Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP (LexBlog United States)

2071 results for Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP (LexBlog United States)

  • A Port in the Infringement Storm: When 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1)’s Safe Harbor Applies

    Earlier this week, the Federal Circuit granted Meril Life Sciences safe passage out of the infringement storm — otherwise known as Edwards Lifesciences — continuing to chase it (at least for now). More specifically, a divided panel of the Federal Circuit issued an opinion affirming the Northern District of California’s grant of summary judgment to Meril...

  • Mistake No. 2 of the Top 10 Horrible, No-Good Mistakes Construction Lawyers Make: Not Educating Clients on the Pros and Cons of Arbitration

    I have practiced law for 40 years, with the vast majority of that time spent as a “construction lawyer.” I have seen great… and bad… construction lawyering, both when on the other side of a dispute, as well as when serving well over 300 times as a mediator or arbitrator in construction disputes. To be...

  • California Court Sends Solar Contractor’s Bond Claims to Arbitration

    A California federal court ruled last week that a surety can enforce an arbitration clause in a contract to which it is not a party. The dispute involves performance and payment bond claims brought by solar contractor Swinerton Builders, Inc. Swinerton brought the claims in California federal court against Argonaut Insurance, the surety of a...

  • Get Interactive! Searching for ADA Accommodations with Employees

    The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities. To help determine effective accommodations, employers should use an “interactive process,” which simply means that employers and employees with disabilities who request accommodations work together to brainstorm accommodations. While it’s not a per se...

  • Domestic Preference Development: New DFARS Buy American Act Requirements

    In 2024 the White House continues to place an emphasis on the U.S. Government’s longstanding domestic purchase preferences. The latest update implementing the domestic purchase preference is the Department of Defense’s Final Rule that was published on February 15, 2024, which amends the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). This revision to the DFARS supplements...

  • Mounting Media Pressure for the Residential Solar Consumer Finance Industry Sparks Concerns about Increased Regulatory Scrutiny

    As more Americans install photovoltaic power generation and storage systems on their homes, journalists have reported incidents of alleged fraud and other forms of misconduct by solar system installers, finance companies, and other related parties. The media attention has correlated directly with an increase in press releases, investigations, and even lawsuits by attorneys general and...

  • Texas Hold ‘Em: Lone Star State Enacts New Notice Law Regarding Workplace Violence

    Workplace violence is an issue that impacts employees and employers alike. While OSHA uses the General Duty Clause to address such issues, some states are enacting their own laws about it. As we reported a few weeks ago, Texas recently enacted a new law to protect healthcare employees from violence in the workplace. The Texas...

  • State False Claims and AKS Statutes Keep Case Alive in 2nd Circuit: Underappreciated State Laws May Present Significant Compliance Risk

    Recent years have seen eye-popping judgments and settlements involving cases brought under the federal False Claims Act (FCA) and federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). And healthcare companies have, unsurprisingly, focused their compliance efforts on these and other federal fraud-and-abuse statutes. But a recent decision out of the Second Circuit underlines the importance of incorporating state-lev

  • Court Rules That Financed Residential Solar System Is a Consumer Good, Not a Fixture

    Whether a solar system is a “fixture” sounds like a mundane legal issue – but it has significant implications for the residential solar industry and for the financing of residential solar systems. If a system is regarded as a “fixture” of the house to which it is attached, then the enforceability and priority of the...

  • 11th Circuit Puts to Sleep Florida Anti-Woke Law Prohibiting Certain Workplace Training

    You may recall that in 2021 the State of Florida, in a much-publicized move, passed a law called the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” which banned Florida employers from mandating employee attendance to any training or instruction that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels” a certain set of beliefs regarding the treatment of individuals based on race,...

  • Fannie Mae Issues Fair Servicing Best Practices Guide

    This week, in line with the CFPB’s ever-increasing focus on fair lending, Fannie Mae issued a Fair Servicing Best Practices Guide to promote “servicer awareness of fair servicing best practices.” Taking a big picture approach, the guide states that servicers should ensure that “all borrowers are treated consistently and fairly throughout the loan servicing process”...

  • FHA Announces New Loss Mitigation Payment Supplement Option

    Amidst record-level interest rates, on February 21, 2024, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced a new loss mitigation option, the Payment Supplement, to aid struggling borrowers. The Payment Supplement will bring a borrower’s mortgage current, as well as provide a temporary reduction in the borrower’s monthly principal mortgage payment for a term of three years....

  • Insurance in the Know (Part 1): Reservations of Rights Can Trigger Right to Independent Counsel

    This is the first in a series of discussions about issues that arise on a regular basis after policyholders file an insurance claim. Many liability insurance policies require the insurer to defend the insured. This “duty to defend” usually includes the right to select defense counsel – typically “panel counsel” from a list of pre-approved...

  • Congress Tees Up Copyright Protection for Golf Course Designs with the BIRDIE Act

    A new federal bill aims to put golf courses on “par” with other architectural designs by expanding federal copyright protection to golf courses. Copyright law in the United States, rooted in the U.S. Constitution, ensures protection for “original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression” (17 U.S.C. § 102(a)). This broad definition...

  • Bid Protests in Pennsylvania

    Bradley has been publishing an ongoing survey of state-level bid protest processes and procedures (see, e.g., our posts on bid protests in North Carolina, Georgia, the District of Columbia, New York, Virginia, and Alabama). For the next state in this series, we focus on the bid protest procedures in Pennsylvania. What Rules Apply? Who May...

  • CFPB Invokes “Dormant” Authority and Unveils First Public Supervisory Designation of a High-Risk Nonbank Installment Lender

    Nearly two years ago, in April 2022, the CFPB issued a press release announcing its intent to start exercising its authority to examine non-bank financial services institutions that the CFPB has “reasonable cause to determine pose risks to consumers.” The agency also indicated that it would release to the public the results of such supervision....

  • The Top 10 Horrible, No-Good Mistakes Construction Lawyers Make: Mistake No. 1: Not Realizing It’s All About the Facts

    I have practiced law for 40 years, with the vast majority spent as a “construction lawyer.” I have seen great… and bad… construction lawyering, both when on the other side of a dispute, as well as when serving well over 300 times as a mediator or arbitrator in construction disputes. To be clear, I have...

  • The EEOC’s Plan to Root Out Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace

    Remember last year when we repeatedly posted about the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (PWFA) and the PUMP Act telling you that the EEOC was going to have pregnancy discrimination on its radar? Recent activity from the EEOC suggests we were right. Last week the EEOC issued two press releases about its lawsuits involving pregnancy discrimination...

  • The False Claims Act in 2023: A Government Enforcement Update

    Individual employees helped the government secure another successful year in False Claims Act (FCA) litigation, as both plaintiffs (whistleblowers) and individual defendants. Individual whistleblowers were responsible for a substantial percentage of 2023 suits, helping the government enforce FCA provisions against companies across all sectors. Of the more than $2.68 billion in settlements and...

  • The False Claims Act in 2023: A Government Enforcement Update

    As in recent years, the federal government continued to utilize the False Claims Act (FCA) as a tool against government contractors in 2023. The 543 FCA settlements and judgments resulted in the government collecting nearly $2.7 billion. Although procurement fraud was not as large of a focus as it has been in prior years, matters...

  • The False Claims Act in 2023: A Government Enforcement Update

    This past year, the False Claims Act (FCA) continued to be a key tool for the Justice Department and whistleblowers to bring suits against companies, including those in the financial services sector. The Justice Department secured 543 FCA settlements and judgments — a record number — and collected over $2.68 billion. Whistleblowers filed 712 qui...

  • A Closer Look at the CFPB’s “Enhanced” Supervisory Appeals Process

    On February 16, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced what it heralded as a significant update to its Supervisory Appeals Process. The first of its kind since 2015, this revision introduced a seemingly more inclusive and flexible approach to how financial entities can contest supervisory findings. The appeals process is intended to promote...

  • The False Claims Act in 2023: A Year in Review

    In 2023, the government and whistleblowers were party to 543 False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments, the highest number of FCA settlements and judgments in a single year. As a result, collections under the FCA exceeded $2.68 billion, confirming that the FCA remains one of the government’s most important tools to root out fraud,...

  • Procurement Fraud Recoveries Substantial for DOJ in FY 2023

    The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it obtained more than $2.68 billion in False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments in the fiscal year ending September 23, 2023. Notably, DOJ reports that “procurement fraud” recoveries again comprised one of the largest categories of recoveries for DOJ this past year. Among the more notable...

  • DOJ Announces Its FCA Enforcement Priorities for 2024: Cybersecurity, COVID-19, and Healthcare Fraud

    On February 22, 2024, Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton delivered remarks at the 2024 Federal Bar Association’s Qui Tam Conference. During those remarks, Boynton announced another record year for DOJ’s False Claims Act enforcement efforts. Specifically, Boynton announced, in 2023 alone, nearly $2.7 billion was recovered under the FCA and included the resolution of...

  • Breach vs. Default — What’s the difference?

    The words breach and default are often used interchangeably to indicate that somebody hasn’t done what they were legally required to do. According to Black’s Law Dictionary, the words do appear somewhat interchangeable. Black’s defines breach as “a violation or infraction of a law, obligation, or agreement, especially of an official duty or a legal...

  • Curse Words and Customer Service: Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Tourette Syndrome ADA Claim

    If an individual’s disability causes involuntary racist or profane utterances, what would a reasonable accommodation under the ADA look like? In Cooper v. Dolgencorp, LLC, the Sixth Circuit faced just such an inquiry. ADA Primer The ADA protects a qualified individual with a disability who can perform the essential functions of his or her job...

  • Limitation of Damages Clause in Contract Held Inapplicable to Subcontractor’s Change Order Claim

    Construction contracts often include clauses that purport to limit the liability of one or both parties. This includes clauses that completely prohibit any claims for certain types of damages such as lost profits and other consequential damages, extended overhead or other “delay” damages, and exemplary/punitive damages. Contracting parties may also include clauses that purport to cap liability...

  • How Quickly Can the NLRB Get You? The Supreme Court to Decide in Starbucks Appeal

    As we have been blogging during the Biden presidency, the National Labor Relations Board has become quite aggressive these days. The aggression toward employers has been shown in the types of conduct the Board finds to be unlawful (like simply holding meetings with employees), the types of relief that the Board seeks (like compensatory damages...

  • Bid Protests in North Carolina

    Bradley has been publishing an ongoing survey of state-level bid protest processes and procedures (see, e.g., our posts on “Bid Protests in Georgia,” “Bid Protests in the District of Columbia,” “Bid Protests in New York,” “Bid Protests in Virginia,” and our “Update on Bid Protests in Alabama”). For the next state in this series, we...

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