NIETZER® . Rechtsanwälte . USA RECHT

EurActiv with Reuters. EU to relaunch debate on class-action lawsuit plan.The European Commission will relaunch a debate next month on a controversial plan to help consumers launch class-action lawsuits to seek compensation for anti-competitive practices, according to a Commission document. Former Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes tried to lay out rules last year that would make it easier for consumers who suffer at the hands of companies that fix prices or abuse their dominant market position to take them to court. Weiterlesen →

Der Artikel der Frankfurter Allgemeine vom 13.Oktober 2010 befasst sich mit dem Foreign Manufacturer’s Legal Accountability Act“, dieser US-Rechtsblog hatte hierzu bereits zwei Einträge (5.August und 14.Juni 2010) veröffentlicht. Wenn Sie mehr Informationen oder Updates zum Status Quo wünschen, senden Sie uns eine email oder kommentieren Sie diesen Eintrag. Und wenn Sie generell zu diesem Thema und einer eventuell daraus resultierenden höheren Gefahr, als ausländischer Hersteller von Geschädigten in den USA schneller in den USA verklagt zu werden, Ihre Meinung loswerden möchten, dann nutzen Sie die Kommentarfunktion.  Wir selbst sind der Meinung, dass man die Thematik zumindest als in der EU ansässiges Unternehmen nicht zu hoch aufhängen sollte (da Zustellungen von US-Klagen gemäß dem Haager Zustellabkommen in z.B. Deutschland möglich sind, wobei auch dann seitens des betroffenen Unternehmens über Abwehrmassnahmen gegen die Zustellung selbst nachzudenken wäre) . Im übrigen gilt so oder so, dass sich Unternehmen, die im US-Markt Geschäfte machen oder dort über ein eigene Tochtergesellschaft vertreten sind, mit dem US-Rechtssystem befassen und Vorsorge gegen gewisse systemimmanente rechtliche Risiken treffen müssen.  Obacht geben, länger leben!

Vermittlungsaktivitäten von US-Anwälten, die darauf abzielen, Investoren mit öffentlichen Fonds zum Zwecke eines Investments zusammenzubringen, müssen eine entsprechende Broker Lizenz besitzen, sonst droht Strafe. Hier der aktuelle Sachverhalt und die Vereinbarung zwischen dem New Yorker Attorney General und der Anwaltskanzlei, gegen welche ermittelt wurde: Manatt_AOD_Executed Weiterlesen →

www.law.com; Punitives Can Only Exceed Compensatories by 9-1 Ratio, Court Says.  Slashing a jury’s punitive award of $500,000 down to $270,000, a federal judge has ruled that the constitutional maximum for punitive awards is ordinarily no more than nine times the compensatory award — even in cases where the defendant is a repeat violator. In his 22-page opinion in Dixon-Rollins v. TransUnion , Weiterlesen →

USA Today; Feds sue to halt inmate who has filed 3,800 lawsuits. In the past four years, convicted credit-card scammer Jonathan Lee Riches has filed more than 3,800 lawsuits from his prison cell in Kentucky. He calls himself „Lawsuit Zeus,“ having filed torts in nearly every jurisdiction across the land against the famous, the rich, the powerful, the dead, the celestial. Now federal officials are turning the legal tables on 33-year-old Riches, suing him to halt his pastime. Riches, who has spent nearly a decade behind bars, has filed p to four handwritten petitions a day just in Kentucky courts. Among his targets: New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, former president George W. Bush, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, swindler extraordinaire Bernard Madoff, Somali pirates, Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, Plato, Pluto and the Guinness Book of World Records — the latter to prevent from being labeled the most litigious man in America.

Law360, New York; Hedge Fund Sues Commerzbank Unit For $68M;. New York hedge fund has sued a unit of Germany’s Commerzbank Group for $68 million, alleging the bank violated its contractual obligation to pay the fund for its investment in profit-dependent securities that were used to raise capital. QVT Fund LP filed a complaint Thursday in the Court of Chancery for the State of Delaware in Wilmington, accusing Eurohypo AG of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract.

Institute for Legal Reform; The Wall Street Journal reported on its website that the SEC has been receiving at least one tip a day regarding potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a 1977 law that criminalizes bribery of foreign officials by companies within the jurisdiction of U.S. law. The article also notes that the number of FCPA enforcement actions by the SEC and the Justice Department has increased eight-fold since 2004. The FCPA is clearly a well intended law that aims to deter harmful conduct. But the massive increase in recent FCPA enforcement actions has raised questions about whether the law is being enforced fairly and consistently. Anmerkung: Wann wird es wohl in Deutschland ein Gesetz geben, welches den Verrat von Gesetzesverletzungen durch solche Personen („Whistleblowers“), die nicht an dem betreffenden Gesetzesverstoß beteiligt sind, mit einem Teil der festgesetzten Geldstrafe belohnt? In den USA scheint Deratiges sehr viel Wirkung zu zeigen….

FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog; The task of where to begin a full compliance and ethics program can often times appear quite daunting. Most US companies fully understand the need to comply with the FCPA. However most companies are not created out of new cloth but are ongoing enterprises with a fully up and running business in place. They need to bring resources to bear to comply with the FCPA while continuing to do business. This can be particularly true in the area of performing due diligence on foreign business partners or vendors in the supply chain. Weiterlesen →

An appeals court in Wausau has tossed out a lawsuit filed by a convicted child molester against the parents of her victim. Former Prescott teacher Anne Knopf pleaded guilty in Pierce County to second-degree sexual assault of the 13-year-old boy. The victim and his father filed a civil lawsuit against Knopf in 2008. She countersued, saying the child’s parents were negligent in their supervision of the boy, allowing her to sexually assault him for five months. he appeals court says Knopf’s contention is „convoluted reasoning.“ The St. Paul Pioneer Press says some of the teacher’s assaults took place at the victim’s home while other family members slept.