On June 23, 2017, President Trump signed legislation that is intended to protect whistleblowers who report problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs ("VA"), and improve employee accountability for misbehavior and abusive conduct. In April of this year, the president signed an executive order that created the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection ("OAWP") within the VA to investigate allegations of misconduct – including retaliation against whistleblowing

Since the early 1900s, tortious interference with contractual relations has been a viable cause of action in New York. E.g. , S.C. Posner Co. v. Jackson , 223 N.Y. 325, 332 (1918); Lamb v. Cheney & Son , 227 N.Y. 418, 421 (1920). It occurs when a business or individual who is not a party to a contract intentionally disrupts a business relationship formed by a contract. Lama Holding v. Smith Barney , 88 N.Y.2d 413, 424 (1996). Under New York law, an action for interference w

Jimmy Smith is widely considered to have been one of the most influential and accomplished jazz musicians of his time, if not in jazz history. Smith, who died in 2005, revolutionized the use of the Hammond B3 organ in modern jazz, laying the groundwork for generations of jazz musicians to come. Estate of James Oscar Smith v. Cash Money Records, Inc. In 2013, rapper/singer/songwriter Drake released Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music 2 (“Pound Cake”) on his album, Nothing Was the

The New York Statute of Frauds provides that “ contract for the . . . the sale, of any real property, or an interest therein, is void unless the contract or some note or memorandum thereof, expressing the consideration, is in writing, subscribed by the party to be charged, or by his lawful agent thereunto authorized by writing.” New York General Obligations Law § 5-703(2). “To satisfy the statue of frauds, a memorandum evidencing a contract and subscribed by the party to be

The Department of Justice recently announced a settlement with eClinicalWorks ("ECW" or the "Company") related to alleged False Claims Act violations. The Massachusetts-based company, one of the largest electronic health records ("EHR") vendors in the U.S., had been accused of misrepresenting its software capabilities and paying kickbacks to customers in exchange for promoting its product. What is the False Claims Act? The False Claims Act is designed to protect the governme

Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted along party lines to repeal many of the regulations enacted after the 2008 financial crisis under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank Act”). It was the first step for Republicans who have long-promised to eliminate regulations they maintain are hurting banks, restricting consumer credit, inhibiting small businesses, and slowing economic growth. The legislation faces significant hurdl

On June 5, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court held that claims for disgorgement imposed as a sanction for violation of the federal securities laws must be commenced within five years of the date the claim accrues. In doing so, the Court rejected the SEC’s argument that the five-year statute of limitations was not applicable to claims for disgorgement. The decision, written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor for a unanimous court, resolves a split among the circuits and provides clarity co

The Fiduciary Rule (the “Rule”) is designed to protect investors receiving investment advice about qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”) by requiring all registered brokers, financial advisers, and other investment professionals (collectively, “Financial Advisors”) to act in the best interest of their clients and to disclose any potential conflicts of interest when providing retirement advice. The Rule also requires Financial Advisors who earn

Arbitration is an alternative to a court proceeding. It is an adversarial proceeding in which the parties can call witnesses and present evidence to a neutral arbitrator or panel of arbitrators. The rules of discovery and evidence are relaxed to make it a shorter and more cost-efficient process. An attorney or retired judge, who works for a private firm, conducts the proceeding. Often, the parties select the arbitrator or panel of arbitrators. Arbitration can be binding, in

In previous posts, this Blog has written about certain parts of the recently proposed Financial CHOICE Act 2.0; namely, the provision that: (a) bars “co-conspirators” from recovering whistleblower awards under the SEC's Whistleblower Program, (b) prevents the DOL's Fiduciary Duty Rule from becoming effective, and (c) imposes a heightened pleading standard on plaintiffs claiming a breach of fiduciary duty under the Investment Company Act by their investment advisor. ( Here a

In Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar , the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that the false certification theory “can be a basis for liability” under “some circumstances.” ( See Blog post here .) Those circumstances are: (1) the defendant does not merely request payment, but also makes specific representations about the goods or services provided; and (2) the defendant’s failure to disclose noncompliance with material statutory, regula

This Blog has previously written about the benefits of forming a limited liability corporation (“LLC”) and the perils of ignoring the corporate formalities that are attendant thereto. ( Here .) In today’s post, this Blog will examine the use of the corporate entity to commit a fraud on another and a court’s willingness to pierce the corporate veil to hold the owners or members personally liable for that wrongful conduct. When to Pierce the Corporate Veil: In general, the cour

Since his retirement, former Mets and Phillies outfielder, Lenny Dykstra (“Dykstra”), has been involved in many civil and criminal proceedings. Recently, for example, Dykstra was sued by Noah Scheinmann (“Scheinmann”), the former ballplayer’s social media ghost writer, for breaching a contract in which Dykstra hired Scheinmann to create a social media presence to promote Dykstra’s book, “House of Nails: A Memoir of Life on the Edge.” According to the complaint ( here ), Sche

Attorneys are often asked whether an oral agreement is enforceable. Most will say that the answer depends on the law and the facts surrounding the agreement. As an initial matter, to be enforceable, an oral agreement must contain the elements of a binding contract, e.g. , an offer, acceptance, consideration, mutual assent, an intent to be bound, and agreement on all essential terms. (This Blog wrote about these elements here and here .) Even if these elements are present, t

On May 10, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced the settlement of an enforcement action against Barclays Capital, Inc. (“Barclays”), the London-based bank, to refund advisory fees and/or mutual fund sales charges to clients who were overcharged by the bank in connection with two advisory programs. Barclays agreed to pay more than $97 million to settle three sets of violations that resulted in clients being overcharged by nearly $50 million. In the

The Justice Department has joined a whistleblower lawsuit against United Healthcare Group, Inc. ("UHG" or "United") in connection with payments made to the company for its Medicare Advantage Plan. ( Here .) The suit claims the insurer obtained inflated risk-adjusted payments from the Medicare program by providing false and inaccurate information about the health risks of patients enrolled in UHG's largest Medicare Advantage Plan, UHC of California. The original lawsuit was fi

On April 26, 2017, the House Financial Services Committee (the “Committee”) held a hearing, entitled “A Legislative Proposal to Create Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers, and Entrepreneurs.” ( Here .) The purpose of the hearing, which lasted over three hours, was to examine the discussion draft of the “Financial CHOICE Act of 2017” (“CHOICE Act 2.0”), which was introduced by Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling on April 19, 2017. (Discussed here .) The CHOICE Act 2.0

A FINRA arbitration panel recently awarded an investor over $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages related to claims that a Wilbank Securities Inc. broker misled her about the performance of a variable annuity. The investor alleged fraud, breach of contract, negligent supervision and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the underperforming investment. The investor purchased the variable annuity at a Wilbanks branch in Colorado in 2008, and claims she was promi