The day may come soon in which patent trolls will join their namesakes in the realm of lore and legend, at least if both houses of congress are able to reconcile dual measures into a single piece of legislation. Although the House of Representatives had already passed “The Innovation Act” in 2013 by an overwhelming
5/4/2015 Last week, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill that incentivizes whistleblower complaints within the automotive industry. The bill, modeled off of similar measures for the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), allows the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to award up to 30 percent of revenue collected in excess of
5/4/2015 In a surprising and pragmatic break from his usual stance regarding campaign financing, Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the 4 Supreme Court liberals, ruling in favor of campaign limits for judicial candidates. Roberts, along with Justice Anthony Kennedy, cast the deciding precedent-setting votes in the 2010 Citizens United ruling that essentially blew the
5/1/2015 Among the controversies surrounding the anticipated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement between the U.S. and 11 other Asian-Pacific countries, the most hotly debated component is the inclusion of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system. Under ISDS procedures, in case of a disagreement, a multinational corporation and a nation in which that corporation does business can
5/1/2015 The old adage still remains true even if the names have changed. As a business owner, when 60-Minutes comes to your door, it is probably not going to be a good day. Lumber Liquidators is the largest hardwood flooring retailer in the world, with annual revenues of over a billion dollars. Yet, that may
4/30/2015 In what has been initially hailed as both a small victory for companies as well as for employees, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday, April 29th, that proper Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) procedures may be subjected to court oversight. More specifically, the Court mandated that the EEOC must make an attempt at
4/30/2015 When former Attorney General Eric Holder announced the retirement of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chief, Michelle Leonhart, on April 21st, he may have also closed the book on an era for the DEA as we know it. Called a “trailblazer for equality” by Holder in his statement, Leonhart spent 35 years working for the
4/29/2015 The two most recent scandals involving government healthcare that Legal Reader has been following have been unearthed by whistleblowers, former employees who have brought systematic abuses to the public even in the face of retaliation. First, last year’s nationwide Veterans Affairs (VA) wait-time scandal dominated news headlines and forced the resignation of then-Secretary Eric
In what could be seen as uncharacteristically customer-focused maneuver, Verizon began offering “Custom TV” plans for their FiOS cable packages starting at $55 per month beginning last week. These plans include a core bundle of stations and then offer additional customizable tiers of channels based on customer
A case argued on January 21st before the Supreme Court may derail a major portion of America’s primary housing-discrimination law. The 1968 Fair Housing Act (FHA) was created by its sponsors to prevent discrimination of housing choices against protected groups as well as being created with the intent to proactively integrate segregated communities. Texas Department