News

When “Liquidated Damages” Are Not—The Common Law’s Abhorrence of Penalties and What You May or May Not Be Able to Do About It

By EsqSocial Corporation 22/12/20

As a general rule, courts do not save sophisticated parties from bad deals; instead, courts enforce both good deals and bad deals between sophisticated parties according to the express terms set forth in a written contract.

PTAB Touts Soaring MTA Pilot Program

By EsqSocial Corporation 22/12/20

On December 3, 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) released data regarding the usage and success rates of its Motion to Amend (“MTA”) Pilot Program (“Pilot”).

How to Respond to the SolarWinds “Orion” Supply Chain Attack

By EsqSocial Corporation 22/12/20

As reported last week, it appears that a state-sponsored security hack has resulted in a major security compromise in widely-used software offered by a company called SolarWinds.

Hinshaw's 12 Days of California Labor & Employment Series – Day 9: Additional Leave Law Updates

By EsqSocial Corporation 22/12/20

In the spirit of the season—and keeping some semblance of normal—we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers.

Oregon Public Option Report: An Evaluation and Comparison of Proposed Delivery Models

By EsqSocial Corporation 22/12/20

Section 9 of Senate Bill 770 (SB 770), signed into law in 2019, directed the state of Oregon to engage in an analysis to help policymakers develop policy around a public option or Medicaid buy-in model for Oregon.

ERISA’s Fiduciary Saga Continues — DOL Issues Final Exemption with New Commentary

By EsqSocial Corporation 22/12/20

Last week, the U.S.

City Planning Announces Citywide Hotel Special Permit Text

By EsqSocial Corporation 22/12/20

The New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) has scheduled a public scoping meeting for Friday January 22, 2021 for the Citywide Hotel Text Amendment.

Recent SEC Comment Letter Looks Under the Hood at SPAC Merger Diligence

By EsqSocial Corporation 22/12/20

You have undoubtedly read about the continuing popularity of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). According to SPACInsider, year-to-date there have been 242 SPAC IPOs, with an average IPO size of $334.9 million.

IRS Guidance on Deducting Expenses paid with PPP Loan Proceeds - Update

By EsqSocial Corporation 22/12/20

UPDATE – ON DECEMBER 21, 2020 CONGRESS ANNOUNCED A NEW STIMULUS PACKAGE THAT WILL ALLOW EXPENSES PAID WITH THE PROCEEDS OF A PPP LOAN TO BE DEDUCTED IN FULL.

Bracco Diagnostics Inc. v. Maia Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2020)

By EsqSocial Corporation 22/12/20

Stipulating to infringement after a contrary claim construction is a conventional stratagem for a losing party to have a final judgment that can be challenged before the Federal Circuit.  The risk of course, is that if the Court finds the district court's construction to be correct, the stipulati

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