Articles

04.25.18

Eminent Domain, the Movie

"If you ever wanted to know what it’s like to be the target of a government agency that covets your home, go see a new movie called 'Little Pink House.' It is largely the backstory of Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005). In case you have forgotten, Kelo was the ...


04.23.18

California Employers Not Required to ‘Police’ Meal Breaks

Why it mattersAs employers are not required to “police” whether or not workers take meal breaks, a California appellate panel dismissed a putative class action suit seeking payment for missed breaks under state law. Norma Serrano filed a putative class action against Aerotek Inc., a ...


04.23.18

SEC Awards Whistleblower Record Amount, Uses ‘Safe Harbor’

Why it mattersContinuing its recent streak of notable whistleblower awards, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced more than $2.2 million in the first award under the “safe harbor” of Exchange Act Rule 21F-4(b)(7). The Rule provides that if a whistleblower submits ...


04.23.18

The Risk Corridors Program: Should the Government Pay?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) established health insurance exchanges where insurers can offer qualified health plans (QHPs) to individuals and certain employers. Because the exchanges made coverage available to people who previously were uninsured or underinsured, some QHP ...


04.23.18

How Can All-Payer Claims Databases Support Insurance Regulation?

Editor’s Note: On March 24, 2018, Joel Ario, managing director at Manatt Health, and Kathy Hempstead, a senior advisor to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, delivered a presentation on All-Payer Claims Databases (APCDs) to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Regulatory ...


04.20.18

PCI DSS and Card Brands: Standards, Compliance and Enforcement

The payment card industry and the major card brands have a set of data security requirements—PCI DSS—that are unregulated by government, yet every company worldwide that accepts, processes, stores or transmits credit card information must comply with and follow the card brands’ ...


04.19.18

Two Trials and Other Developments as RMBS Litigation Continues Unabated

Almost a decade has passed since the mortgage foreclosure crisis of 2007–08, but the litigation from the economic fallout of the crisis continues. As one court put it, the 2007 residential mortgage-backed securitizations (RMBS) “earthquake may have subsided, but its aftershocks ...


04.18.18

The Most Significant Music Licensing Bill in a Generation

Dubbed "the most significant licensing bill in a generation," the Music Modernization Act is the product of broad consensus adopted by both the music business and its historic combatants. The House Judiciary Committee approved the act last week, and the Senate is expected to introduce a ...


04.10.18

Interest on Escrow Funds? Yes, Even From National Banks, Says Ninth Circuit in ‘Lusnak’

In a shot across the bow for national banks, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that such banks may not avoid paying interest on funds held in California escrow accounts. The reason? The California law does not significantly interfere with or impede a national bank’s ...


04.03.18

A Class-ic Exception

"Trial court proceedings are like a black box into which each side throws facts, evidence and law, and what pops out is a judgment—a formal, enforceable decree declaring a winner. Human nature being what it is, the loser probably wants a second chance to fight again. And that loser, no ...