New York (February 5, 2013) – Pepper Hamilton LLP has named Louis J. Freeh as its next Chair. Outgoing Chair Nina M. Gussack made the announcement today. The transition will take place later this month. “Judge Freeh is the right person to assume the Chair position at Pepper Hamilton,” said Gussack. “I look forward to supporting him as his vision and leadership continue to move us forward as a law firm always at the forefront of innovation.” Freeh succeeds Gussack, who...

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Since opportunities to reverse the consequences of regrettable behavior decline with age, responsiveness to missed chances becomes a critical life-satisfaction factor in older adults. Recent life-span psychology findings show that emotional disengagement from regret is associated with increased well-being in older age. A Cognitive and Emotional Aging research group project investigated whether neurobiological mechanisms underlie such successful adaption to age-specific challenges. The study combined brain imaging with a risk-taking task that induces the feeling of regret in young as well...

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The European Union ("EU") is rolling out the new "unitary" patent, which will be administered by a new Unified Patent Court. The unitary patent will be valid in 25 EU states; as of today, two EU members, Spain and Italy, are not participating in the new system. The unitary patent is expected to come into force as early as January 1, 2014, after one more procedural vote is taken. The unitary patent will not replace, but rather will co-exist with,...

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United States Customs and Border Protection (“Customs”) has announced significant changes to its guidelines for the acceptance and processing of late-filed petitions by principals and sureties seeking mitigation of claims for liquidated damages. The new guidelines are effective with respect to all liquidated damages claims for which a late petition is filed on or after January 9, 2013. For more information on this article, please click here. For additional information or questions please contact Edward B. Ackerman at (212)-557-4000.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently has set its sights on registered entities and their officers and directors for overvaluing the entities' assets.  On October 17, 2012, the SEC charged Yorkville Advisors LLC (Yorkville), a $1 billion Jersey City, N.J. hedge fund firm, and two of its executives with scheming to overvalue assets and exaggerate reported returns in order to hide losses and increase fees collected from investors. On November 28, 2012, the SEC accepted Offers of Settlement from...

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On January 3, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that $1.26 million in penalties will be paid collectively by four national retailers to settle charges that the companies mislabeled various textile products. According to the FTC, the products were labeled and advertised as made of bamboo, when in fact such products were made of rayon, resulting in a violation of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and the FTC’s textile rules. The FTC alleges that these companies continued to...

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Courtesy of EACCNY Founding Member Pepper Hamilton, LLP The recently enacted Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) brings a new economic environment for investors raising countless questions regarding its impact on capital formation, IPOs and securities offerings, early stage fundraising (including "Crowdfunding"), new regulatory frameworks and private equity and traditional investments. This webcast covered many of the most critical issues surrounding the JOBS Act affecting small, mid-cap and larger companies. The panel of thought leaders shared their expert opinions and...

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On New Year's Day 2013, the "American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012" (the Act) was enacted to avoid the impact of automatic "fiscal cliff" tax increases. The Act, effective January 1, 2013, retains and makes permanent the Bush-era income tax rates for all but high-income taxpayers, makes permanent the current estate tax exemption with a slight increase in the marginal estate tax rate, and makes important business tax changes. The elimination of "sunset" provisions in the income and estate tax should...

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On November 14, 2012, Pepper Hamilton attorneys Richard P. Eckman and Stephen G. Harvey conducted a webinar entitled "Is the Attorney-Client Privilege Under Attack by the CFPB?" to review a new rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to codify protections for privileged information submitted to it by the financial institutions it regulates. The rule follows the CFPB's announced expectation that, upon request, the entities the CFPB supervises will disclose privileged material to it. The U.S. Senate passed a bill...

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The Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) has issued a final rule which amends its regulations on testing and labeling pertaining to certification of children’s products. Specifically, the final rule requires the selection of “representative” samples of children’s products for periodic testing by accredited third party testing labs. The final rule is effective on February 8, 2013 and applies to products manufactured after that date. The CPSC defines a representative sample “as one that provides the manufacturer with a basis for inferring...

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