As a child, my favorite part of the holiday season was the anticipation of a new year. While the reality of January 1st always left something to be desired (ten days of “holiday eating” will destroy anyone’s appetite, and the inevitable return to school was right around the corner) the build-up to flipping the last page on the calendar was almost unbearable. Accompanying the fanfare and celebration were a host of “Year in Review”-type television shows, magazine articles, and lists which amused me to no end during the holiday doldrums between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Nearly any channel on the television from December 26th to January 1st was sure to have some sort of retrospective special, and the radio was constantly churning out the top hits of the past year. In my advanced age I no longer watch VH1, and my radio is Pandora or Spotify and not 97.5 “The Peak”, but fortunately, as a denizen of the internet, I still get a steady diet of blog posts and articles looking at the top stories and trends of the year, or looking forward at what is yet to come.
It would seem that the authors on the LexBlog Network have gotten into the holiday spirit too, as the past week has been filled with the same types of discussions. While you probably won’t find any mention of 2011’s most popular singer-songwriters, you will find a collection of important litigation, decisions, administrative rulings, and laws that impacted the legal world in 2011. Leading off is Squire Sanders attorney Steve Delchin. Steve has put together the top five most interesting areas of law the 6th Circuit Appellate Court addressed this past year on the firm’s blog, Sixth Circuit Appellate Blog. Here’s number four:
“No. 4 – Free Speech Challenge To The New Federal Tobacco Law. Another important area of law addressed by the Sixth Circuit involves the free speech challenge to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Public Law 111-31, which gives the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco advertising and marketing. See Discount Tobacco City & Lottery v. United States (6th Cir., Case Nos. 10-5234 & 5235). The plaintiffs are arguing that several provisions of the Tobacco Control Act violate their First Amendment rights to free speech—most prominently, the new color warnings which graphically depict the negative health consequences of smoking”
Sticking with the list theme, Andrew Trask of McQuire Woods assembled ten of the most interesting and significant class action cases in 2011 on the Class Action Countermeasures blog. I’ll keep numero uno a secret, but number two on the list was (drumroll):
“AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion (S. Ct.) – Concepcion is the other case that has been accused of killing the class action (sometimes on its own, sometimes in conjunction with Dukes.) It hasn’t managed that feat, but it has sent what one plaintiffs’ attorney called “a seismic change” through class-action practice. While we’re still feeling the aftershocks it’s clear that it is now more difficult to bring “creative” consumer claims that are governed by clear purchase contracts; and certain individualized employment disputes are also finding their way into arbitration rather than class actions. And that’s before we get into the Supreme Court’s discussion of exactly what due process requires from aggregated litigation.”
Dan Flynn mixes things up a little bit on Marler Clark’s Food Safety News with a list of who’s been “naughty and nice” in food safety this past year, and you’ll never guess who found their way onto the naughty side of the list:
“U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-MN, is seeking the nomination to be her party’s candidate for President. With the media she visited the Amend Packing Co. in Des Moines, wielded a knife to cut some red meat and verbally slashed the federal government for over-regulating such businesses.She claimed one of six Amend employees was a meat inspector paid for by the company. That may be true, Amends is a small family-owned operation apparently under state regulation. What Rep. Bachmann did not acknowledge is that Iowa would probably tip into recession if federal meat inspectors — who are paid by taxpayers, not the meat industry — lost their jobs.”
A large part of practicing law is figuring out where the landscape is moving and anticipating the result, which is why David Urban of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore has compiled a list of the top things public employment and education officials should have on their radar for 2012 on the firm’s California Public Agency Labor and Employment Blog. The following excerpt is number five on that list:
“Student Speech in Social Media: In a pair of decisions, Blue Mountain School District v. Snyder andHermitage School District v. Layshock, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (which encompasses Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware), recently held that crude parodies created in social media by a middle school student and a high school student, respectively, to ridicule their schools’ principals had First Amendment free speech protection that precluded any discipline of the students, where the parodies were created off-campus did not create sufficient actual or threatened disruption at the schools. There is a good chance the U.S. Supreme Court will decide to review one or both of these highly publicized cases, to resolve when student social media use can lead to discipline consistent with free speech principles.”
Next up, Daniel Burnick, a shareholder with Sirote & Permutt, also takes a look forward on his blog Alabama Employment Law Report, with this post on some of the changes 2012 will bring to employment law and regulations:
“Immigration Law: HB 56. A reminder that any business that has contracts with the State of Alabama must begin using E-Verify effective January 1, 2012. All employers are required to use E-Verify on or before April 1, 2012. At this time, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled argument on the appeal of Judge Blackburns’ orders enjoining parts of HB56. In light of the Supreme Court’s decision to accept an appeal of Arizona’s law, Alabama has asked the 11th Circuit to stay the appeal, while the Plaintiffs, including the Department of Justice, have asked to go forward. I will continue to post on my blog as the case winds it way through the courts.”
And if that wasn’t enough for you, the following posts should satiate your thirst for the best of 2011 while keeping you on your toes for the next year:
- Poetic Justice – 2011 Wrap Up (Part 1 of 2) and It’s The Relationships, Stupid – 2011 Wrap Up (Part 2 of 2) — Michael Schmidt of Cozen O’Connor on the firm’s Social Media Employment Law Blog.
- A 2012 Business Plan to Get in Front of Existing and Potential Clients — Dallas, Texas-based client and business development coach Cordell Parvin on his blog.
- 2011 Data Breach Summary — Mark McCreary, an attorney with Fox Rothschild, on the Privacy Compliance & Data Security blog.
- Online Privacy and Data Security Legislation Update — 2011 Year in Review — Craig Hoffman of Baker Hostetler on the firm’s Data Privacy Monitor.
- Data Breach Response: A Year in Review — Theodore J. Kobus III also of Baker Hostetler on Data Privacy Monitor.
- Happy *hic* New Year! 2011 labor and employment law year in review — Constangy, Brooks & Smith attorney Robin Shea on the Employment and Labor Insider.
- Happy New Year Wishes for 2011 — Joseph Rosenbaum on Reed Smith’sLegal Bytes.
- Top Food Safety Stories of 2011: No. 1 — In a series of 10 posts, this is the final from Dan Flynn on Marler Clark‘s Food Safety News.
From all of us at the LexBlog Network, Happy New Year!