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Compliance Hotline
Small Firms to Get Another Internal Controls Extension
According to a published report in The Wall Street Journal (9/13/05), the SEC is expected to give small companies another year to comply with the internal-controls rule of Sarbanes Oxley. In March, the SEC, agreed to an initial 1-year delay for small businesses, and will now likely approve the second extension later this month according to the WSJ. If approved, companies with market capitalization of up to $75 million will have until July 2007 to comply with the rule.
Whistleblower Suits By In-House Counsel Not Barred By Privilege
The Fifth Circuit has ruled that employers cannot claim attorney-client privilege to exclude evidence from disclosure in whistleblower suits brought by in-house counsel. Willy v. Administrative Review Board, U.S. Department of Labor, No. 04-60347 (August 24).
The court stated that “[t]he case law amply demonstrates the narrower proposition that the attorney-client privilege only prohibits a party from simultaneously using confidential information as both a shield and a sword. Stated differently, the “shield and sword” analogy is conjunctive: it does not stand broadly for the proposition that an attorney may never use confidential information offensively … In other words, when a party entitled to claim the attorney-client privilege uses confidential information against his adversary (the sword), he implicitly waives its use protectively (the shield) under that privilege.”
Small Firms to Get Another Internal Controls Extension
According to a published report in The Wall Street Journal (9/13/05), the SEC is expected to give small companies another year to comply with the internal-controls rule of Sarbanes Oxley. In March, the SEC, agreed to an initial 1-year delay for small businesses, and will now likely approve the second extension later this month according to the WSJ. If approved, companies with market capitalization of up to $75 million will have until July 2007 to comply with the rule.
Whistleblower Suits By In-House Counsel Not Barred By Privilege
The Fifth Circuit has ruled that employers cannot claim attorney-client privilege to exclude evidence from disclosure in whistleblower suits brought by in-house counsel. Willy v. Administrative Review Board, U.S. Department of Labor, No. 04-60347 (August 24).
The court stated that “[t]he case law amply demonstrates the narrower proposition that the attorney-client privilege only prohibits a party from simultaneously using confidential information as both a shield and a sword. Stated differently, the “shield and sword” analogy is conjunctive: it does not stand broadly for the proposition that an attorney may never use confidential information offensively … In other words, when a party entitled to claim the attorney-client privilege uses confidential information against his adversary (the sword), he implicitly waives its use protectively (the shield) under that privilege.”
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
'Huguenot LLC v. Megalith Capital Group Fund I, L.P.': A Tutorial On Contract Liability for Real Estate Purchasers
In June 2024, the First Department decided Huguenot LLC v. Megalith Capital Group Fund I, L.P., which resolved a question of liability for a group of condominium apartment buyers and in so doing, touched on a wide range of issues about how contracts can obligate purchasers of real property.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.