False Claims Act Insights - How a Marine Fisheries Dispute Opened an FCA Can of Worms
False Claims Act Insights - If Everything Matters, Nothing Does: Parsing Materiality in FCA Disputes
Podcast: Non-binding Guidance: SEC Disclosure Issues for Life Sciences Companies
Life Sciences Quarterly (Q3 2019): SEC Enforcement and Class Actions Regarding FDA Communications
When state law provides that an insurance contract can be rescinded for misrepresentations only if they are “material,” can an insurer contract around that rule by adding an exclusion for all claims based on any...more
Cases on Material Adverse Effect (“MAE”) clauses (also known as Material Adverse Change, or MAC, clauses) rarely come before the English courts, so there are limited English authorities on their construction. The High Court...more
The materiality standard in fraud cases may soon shift dramatically if the comments of Supreme Court justices during a recent oral argument are any indication. A rollback of the materiality standard would be the latest in a...more
Although discretionary, it is well-known among commercial practitioners that the Commercial Division justices generally like a Rule 19-a statement of material facts included with the submission of a summary judgment motion....more
All breaches are not created equal. A minor, technical breach may be deemed “immaterial.” Other breaches – so-called “material” breaches — deprive the non-breaching party of something important or essential to the purpose of...more
Indemnification is a key component in virtually every M&A deal, serving as a detailed and nuanced contractual risk allocation device between the Buyer and Seller. Though drafted in a two-way fashion, indemnity operates in the...more
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s summary judgement order, granting a chocolate shop franchisor’s breach of contract and unfair competition claims. The appellate court concluded there were...more
A recent case weighed the extent to which a purchaser was able to negotiate terms when exercising a purchase of property under an option in a lease. The litigation began when, after the tenant/buyer exercised its purchase...more
Market Trends: What You Need to Know - Over the past almost 15 years covered by the ABA studies, materiality scrapes have morphed from being a somewhat uncommon provision, seen in about 14% of transactions in 2005, to...more
During a construction project, circumstances may arise that lead a general contractor to consider termination of a subcontractor’s right to proceed under the subcontract. The Randy Kinder Excavating v. J.A. Manning...more
Since at least 1940, parties to construction contracts have been held to high standard of showing “complete and strict performance of all [of the construction contract’s] terms.” This has historically turned otherwise...more
On February 4, 2016, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) held in Eventmonitor, Inc. v. Leness that an employer breached its agreement with a former employee when it reclassified the employee’s termination from...more
In a case on which we previously reported, the Third Circuit recently evaluated the legal standard for determining materiality in a claim for rescission of an insurance contract. The case involved a dispute between two...more
In Greene v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, the Texas Supreme Court clarified the scope and application of § 862.054 of the Texas Insurance Code, the “anti-technicality” statute, holding that the clause would only operate in...more
Last week, the Texas Supreme Court handed down a length opinion that involved the material breach doctrine. The doctrine — adopted twenty years ago in Hernandez v. Gulf Group Lloyds, 875 S.W.2d 691 (Tex. 1994) and...more