Foley Hoag LLP

SUMMARY

We know that the recent financial crisis and related economic downturn unfortunately are causing many employers to consider ways to reduce operational expenses, including through workforce restructuring and layoffs. We offer a few preliminary considerations: any such reduction-in-force (RIF) must be carefully planned and executed both to minimize exposure to liability under various employment laws and to mitigate negative effects on employee morale and operations. The following are some issues for employers to consider as they grapple with whether and how to implement a layoff.

Questions Include:

• Is a Layoff Necessary?
• Voluntary or Involuntary Program?
• Develop Uniform Selection Criteria
• Conduct a Layoff Analysis
• Is Advance Notice Required
• Severance and ERISA
• Asking for a Release
• Don't Forget Immigration Implications
• Don't Lose Sight of Termination Basics

SUMMARY

Foley Hoag LLP’s interdisciplinary team counsels and protects the interests of its clients facing new realities, challenges and risks framed by today’s tumultuous economic and market conditions. By maintaining an active and engaged dialogue with our clients during this period of economic distress, our lawyers are better able to adapt to the changing legal needs of clients affected in the short term. More importantly, our immersion in their businesses and industries enables our lawyers to provide sound, strategic counsel to protect our clients’ interests in the longer term. The Economic Crisis Team delivers forward-thinking advice, focusing on long-standing core, integrated strengths of the firm.

Topics include:

• Financial investigations, enforcement proceedings and litigation
• Federal and state securities regulation
• Deal-making, corporate finance and investment restructuring
• Bankruptcy, corporate reorganization and financial disputes

SUMMARY

Established in December 1980 by the partners of law firm Foley Hoag, The Foley Hoag Foundation is a private foundation that seeks to combat racism, especially among youth, in the City of Boston. The Foundation awards grants to organizations working to improve the racial climate in Boston by addressing issues of diversity and racism. Grantee organizations achieve their goals through a variety of means, including arts and cultural activities, youth leadership and recreational programs. Other grantees provide advocacy assistance, enabling individuals to confront racism through legal or political action. Some grantee organizations work to prepare young children to live in the reality of a multicultural society, others engage teens, and a few target a primarily adult constituency.

The Foley Hoag Foundation was the first—and remains the only— foundation to focus exclusively on the improvement of race relations in Boston. The trustees are fortunate to have the unqualified endorsement of Foley Hoag, which has provided an enormous amount of financial, administrative and moral support.

SUMMARY

Drug company scientists discover that a rare debilitating disease may be treated with a drug licensed to treat an unrelated ailment. The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has not approved the drug for the rare disease. While the company begins time consuming and expensive clinical trials to test this discovery, patients with the rare disease ask their doctor for the drug. Doctors seek as much information as possible on this “off-label” use. The drug company wants to get the word out quickly about the new use.

• Should a drug company be permitted to promote the drug for the new use before FDA approval, and if so, what can the company say?
• Should doctors be permitted to prescribe a drug for an unapproved use, and if so, under what conditions?
• If doctors can prescribe the drug, how do they obtain information on the correct dosage and adverse side effects?
• Under what circumstances can a company provide “off-label” information to doctors?

Download A Low Dose Prescription: Criminal Prosecution of Off-Label Drug Promotion (.pdf)

SUMMARY

On November 7, 2007, USICS issued a revised I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form. The primary change to the revised Form I-9 is the elimination of five documents which were previously listed on List A as acceptable for proof of both identity and employment eligibility:

• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-570)
• Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570)
• Alien Registration Receipt card (Form I-151 - please note that the current I-551 Permanent Resident Card remains on List A)
• Reentry Permit (Form I-327)
• Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571)

SUMMARY

This guide is intended to provide foreign businesspeople with an introduction to the basic kinds of laws and regulations that affect the conduct of business in the United States, and particularly in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The level of detail is varied, reflecting the nature of the legal areas discussed. For example, environmental law and taxation are subjects of detailed and technical regulation, while labor relations are governed as much by custom and practice as by direct regulation.

SUMMARY

The revocable trust established as a part of your estate plan can serve as a very useful asset management vehicle during your lifetime. The benefits of funding a revocable trust during lifetime include:

(a) To avoid probate and many of the attendant delays, costs and administrative hurdles which are often associated with probate
(b) To avoid public disclosure of the extent of the Donor’s assets and his dispositive plan by avoiding the filing requirements of the probate registry
(c) To secure professional investment management for the assets placed in the trust
(d) To provide for continuity of management of the assets and access to the assets in the event of the Donor’s incapacity or incompetence.