Carley Meiners

September 18, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

McNees Wallace & Nurick attorneys Timothy M. Finnerty, Randy L. Varner and Andrew S. Rusniak are scheduled to speak at the Tax Executives Institute's Harrisburg chapter 19th annual tax conference Thursday at the Hershey Country Club.

By Carley Meiners | The Legal Intelligencer

3 minute read

September 14, 2017 | Daily Report Online

Everyone's favorite legal drama series “Law & Order” premiered on this date in 1990, according to History.com. The NBC show, created by Dick Wolf, has been one of the longest-running primetime dramas in TV history.

By CARLEY MEINERS

1 minute read

September 14, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

Federal courts continue to shape the landscape for cyberfraud coverage. The recent spate of cases focus on the scope of coverage for "phishing" or "spoofing" attacks. Recent cases focus on these attacks for two reasons: they are slightly different than a classic system intrusion or hack, and these forms of invasion have grown to become the major threat that many companies face (see Matthews, Lee, "Homeland Security Chief Cites Phishing As Top Hacking Threat," Forbes, Nov. 29, 2016). It is not surprising to see an increase in court decisions dealing with the topic given this reality.

By Brian Collins

19 minute read

September 13, 2017 | Delaware Business Court Insider

Corporate practitioners have been closely following developments in Delaware's shareholder appraisal litigation.

By P. Clarkson Collins Jr.

6 minute read

September 08, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

In recent years, when the terms "LGBTQ" and "small business" are discussed in the media, it's usually in response to a small but vocal minority demanding religious freedom to refuse service to members of the LGBTQ community, and the legal battles that follow. However, perhaps there are more important discussions revolving around business and the LGBTQ community—the discussion of the power LGBTQ-owned businesses have in further equality.

By Angela D. Giampolo

5 minute read

September 07, 2017 | Delaware Business Court Insider

In a case characterized as a "matter of great local interest," Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross determined a question of much wider interest to practitioners: whether a contract was void ab initio because the Delaware limited liability company that executed it had not yet been formed.

By Barry M. Klayman and Mark E. Felger

5 minute read

September 01, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

On Aug. 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed changes to the comprehensive care for joint replacement model (CJR), cancellation of a mandatory episode payment models (EPMs) and cardiac ­rehabilitation (CR) incentive payment model. These were previously authorized tests to change reimbursements as to certain cardiac and joint replacement services.

By Vasilios J. Kalogredis

10 minute read

August 31, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

With the dust settling and fuzzy math shrieks abating, Pennsylvania's medical ­marijuana program's (program) first phase has drawn to a close. Or has it?

By Steven M. Schain

9 minute read

August 29, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

Cyberregulation and the meaning of reasonable cybersecurity measures are changing rapidly. Insurance companies are in the red zone for new regulatory schemes and heightening expectations of duties of care that are well beyond the responsibility of a company's CIO. In January, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) promulgated 23 NYCRR 500, a first-of-its-kind cyberregulation that requires companies to conduct assessments of their information systems and affirmatively build cybersecurity policies and programs based on those assessments. This includes creating oversight committees of senior officers, reliable chains of communication, and internal reports to educate appropriate decision-makers. The regulation also requires companies to make determinations as to the materiality of risks and events that may implicate other reporting obligations, such as SEC reporting requirements of public entities. The approach outlined in the NYDFS regulation is catching on. Recent NAIC Insurance Data Security Model Law drafts (drafts four and five) are based on the regulation and incorporate many of the same requirements. So is pending legislation in other states.

By Joshua A. Mooney and Richard Borden

15 minute read

August 30, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

In the field of insurance law, most liability policies are designed to cover two primary and qualified contractual obligations assumed by the insurer—a defense expense obligation and an indemnification expense obligation. How the defense expense obligation is actually implemented through policy language can vary greatly between types of liability policies. The most frequently encountered liability policies—home, auto, commercial—implement the defense expense component through what is known as a duty to defend provision, in which the insurer assumes control of the defense of a claim and appoints defense counsel to represent the policyholder. However, there is another category of liability policies that do not contain a duty to defend provision but instead contain a duty to advance defense costs provision. These are typically found in higher exposure liability policies such as directors and officers (D&O), employment practices liability (EPL), or individual and organization (I&O) policies, where the policyholder, not the insurer, controls selection of counsel and exercises primary control over litigation, albeit with some limitations. Often, policies containing a duty to advance defense costs explicitly state at the outset that the insurer disclaims any duty to defend. This disclaimer, however, does not end the inquiry. Since policies containing a duty to advance defense costs are less frequently encountered by courts there is limited legal authority interpreting duty to advance provisions. We examine the differences between these two types of polices and how courts applying Pennsylvania law have addressed the topic. As discussed below, despite a duty to defend disclaimer, policies that contain a duty to advance defense costs provision most often are examined under the traditional duty to defend analysis.

By Christopher J. Tellner and Benjamin R. Messing

7 minute read