This article originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer on January 9, 2019. The Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL), 73 P.S. Section 201-1 et seq., and the Administrative Code of 1929, specifically 71 P.S. Section 307-3, vest the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General (OAG) with the power to investigate “unfair methods of competition” and “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” by companies doing business in Pennsylvania. The statutory definition of these phrases…

A Closer Look: Internal Investigations

Changes Ahead: Department of Education Proposes Revisions to Title IX Regulations

By Catherine Nguyen & Kate Emert Gleason on December 13, 2018

As expected, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) recently released proposed Title IX regulations, specifically concerning sexual harassment, including sexual assault. This is significant because the DOE has never addressed these issues through regulation. In the past, guidance has only been available through informal resources, such as the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter and the 2014 Guidance/Q&A. As discussed in previous blog posts, these new regulations, if adopted, would constitute a substantial departure from prior…

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Lessons from the Kavanaugh Hearing

By Jonathan Landesman on September 30, 2018

I’m a management-side employment lawyer. It’s my job to go to court and defend employers and executives accused of all different types of misconduct, including sexual harassment. Over the last 20 years, I have seen it all. Some of my cases involve relatively tame allegations, like telling dirty jokes around the watercooler. And I have also been involved with cases involving extremely serious accusations, including indecent exposure, unwanted touching, and sexual assault. I spent a…

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Title IX Religious Exemptions and the Transgender Student

By Karen Karas on July 2, 2018

The recent proliferation of news stories about transgender students facing discrimination has brought an increased focus on universities and colleges claiming religious-based exemptions to excuse their compliance from Title IX as it applies to transgender students. …

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The “Limitations Period” in Research Misconduct Cases: What You Need to Know

By Paul S. Thaler & Karen Karas on March 23, 2018

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In litigation, claims are subject to statutes of limitations. Because the passage of time can affect such things as witness memory and evidence preservation, states pass statutes of limitations providing that claims cannot be brought after the expiration of a certain number of years after a claim arises. While the statutes of limitations vary from state to state and from claim to claim, limitation periods of one, two, or three years are common. Although there…

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Five Tips for Successfully Drafting Pa. Legislation

By Christopher D. Carusone on October 5, 2017

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This article originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer on August 01, 2017 IN-HOUSE COUNSEL I have never met an attorney who did not believe that he was perfectly capable of drafting legislation. This confidence may come from a mastery of the case law governing the subject matter of the proposed legislation. Or perhaps it derives from the attorney’s previous struggles with the ambiguities of a statutory scheme in the course of representing a client. Maybe…

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DOE Announces Intention to Revise Title IX Campus Sexual Misconduct Investigation Requirements

By Paul S. Thaler & Alissandra D. Young on September 29, 2017

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As we suggested in our February 2017 blog post, the future of Title IX application in our institutions is in flux. The Department of Education Office for Civil Rights rescinded the Obama era 2011 Dear Colleague Letter and 2014 Guidance on September 22, 2017. These guidelines placed certain procedural requirements on investigations of sexual misconduct allegations conducted by postsecondary institutions receiving federal funding. The Department of Education (“DOE”) stated that the policy requirements in…

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Corporate Counsel and Trump’s Regulatory Reform Agenda

By Christopher D. Carusone on May 11, 2017

This article originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer on April 25, 2017 IN-HOUSE COUNSEL Since taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has issued two executive orders designed to implement what his chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon has described as “deconstruction of the administrative state.” While ”deconstruction” is perhaps too strong a word for what the administration has proposed thus far, corporate counsel would be well advised to keep abreast of the developments of the…

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Reducing the Risk of Corporate Criminal Liability

By Christopher D. Carusone on March 21, 2017

This article originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer on February 21, 2017 IN-HOUSE COUNSEL Last fall, the U.S. Sentencing Commission published the results of its study on the federal prosecution of corporations and other organizational offenders. The results of that study, based on sentencing data for the calendar year 2015, says much about the types of organizations and offenses that are most likely at risk for federal prosecution and how corporate counsel can reduce the…

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Five Common Misconceptions About The Yates Memo

By Christopher D. Carusone on March 21, 2017

This article originally appeared in Corporate Counsel on January 1, 2017. Much has been written over the last sixteen months interpreting the shift in U.S. Justice Department policy placing greater emphasis on individual accountability for corporate wrongdoing in federal civil and criminal enforcement proceedings. Apparently not all of it was accurate. In what has become known as the “Yates Memo” issued on September 9, 2015, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates outlined six steps…

A Closer Look: Internal Investigations

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Tips for Representing Clients in OAG Consumer Protection Investigations

Changes Ahead: Department of Education Proposes Revisions to Title IX Regulations

Lessons from the Kavanaugh Hearing

Title IX Religious Exemptions and the Transgender Student

The “Limitations Period” in Research Misconduct Cases: What You Need to Know

Five Tips for Successfully Drafting Pa. Legislation

DOE Announces Intention to Revise Title IX Campus Sexual Misconduct Investigation Requirements

Corporate Counsel and Trump’s Regulatory Reform Agenda

Reducing the Risk of Corporate Criminal Liability

Five Common Misconceptions About The Yates Memo

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