What could this legislation mean for New York businesses? New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman recently introduced legislation intended to reduce the use of non-compete agreements in the workplace. The bill is designed to protect the rights of workers to find better employment opportunities, particularly for low-wage earners who have been hindered in their ability to move to new jobs because of non-compete agreements. Schneiderman’s bill includes: A ban on all non

Can I receive a financial award for blowing the whistle on my company? A Texas federal jury has found the entities formerly known as Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporation ("Allied Capital") and Allied Home Mortgage Corporation ("Allied Corporation" and together with Allied Capital, "Allied") and CEO Jim Hodge liable for violating the False Claims Act ("FCA") and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 ("FIRREA") in connection with more than

We live in a technologically advanced world. Our phones are smart, our tablets are mini-computers, and our laptops/notebooks are more powerful than ever. We can interact with each other through email, text messaging and other forms of electronic communications. Gone, for the most part, are the more formal, traditional ways of communicating with each other, e.g. , letters and faxes. As the modern ways of communicating have become the norm, many business executives and owner

What anti-money laundering compliance programs should financial firms have in place? The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") recently announced that it had fined Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, a former unit of Credit Suisse AG, $16.5 million for anti-money laundering ("AML"), supervision, and other violations. The self-regulatory watchdog found that the firm's monitoring program for detecting suspicious activity was deficient in two material ways. First,

On December 14, 2016, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it “obtained more than $4.7 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government” in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016. This amount represents “the third highest annual recovery in False Claims Act history, bringing the fiscal year average to nearly $4 billion since fiscal year 2009, and the total recovery during that period to $31.3 billion.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) has put a lump of coal in the Christmas stockings of two companies this week for using separation agreements that impede the ability of whistleblowers to report violations of the securities laws to the Commission. The announcements by the SEC ( here and here ) came within a day of each other and evidence a continued resolve by the Commission to crackdown on companies that use severance agreements and other types

New York, NY ( Law Firm Newswire ) December 22, 2016 - The Law Office of Jeffrey M. Haber is pleased to announce that Mr. Haber has once again been named by Super Lawyers magazine to be among the top lawyers in the New York metropolitan area. The Law Office of Jeffrey M. Haber was recognized in the 2016 Super Lawyers, Business Edition (an annual guide to the nation’s top business law firms and attorneys) for his business litigation work. As part of his history of profession

Perpetrating a fraud on the government is a serious problem. It has economic and life threatening consequences ( e.g. , increasing costs to taxpayers, and providing defective bullet proof vests to the military). Congress and the states have passed many laws to end fraud on the government. Chief among these is the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and the state analogues. The FCA imposes liability on persons and companies who defraud the government and protects and rewards whistleblow

On December 6, 2016, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a violation of the seal provisions of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) does not mandate dismissal of a relators’ complaint. In doing so, the Court affirmed the judgment of the Fifth Circuit, which, in turn, affirmed the judgment of the district court. In State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Rigsby (which this Blog wrote about here and here ), whistleblowers, Cori and Kerri Rigsby, filed a qui ta

In a December 2016 regulatory notice to member firms, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved amendments to Rule 12403 of the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Customer Disputes. The amended rule will increase (1) the number of arbitrators on the public arbitrator list that FINRA sends to parties during the panel selection process from 10 to 15, and (2) the number of strikes to the public ar

Over the year, this Blog has written about awards given to whistleblowers under the SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs – the anti-fraud/anti-corruption programs created under the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank Act”). See here , here , here , here , and here . As this Blog previously reported, on December 5, 2016, the SEC announced that it had awarded $3.5 million to a whistleblower who came forward with information that led t

Let’s say you, the reader, are an entrepreneur who wants to open a business. Although you are willing to run the risks associated with a startup, you do not want to incur any personal liability for the acts done by the business. After speaking with your family, friends and neighbors, you decide to incorporate the business. The consensus view is that a corporate entity, such as a corporation or limited liability corporation (“LLC”), will enable you to operate the business and

Previously, this Blog wrote about the importance of having a complete record when challenging an arbitration award. Recently, two claimants in arbitration learned the hard way that an incomplete record will not support vacatur of an award. See Abbott vs. RBC Dain Rauscher Inc. , No. 1-15-1612, 2016 IL App. (1st) 151612-U (Ill. App., 1Dist., 9/29/16). The Arbitration P roceeding: David James and Michael Abbott (“Plaintiffs”) filed a claim in arbitration against RBC Dain R

Jane is a shareholder in ABC Co. Over the past three years, the company has been losing money, due in large part to an increase in expenses. Jane learns the truth about the company’s financial condition and discovers that senior managers of the company are reporting their personal use of the company’s jet, cars and houses as a business expense. Because of managements’ failure to properly report the use of company property, the company’s expenses have skyrocketed. Jane wants t

In an article entitled “Why You Won’t Get Your Day in Court” appearing in The New York Review of Books, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, tried to explain why this is so. According to Judge Rakoff, there are several reasons for this occurrence. These include: the “cost of hiring a lawyer”; “the increased expense, apart from legal fees, that a litigant must pay to pursue a lawsuit to conclusion”; the “increased unw

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) will tell anyone who listens that reporting violations of the securities laws is an important part of its anti-fraud/anti-corruption whistleblower program. This is especially so when the violations are difficult to detect. For this reason, among others, the SEC has encouraged company insiders with knowledge of wrongdoing to come forward with information about the violations. The carrot used to encourage such whistleblowing is

This blog previously wrote about Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar , a Medicaid case involving the “implied certification” theory of liability under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). In Escobar , the Court held that implied certification liability under the FCA may exist where the following two conditions are satisfied: (1) the defendant does not merely request payment, but also makes specific representations about the goods or services provided; a

Arbitration is an alternative form of dispute resolution, meaning it is an alternative to a court proceeding. In arbitration, the parties have their dispute resolved by neutral persons (known as arbitrators) knowledgeable in the areas in dispute, rather than by a judge or jury. Arbitration has been a form of dispute resolution within the securities industry for many years, primarily because it is generally considered to be faster, inexpensive and less complex than litigation