News, Events, & Insights

All of the speakers who presented during the second day of the Sustainable Foods Summit emphasized the need for transparency in sustainability communications.

Although the Sustainable Foods Summit focuses on the food industry, the lessons shared by the presenters this morning apply to all social enterprises, regardless of industry.  

When selecting brand names, it is important to think long term.  The more unique your brand, the greater protection it will be given by the courts and the PTO and the greater its value in transactional negotiations.

The SEC recently voted to propose amendments to the net worth standard for determining accredited investor status under the Securities Act of 1933.  Under the proposal, the SEC's rules would be amended to exclude the value of an individual's primary residence in calculating net worth for the purposes of determining whether a person qualifies as an "accredited investor." 

The recent United States Supreme Court decision in Thompson v. North American Stainless expands Title VII by recognizing third-party retaliation claims on behalf of people who did not themselves in engage in protected activity.

The tides of online privacy are changing quickly.  Businesses may be collecting more information than they need and sometimes sharing it without the informed consent of consumers.  The federal government intends to curb this by modifying current protection for consumers, offering more precise guidelines for businesses, and creating greater transparency in consumer-business relations.

A California appellate court in Holmes v. Petrovich ruled that an employee's emails sent to her attorney did not constitute "confidential communications between client and lawyer" when sent on a company computer.

The Federal Trade Commission issued a preliminary report that proposes a framework to balance the privacy interests of consumers wtih innovation that relies on consumer information to develop new products and services. 

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today a special voluntary disclosure initiative designed to bring offshore money back into the U.S. tax system and help people with undisclosed income from hidden offshore accounts get current with their taxes. The new voluntary disclosure initiative will be available through Aug. 31, 2011.

The NLRB created significant uncertainty regarding the appropriate scope of social media policies when it filed a complaint that alleges a company violated the National Labor Relations Act by terminating an employee for posting negative commernts about her supervisor on the employee's personal Facebook page.