By Lizzy McLellan | July 13, 2017
Immigration services firm Fragomen recently announced that it's opening a new center in Pittsburgh, staffed with up to 50 employees, where it will develop or redevelop much of its software and cybersecurity technology in-house.
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By Samuel C. Stretton | July 13, 2017
I saw Philadelphia has a new fee structure for court-appointed conflict counsel. I noticed there have been increases across the board. Is it a good system now?
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By Katelyn Polantz and David Bario | July 13, 2017
After telling a critic to "Watch your back, bitch," in a series of profanity-laden emails, Marc Kasowitz said it was "one of those times where one wishes he could reverse the clock."
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By Steven M. Schain | July 13, 2017
Last month witnessed a marijuana banking explosion. Spanning 29 states and generating $7.2 billion in 2016, the United States' legalized marijuana industry's greatest obstacle—banking—was significantly reduced by the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) June 6, 2017, "marijuana banking update," The Fourth Corner Credit Union v. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, No. 16-1016 --- F.3d ---- (10th Circuit, June 27) landmark opinion, and rise of the interbanking systems alternative to the barred use of credit cards in marijuana sales.
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By Margaret Anne Hill, Michael L. Krancer, Frank L. Tamulonis III and Stephen C. Zumbrun | July 13, 2017
On June 20, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its opinion in Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF) v. Commonwealth, 2017 Pa. LEXIS 1393 (Pa. June 20), in connection with the so-called Environmental Rights Amendment or ERA (Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution). Suffice it to say, the opinion has reopened the debate as to the meaning of the ERA, and more importantly, how the ERA is implemented as a practical and legal matter. In brief, the court ruled that amendments to the state's fiscal code (which sought to address budgetary shortfalls by redirecting money from a fund containing rents and royalties from oil and gas leases on commonwealth land to the general fund) violated the ERA. While the facts before the court were narrowly drawn, the court used the opportunity to revisit the decades old "test" applied in evaluating ERA claims, an issue it first addressed in its 2013 plurality opinion in Robinson Township v. Commonwealth, 83 A.3d 901 (Pa. 2013). It abruptly rejected the well-established Payne v. Kassab test and roughly 45 years of ERA-related case law, thereby placing the ERA, and industry, back into legal limbo. Despite some legal uncertainty, this opinion should not be interpreted as a major stumbling block to key energy and infrastructure projects.
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By Katheryn Hayes Tucker | July 13, 2017
Three new federal judge picks for Georgia come with the package of nominees President Donald Trump announced Thursday.
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By Rebecca Baker | July 13, 2017
After nearly 40 years as the executive director of the New York State Defenders Association, Jonathan Gradess will retire in August. During his tenure, he has seen the organization expand to serve the needs of more than 6,000 public defense attorneys in more than 120 programs in 62 counties. He shares with the Law Journal his departing thoughts on the association, criminal defense in New York and philosophies of the Trump administration.
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By Stefanie Burt | July 13, 2017
Royalty class action litigation continues to move forward in federal courts in Pennsylvania. Currently pending cases have challenged different kinds of royalty clauses, different kinds of marketing relationships, and different aspects of the royalty calculation on a variety of legal theories, including breach of express contract, breach of implied covenants, and good faith and fair dealing claims, among others. Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued two opinions relating to motions to dismiss filed by a lessee and its affiliated-buyer of natural gas in Canfield v. Statoil USA Onshore Properties, Civil Action No. 3:16-0085, (M.D.Pa. March 22, 2017), where lessors filed a putative class action challenging the calculation of royalties, as well as the relationship between the lessee and its affiliated buyer, on a number of different bases. The district court's ruling on the motions to dismiss and its subsequent ruling on the lessor's motion for reconsideration made very clear that the specific language in the oil and gas lease is a dispositive factor in resolving these disputes.
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By Joshua Lorenz | July 13, 2017
Actions taken by state legislators more than two years ago are now beginning to impact major private construction projects across Pennsylvania.
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By Lynne Z. Gold-Bikin | July 13, 2017
A bill was entered into the Pennsylvania legislature in 2017, House Bill 1215, which would introduce into the support and alimony pendente lite (APL) guidelines the concept of reasonable needs and exceptions. The current guidelines, promulgated by the state, require that the guidelines "place primary emphasis on the net incomes and earning capacities of the parties."
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