Hardly a day went by in 2010 when the daily case summaries did not include some mention of trade secret litigation, often in conjunction with the breach of non-competition covenants and other related claims.
January 21, 2011
Printable PDFOn January 18, 2011, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (the "Council") released a notice of proposed rulemaking ("NPR") that sets forth the proposed criteria and analytical framework for the Council to designate an entity as a nonbank financial company under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "DFA"). Pursuant to the DFA, the Council has the authority to require that the Federal Reserve Board supervise a designated nonbank financial company and that the company be subject to prudential standards in accordance with Title I of the DFA.
January 20, 2011
Printable PDF On January 7, 2011, the United States Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule that eases export controls on some types of encryption software.
January 19, 2011
The improvements in the German economy in 2010 have eased some of the restructuring pain, but have not prevented lawmakers from responding to certain deficiencies that are widely believed to have caused the financial crisis.
January 14, 2011
Printable PDF 2010 was another blockbuster year in health care compliance enforcement. The trends commenced in 2009--historical settlements, increased enforcement activity, stricter settlement terms, and tougher penalties for individuals--became entrenched in 2010.
January 14, 2011
Highlights The year just ended was an extraordinarily interesting one in the e-discovery area. Highlights included:There were increasing calls for reform of the discovery process as it relates to electronically stored information ("ESI").Competing views of the standards that should apply to sanctions and preservation clashed in the high-profile Pension Committee, Rimkus, and Victor Stanley decisions, which highlighted the splits among the circuits and even within the same district.
January 13, 2011
Printable PDFEnacted on July 21, 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Act") comprehensively reforms and restructures the U.S.
January 13, 2011
Printable PDF We reported in Gibson Dunn's 2010 Mid-Year Securities Litigation Update that the first half of 2010 was a busy one for securities litigation.
January 11, 2011
Printable PDFOn December 6, 2010, Richard Alderman, Director of the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) visited Gibson Dunn's Washington, D.C. offices for an intimate discussion with our attorneys and a small group of clients.
January 11, 2011
Printable PDF I. Overview of 2010 The year 2010 has been a watershed year for securities enforcement. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act gave the SEC additional enforcement powers, while also bringing additional market participants under SEC registration and potentially elevating the standards of conduct for other securities professionals.
January 10, 2011
Printable PDF False Claims Act litigation and enforcement exploded in 2010 with unprecedented intensity. Indeed, the government secured more than $3 billion in civil settlements and judgments for its fiscal year ending September 30, 2010--a 25% increase over the previous year and the second-largest yearly recovery amount ever.
January 6, 2011
Printable PDFLast year, we reported that the U.S. authorities led the way in international cartel enforcement with more investigations, pleas, fines, and prison sentences than any other jurisdiction. In 2010, however, while U.S.
January 5, 2011
The United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") has long had discretion to defer or decline prosecution of a corporation, for a host of reasons. But over the past decade, the formalization of the declination process for corporations via deferred prosecution agreements ("DPAs") and non-prosecution agreements ("NPAs") has evolved rapidly. Indeed, these agreements are now one of two mainstays of the DOJ's efforts to combat corporate crime.
January 4, 2011
Printable PDFIn United States of America v. Science Applications International Corporation, No. 09-5385, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 24808 (D.C. Cir. Dec. 3, 2010), a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed a $6.49 million jury verdict in favor of the government for a violation of the False Claims Act ("FCA"), 31 U.S.C.
January 3, 2011
Printable PDF"FCPA enforcement is stronger than it's ever been -- and getting stronger." So declared Assistant Attorney General Lanny A.
January 3, 2011
The issuance of new horizontal merger guidelines is the most significant merger enforcement achievement of the FTC and the U.S.
December 22, 2010
On November 9, 2010, the U.S.
December 21, 2010
On November 9, 2010, President Obama issued Executive Order 13558, establishing an interagency Export Enforcement Coordination Center ("EECC") within the United States Department of Homeland Security ("DHS").
December 21, 2010
On December 17, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the Act). The Act extends the existing individual income tax rates and a number of expiring credits and other benefits, provides a few new temporary tax incentives, and establishes new gift and estate tax rates and exemptions.Extension of Expiring Tax ProvisionsThe Act extends the current income rates (which reach a maximum marginal rate of 35%) through the end of 2012 for all taxpayers.
December 20, 2010
In the past three years, international regulatory focus on remuneration has gripped the globe. The heart of the debate which arose in the context of remuneration structures in investment banking and their contribution to global financial crisis has extended past this into remuneration across a broad range of industries.
December 20, 2010