that, in light of the fact that the business was still operating (albeit in the limited role of just liquidating assets to pay off secured creditors), the assignee was still an “employer” under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act and therefore subject to liability.
October 11, 2011
ACO Final Rule On Its Way
Final rules related to Accountable Care Organizations on their way to finalization.
For more information please visit www.omwhealthlaw.com or click on the headline above.
October 11, 2011
Tip for Tuesday – Content Publishing
You may have noticed a lack of posting here lately – I’ve been waiting for Facebook to roll out their changes before going ahead with additional how-to’s. I don’t want to be obsolete too quickly! But I will be back this week with a re-cap of our corporate break out session at our recent European Regional Meeting.
In the meantime, I do have a tip for Tuesday, and it’s about publishing content to your website.
Firms, I know many of you have your marketing departments handling this, and there’s something I’ve noticed with the syndicated content I get from our member firms…bunches of articles are published at the same time.
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