As the Supreme Court accepts additional cases for review and issues new opinions, Gibson Dunn's Supreme Court Round-Up is summarizing key developments at the Court. Since the last edition of the Round-Up, the Court has granted certiorari in ten new cases. Gibson Dunn is Counsel of Record for Petitioner in two of the newly granted cases, which are summarized below:Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
December 16, 2010
The year 2010 has witnessed many legal developments applicable to U.S.
December 16, 2010
In United States of America v. Prabhat Goyal (United States v. Goyal, 9th Cir., No. 08-10436, 12/10/10) a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals not only reversed the criminal conviction of a former CFO of Network Associates on fifteen counts of securities fraud and making materially false statements to auditors, but also took the extraordinary step of remanding the case for entry of judgment of acquittal on all counts. Many have remarked on the passionate concurring opinion of Chief Judge Kozinski, in which he expressed concern for Mr.
December 16, 2010
Printable PDFOn December 15, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") proposed rules to implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act") relating to: (1) conflict minerals; (2) mine safety matters; and (3) resource extraction issuer payments to governments. Each of the proposed rules was approved by the SEC without questions. Comments on the proposed rules must be submitted to the SEC by January 31, 2011. This Alert is based upon information from the SEC open meeting and related press releases of December 15, 2010.
December 15, 2010
In our June 4, 2009 Client Update, we reported on the jury verdict the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") obtained against Charles Conaway, the former CEO of Kmart Corp for misleading investors about inventory and liquidity levels as the company was approaching its January 2002 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
December 9, 2010
Los Angeles partner David A. Battaglia and associate Vanessa C. Adriance are the authors of "The Fifth Amendment Can & Will Be Used Against You In a (Federal) Court of Law" [PDF] published in the December 2010 issue of Insights.Reprinted with the permission of Aspen Publishing www.aspenpublishing.com.
December 8, 2010
On December 3, 2010, the Department of Defense (DoD) published a proposed rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to require Contracting Officers (COs) to withhold a percentage of payments from all contracts with DoD contractors that fail to maintain "acceptable business systems." This revised proposed rule follows an earlier proposed rule on the same topic published at 75 Fed.
December 7, 2010
During the course of the ongoing debates on the Finance Bill for 2011, the French Senate has recently adopted a new provision, resulting from two amendments adopted on November 18 and 19, 2010 respectively, which significantly extends the scope of the French thin capitalization rules. The new provision is presented as an anti-abuse provision with a view to preventing companies of the same group from circumventing the thin capitalization rules by securing bank loans via guarantees provided by a related company of the group.
December 7, 2010
On December 3, 2010, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated a False Claims Act ("FCA") judgment against Science Applications International Corporation ("SAIC") and rejected the government's expansive "collective knowledge" and damages theories under that punitive statute. The D.C. Circuit's decision in this closely watched case represents a sharp rebuke of several of the government's most aggressive theories under the FCA. The case arose out of two contracts under which SAIC agreed to provide technical assistance and expert analysis to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC") in connection with a potential NRC rulemaking on the recycling and release of radioactive materials. The NRC te
December 6, 2010
New York partner Joel M. Cohen and associate Mary Kay Dunning are the authors of "Insider Trading: It's Not Just for Suits" [PDF] published in the December 2010 issue of ALM's Law Journal Newsletters: Business Crimes.
December 6, 2010
On November 23, 2010, in Airgas, Inc. v. Air Products & Chemicals, Inc., --- A.3d ----, 2010 WL 4734305 (Del. Nov. 23, 2010), the Delaware Supreme Court reversed last month's decision of the Court of Chancery, Airgas, Inc.
November 29, 2010
On 1 June 2010 the UK Panel on Takeovers and Mergers (Panel), issued a 'Green' Consultation Paper on the Review of Certain Aspects of the Regulation of Takeover Bids in the UK (Green Paper).
November 24, 2010
The new California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (S.B. 657) will require retail sellers and manufacturers, doing business in California and having over $100 million in annual worldwide gross receipts, to publicly disclose their efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their direct supply chain for tangible goods offered for sale.
November 18, 2010
Transparency International (TI) recently released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) (available here), spurring a flurry of fanfare in the press about various countries' shifts up and down in the rankings. But it is unclear how much of this attention is warranted. As TI repeatedly acknowledges, the CPI only measures perceptions of corruption, not corruption itself. Further, changes in TI's perceived corruption scores can be misleading--even to the extent they mirror actual corruption--as adjustments in TI's methodology from year to year may move countries up or down the ranking despite no real change in how that country is viewed. Yet TI's CPI remains the benchmark indicator of corruption worldwide. Warranted or not, the rankings attain real signifi
November 16, 2010
Paris associate Rym Loucif is the author of "Particularisme des règles de gouvernance applicables aux banques islamiques" [PDF] published in the November 2010 issue of RTDF (N° 3 - 2010).
November 15, 2010
New York partner J. Eric Wise is the author of "Reorganization Securities And Second-Lien Structures," [PDF] published by Law360 at www.law360.com on November 9, 2010.
November 9, 2010
Washington, D.C. partner Karen L. Manos is the author of "Contractor Business Systems Audits: The Coming Train Wreck" [PDF] published in the November 2010 issue of Thomson Reuters's Government Contract Cost, Pricing & Accounting Report.
November 9, 2010
New York partner J. Eric Wise and associate Ted Sica are the authors of "X Clauses: Meaning and Mutations," published on November 8, 2010 by Bloomberg Law Reports - Bankruptcy Law.
November 8, 2010
Los Angeles partner Jeffrey D. Dintzer and associate Elizabeth M. Burnside are the authors of "Recent Decision Unsettles EPA Practices" [PDF] published in the November 8, 2010 issue of the Daily Journal.
November 8, 2010
New York partner Lee Dunst and associate Joseph La Perla are the authors of "A Changing Anti-Corruption Landscape: What the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the New UK Bribery Act Mean to Your Company," [PDF] published by Thomson Reuters' Informer magazine in the Autumn 2010, Issue 15 edition.
November 5, 2010