House Judiciary Committee Forms Panel on Criminal Justice Reform

6/11/2015 This month may spark the beginning of the end for the “tough on crime” congressional strategy among the perpetually campaigning members of the House of Representatives. The House Judiciary committee announced on Wednesday that it will form a panel to address reforms in the criminal justice system. The panel will be led by committee


Bharara vs. Barra: GM Criminal Probe Intensifies

6/11/2015 It looks like the U.S. Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into General Motors’ pre-recall knowledge is tightening its grip around the company, as the agency is now considering wire fraud charges against the company. Star Manhattan U.S. Attorney, Preet Bharara, and his office are leading the investigation in conjunction with the Department of Justice.


Shame on you, Donald Rumsfeld!

6/10/2015 In what seems to be an era of poor attempts at revisionist history, Donald Rumsfeld has just taken the cake, eaten half of it, and then denied it with frosting smeared across his lips while his pantaloons are engulfed in flames. In an interview with the Times of London over the weekend, the former Secretary


Supreme Court Case Review may Limit Class-Action Lawsuits

6/10/2015 The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Monday, June 8th that it will be reviewing a federal appeals ruling in its next term, petitioned by Tyson Foods, challenging a $5.8 million judgment against the company over unpaid work time at an Iowa pork-processing plant. While the sum of the judgment is miniscule in cases of


FDA to consider new Class of Cholesterol Drugs

6/9/2015 A new class of cholesterol drugs will undergo a preliminary review this week from a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel. The drugs, Amgen’s Evolocumab and Alirocumab from Sanofi SA and partner, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, block a protein called PCSK9, which can prevent the liver from eliminating bad cholesterol. Early studies show the drugs


Statutory Fiduciary Duties

Statutory law in Texas differs on what fiduciary duties are owed based on the various entities recognized by the BOC. A corporation has extensive statutes directly addressing fiduciary duties of directors while LLC statutes are less clear on what exactly are the default fiduciary duties of managers.   Corporations Generally, directors have fiduciary duties owed


Avoiding Personal Liability in an LLC

When forming an LLC there are certain precautions that owners must take in order to avoid incurring personal liability in connection with your business. The general rule in LLCs is that a member or manager is not personally liable for a debt, obligation, or liability of a limited liability company, including a debt, obligation, or


Bars to Liability and Common Law Torts Under the WPLA

Inherently Dangerous Products Washington has adopted comment k of the Restatement (Second) of Torts Section 402A, which precludes liability for certain “unavoidably unsafe products.” Moreover, a defendant will not be held strictly liable merely because a product is potentially unsafe, unless it also fails to provide adequate warnings. The Washington Supreme Court has explained that


Deutsche Bank CEOs to Resign after Years of Problems

6/8/2015 The global financial world received a huge shakeup Sunday when the co-CEOs of Deutsche Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the world, announced their resignations. Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen were essentially purged following an emergency meeting by the bank’s board of directors. Jain will be leaving on June 30th, replaced by


Regulators’ Mixed-Messages on Fracking

6/7/2015 One of the major environmental concerns since the beginning of this decade has been the use of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” to unearth natural gas and oil shale reserves. The process uses high-pressure water among other substances to create or to widen holes into the shale formation in order to release the gas or