Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Foley & Lardner

Keeping Trade Secrets Under Wrap
Patents have a defined lifetime of 20 years, but trade secrets can last for as long as they are secret. Most targets of trade secret espionage are small and mid-size companies. In their article on www.nutraingredients-usa.com, Foley's James F. Ewing, Michel Morency and Sharon Mollman Elliott provide tips on identifying and protecting trade secrets to safekeep a company's competitive advantage in the marketplace.

08-22-2006

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Dorsey & Whitney, L.L.P.

Amy Xu on China, Intellectual Property and Her Father's Pioneering Role
Dorsey partner and Shanghai native Amy Xu discusses in the Star Tribune the application of intellectual property (IP) law in China, her path to a legal career and the pioneering role her father, Yiping Xu, played in the development of China's IP laws. Yiping Xu was sent to the United States in 1979 to study Western intellectual property laws. In 1984, he helped draft and enact China's first patent laws.

Amy Xu says the problem of piracy and trademark infringement is often a problem of awareness. The biggest obstacle to U.S. companies doing business in China is not piracy, but ignorance, she said. ""China is so massive, a lot of people who are pirating CDs have no idea about intellectual property. They don't understand, because the system is so new.

08-22-2006

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Tonkon Torp LLP

Nonprofit Executive Compensation
Nonprofit executive compensation has made headlines in Oregon and nationwide. Am I correct in believing that this has become a hot button issue with regulators? I work with and serve as a board member of a nonprofit that would like to establish a compensation policy that keeps it off the front page. Can you help?

This article reprinted with permission from the Oregon Society of CPAs.

08-22-2006

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Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau, Pachios & Haley, L.L.P.

Preti Flaherty Media Law Attorneys Author Chapter in 2006 “Open Governments Guide”
Portland, Maine – Preti Flaherty media law attorneys, Jonathan S. Piper and Sigmund D. Schutz, are authors of the just-published Maine chapter in the leading nationwide guide to access to state and local government records and meetings. The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press recently issued the 2006 edition of its Open Government Guide (previously titled Tapping Officials' Secrets).

The Guide is a compendium of open meeting and open records laws in every state and the District of Columbia. The Guide provides an easy to use roadmap for gaining access to public records and public meetings. It also allows comparison of one state's access law against another's. Authors of each state outline are open government experts whose law practices often include access issues. The Guide is available on-line at http://www.rcfp.org/ogg/index.php.

08-22-2006

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Wiley, Rein & Fielding, L.L.P.

Judge Throws Out Jury Verdict in Iraq Fraud Case
In a significant victory, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has dismissed a False Claims Act case brought against Custer Battles, LLC, a security and logistics support firm, and Wiley Rein & Fielding client Joseph Morris, a former Custer Battles employee. The case centered on allegations that defendants had submitted false invoices and records to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) for work it performed in Iraq in support of the CPA’s launch of the Iraqi Currency Exchange project.

Prior to a jury finding in favor of plaintiffs, defendants had moved for judgment, pursuant to Rule 50, that relators had failed to present sufficient evidence to allow a jury to find liability under the statute. After the jury verdict, a hearing was held to resolve these pending motions. In his ruling, Judge T.S. Ellis, III found that the CPA was not a government entity and that “U.S. employees of the CPA were not working in their official capacity as employees or officers of the United States.” The ruling also acknowledged the vitality of the presentment issue in Totten II and ruled that the relators did not produce sufficient evidence at trial to satisfy the presentment requirement.

Wiley Rein & Fielding attorneys Barbara Van Gelder and Al Lambert handled the case on behalf of defendant Morris.

08-22-2006

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Foley Hoag LLP

President Bush Signs Pension Protection Act into Law
On August 17, 2006, President Bush signed into law the Pension Protection Act, calling it “the most sweeping reform of America’s pension laws in over 30 years.” As its name suggests, the purpose of the Pension Protection Act is to provide greater pension security to employees and retirees. Much of the law, which is several hundreds of pages in length, is devoted to tightening the funding rules for traditional defined benefit pension plans. The new law also changes some of the rules relating to 401(k) plans. Note that the law is highly technical; the following represents a summary of some of its key points.

The most significant provisions of the Pension Protection Act are intended to eliminate underfunded defined benefit plans. Employers are required to make sufficient contributions to erase any funding shortfalls over the next seven years. Further, plans that are “at risk” also are required to make accelerated contributions and are restricted in using deferred compensation arrangements for executives. In the case of a collectively-bargained defined benefit plan, the law restricts employers and unions from increasing benefits if the plan is less than 80% funded.

In addition to these funding requirements, the Pension Protection Act imposes new reporting and disclosure requirements upon all pension plans. Among other requirements, pension plans must provide more detailed information in annual Form 5500 filings and must notify participants of the plan’s funding status.

The new reporting and disclosure requirements also address concerns relating to employees’ investments in the securities of their employers. Plans, such as 401(k) plans, are prohibited from requiring employees to invest their retirement savings contributions into employer stock. They also are required to notify employees that they have the right to divest their investments in employer stock and to explain the importance of asset diversification.

Another significant aspect of the new law relates to the provision of investment advice to participants in plans such as 401(k) plans, under which employees direct the investment of their contributions. Prior to the enactment of the Pension Protection Act, plan fiduciaries could not provide such advice without running the risk of being sued for any losses. The new law permits qualified fiduciary advisors to provide investment advice regarding the investment options under the plan and exempts such advice from claims for breach of fiduciary duties.

In order to increase retirement savings, the law also permits employers, under certain conditions, to automatically enroll employees in defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans. The employer must tell employees that they have the right to opt-out from making automatic contributions and how contributions will be invested in the absence of an investment election by the employee.

Finally, the Pension Protection Act makes permanent the annual contribution limits to 401(k) plans that were adopted by Congress in 2001. Thus, the annual contribution limit to a 401(k) plan will remain at $15,000. Workers over 50 years of age may contribute an additional $5,000 per year to their 401(k) accounts. These limits will adjust for annual cost of living increases.

08-22-2006

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Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Veteran Litigator Joins Barnes & Thornburg LLP's Chicago Office
Camille B. Conway has joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP as a partner and a member of the Litigation Department in the firm's Chicago office.

Previously a shareholder at the Chicago firm of Schuyler, Roche & Zwirner, P.C., Conway concentrates his practice on complex commercial litigation, labor and employment defense, white-collar criminal defense and municipal litigation. He represents both private corporations and institutional and municipal organizations.

""We are excited to have Camille join our litigation practice in the Chicago office,"" said Mark Rust, managing partner of the Chicago office. ""His significant experience will be of real value to clients on our firmwide national engagements, as well as clients here in Chicago serviced by our growing Chicago-based team of 29 general, intellectual property and labor litigators.""

Conway graduated from North Park University, Chicago with a B.A. degree cum laude in Economics in 1984. He received his J.D. in 1988 from Northwestern University School of Law, where he has served as an adjunct professor in trial advocacy since 1996. Conway has served as an instructor for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy since 1999.

He is a member of the American Bar Association, Criminal Justice Section. Mr. Conway is admitted to practice in the state of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

08-22-2006

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