Her claim related to a failure to arrange follow-up on a colonoscopy she had undergone in early 2007. Histopathology from the colonoscopy demonstrated pre-cancerous changes and ought to have prompted follow up and further investigation. By the time of my client’s diagnosis with cancer in late 2011, no effective treatment was possibly and she was receiving palliative care.

The case was settled on reasonable terms at a mediation conference in April 2013. The defendant and its insurer deserve considerable credit, given this was arranged on an expedited basis because of our client’s precarious health.

Because of my client’s ill health I was careful enough to stipulate that the settlement of the claim was to take effect immediately at the mediation and not to be subject to completion of settlement documents etc.

Very tragically, our client died on the Friday following the mediation conference. No opportunity existed for her to sign the relevant settlement documents before her death, though we spoke to her + so she knew the settlement that was achieved.

Fortunately (if there can be any fortune in such situation), given the term of the settlement mentioned above, the relevant compensation payment will still be made and will provide considerable benefit to our client’s immediate family.

The post Settlement of Medical Negligence Claims (part 2) appeared first on LXBN.

Incremental Steps Toward Internationalization

The PRC government is in the process of gradually internationalizing the RMB use for trade and investment. Commentators have surmised that the objective of these incremental steps is to facilitate RMB flows as needed for real operations, while keeping a tight rein on currency speculation.

Regarding currency generated or used in operations, the PRC has eased restrictions governing cash management for multi-national operating companies (“MNC”). For example, the People’s Bank of China recently began permitting certain MNCs to consolidate all incoming or outgoing RMB transactions over a given period into a single payment, rather than requiring approval for each individual transaction. Similarly, last September, the State Administration of Foreign exchange launched a pilot program that allows approved companies to sweep foreign currency generated in China into a single overseas account.

The PRC is also incrementally liberalizing incoming and outgoing currency flows for investment funds. In 2011, Shanghai unveiled its Qualified Foreign Limited Partner program (“QFLP”). Under the QFLP, foreign-invested private equity funds and fund management companies were permitted to convert their foreign currency capital into RMB in order to invest into RMB funds. Factors for foreign funds to be qualified participants under the program included whether (i) the fund identified investors and obtained firm commitments from such investors; (ii) the management team has sufficient PRC investment experience; (iii) the fund had certain favoured investors such as government guidance funds or SOEs; (iv) the fund established a governance structure, investment plans, and capital contribution, distribution and allocation mechanism.

Following the QFLP, the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (“RQFII”) program was launched in December of 2011. Under the RQFII, Hong Kong subsidiaries of approved PRC securities firms were permitted to raise RMB funds in Hong Kong to invest in the PRC securities markets. Each firm was limited to a quota determined by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”). RQFII investments are limited to stocks, bonds and warrants traded on stock exchanges, fixed-income products traded on inter-bank bond markets, securities investment funds, stock index futures and other financial instruments permitted by the CSRC.

Both the QFLP and the RQFII were designed to attract RMB currency that has pooled offshore. By providing a mechanism to return offshore RMB to the PRC, the RQFLP is the next small step towards internationalizing RMB currency in the investment industry, and particularly for private equity firms.

RQFLP Features

RQFLP is effectively an extension of the QFLP, and also follows in the wake of the RQFII. The RQFLP is an extension of the QFLP in that it permits qualified foreign-invested private equity funds to use offshore RMB (as opposed to foreign currency) from qualified foreign investors to make investments in PRC companies. The RQFLP also avoids the necessity of obtaining foreign currency exchange approval. Like the RQFII, RQFLP funds raise and deploy offshore RMB. However, unlike RQFII, the foreign invested fund may invest in convertible instruments, private companies, and private placements in listed companies.

Qualified RQFLP participant funds will include Hong Kong subsidiaries of PRC investment firms and foreign fund managers with an established record and offshore-RMB fundraising capacity. In the PRC, the RQFLP fund will set up a foreign invested fund manager (“FIE Manager”) with registered capital of USD 2 million or a foreign-invested fund (“FIE Fund”) with registered capital of US 15 million to act as a general partner onshore. Each foreign investor in the FIE Fund must own assets of US 500 million or have US 1 billion under management. Limitations for investors in Fund Managers have not been specified.

RQFLP Limitations

The RQFLP is geographically limited to Shanghai’s Pudong New Area (though Chongqing government has been reported to open a similar program). It is capped at RMB 1 billion. The QFLP was also initially subject to caps that were expanded shortly after the program was introduced. Likewise, RQFII was initially capped at RMB 6 billion but has expanded to RMB 270 billion. Elevated cap amounts do not, however, correlate to private equity investment. Despite the higher cap, as of last January the QFLP had only raised RMB 15 billion, most of which has not been deployed.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment is that RQFLP funds will still be treated as foreign investors according to the Reply Letter of the General Office of NDRC on Relevant Issues Relating to Foreign-invested Equity Investment Enterprises, 2012 (1023). The letter emphasized that any amount of funds provided by foreign limited partners would make the fund “foreign” and would still be treated as a foreign investment. Therefore, investment into a PRC company by an RQFLP fund will convert the PRC company from a domestic entity to a foreign invested entity (“FIE”). FIE’s cannot invest in certain sectors and must comply with Catalogue for the Guidance of Industries of Foreign Investment.

As practical limitation on both RQFLP and PRC ambitions to internationalize the yuan, the total amount of accessible offshore RMB is a estimated to be a modest RMB 1 trillion . Only a fraction of those funds, which includes dim-sum bonds and certificates of deposit, will be available to fundraisers for RQFLP investment.

Impact

Although RQFLP is a discrete step toward RMB internationalization, it is not likely to generate tremendous amounts of investment inflows.

The post Renminbi Qualified Foreign Limited Partner: An Incremental Step Toward RMB Internationalization in the Private Equity Industry appeared first on LXBN.

USCIS also manages the system that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. This system, called E-Verify, is an Internet-based system that lets businesses determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the U.S. E-Verify is free and the best way employers can ensure a legal workforce.

I-94 Automation
E-Verify is linked closely to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, and is used to fortify the Form I-9 employment eligibility verification process that all employers are required to follow.  Although using the E-Verify system is voluntary for most employers, the completion of Form I-9 is required.

In April of this year, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) automated the Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record process at air and seaports.  Their plan expands the automated process nationwide to all air and seaports of entry by the end of May 2013.  The CBP will continue to provide the paper Forms I-94 to certain individuals arriving in the United States by air or sea.  This includes refugees, certain asylees, and parolees, as well as where the CBP deems the paper Form I-94 appropriate.  Also, USCIS will continue to issue the paper Form I-94 to aliens who are already in the United States.

The automation of the CBP I-94 record does affect E-Verify.  If an employee provides their foreign passport with their Form I-94 arrival/departure record, they will be required to enter the foreign passport information when creating a case in E-Verify.

The attorneys in the International Practice Group at BoltNagi PC have worked with many immigration issues, and has the experience and resources to assist you and your business. Attorney Ashley D. Dworsky, Chair of the BoltNagi International Practice Group, together with Attorney Laura C. Nagi handle all areas of immigration law, with an emphasis on business and family immigration and visa law.  Please contact BoltNagi PC today to address your immigration concerns.

The post Good Housekeeping for Business: E-Verify and I-9 Compliance appeared first on LXBN.

Investigators believe five confirmed cases and five probable cases made up an isolated incident and is not an ongoing threat to public health.  It is not known if the cause was due to improper temperature, improper cooking, or cross-contamination.

The health department says the unidentified restaurant has been fully cooperative during the investigation. Control measures have been implemented to prevent further cases including, mandatory glove use by employees and continuous monitoring by the health department.

E. coli:  Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of E. coli outbreaks and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The E. coli lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of E. coli and other foodborne illness infections and have recovered over $600 million for clients. Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation.  Our E. coli lawyers have litigated E. coli and HUS cases stemming from outbreaks traced to ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and other food products.  The law firm has brought E. coli lawsuits against such companies as Jack in the Box, Dole, ConAgra, Cargill, and Jimmy John’s.  We have proudly represented such victims as Brianne Kiner, Stephanie Smith and Linda Rivera.

If you or a family member became ill with an E. coli infection or HUS after consuming food and you’re interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark E. coli attorneys for a free case evaluation

The post Unnamed College Station Restaurant Source of E. Coli Outbreak appeared first on LXBN.

All seem to have eaten at the All American Sports Bar and Grill and The Café Bordeaux within the Holiday Inn Fayetteville – Bordeaux on Owen Drive.  The hotel’s General Manager Scooter Deal said the first 14 reported cases were all staff members at the hotel, including himself.

The health department and the North Carolina Division of Public Health continue to ask individuals who consumed food or beverages at the Holiday Inn Fayetteville – Bordeaux since May 1 and then developed symptoms within three days of that visit to call the county Health Department at (910) 433-3638.

Salmonella:  Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of Salmonella outbreaks. The Salmonella lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of Salmonella and other foodborne illness outbreaks and have recovered over $600 million for clients.  Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation.  Our Salmonella lawyers have litigated Salmonella cases stemming from outbreaks traced to a variety of foods, such as cantaloupe, tomatoes, ground turkey, salami, sprouts, cereal, peanut butter, and food served in restaurants.  The law firm has brought Salmonella lawsuits against such companies as Cargill, ConAgra, Peanut Corporation of America, Sheetz, Taco Bell, Subway and Wal-Mart.

If you or a family member became ill with a Salmonella infection, including Reactive Arthritis or Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), after consuming food and you’re interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark Salmonella attorneys for a free case evaluation.

The post Fayettevile Holiday Inn Salmonella Outbreak Reaches 70 appeared first on LXBN.

The amendment ensures the EB-5 regional center program, currently set for sunset in 2015, will be made permanent.  As in years past, just days before it was set to expire, the EB-5 regional center program was re-authorized in September of 2012.  The amendment also provides improvements to the program to make it more efficient and predictable for investors and regional centers.  One of these proposed mechanisms would be an exemplar I-526 petitions pre-approval process that would be binding for adjudication on subsequently filed I-526 petitions.  The number of EB-5 visas is increased as well through the exemption of spouses and children from the 10,000 cap.  The amendment also designates a minimum of 5,000 visas per year for investments into targeted employment areas (TEAs) and extends TEA designations to five years.  Finally, the amendment will adjust the minimum investment (currently at $1 million or $500,000 in a TEA) beginning January 1, 2016.  The minimum investment will adjust with the percentage change in the consumer price index (CPI) during the fiscal year 2015 and every five years thereafter, reflecting market conditions.

In a timely addition to the program, following the wake of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) investigation of the Intercontinental Regional Center Trust of Chicago, the amendment builds anti-fraud and oversight measures into the EB-5 program.  The amendment requires detailed annual reporting from regional centers to track the progress of investment projects.  It also permits the Secretary of Homeland Security to bar those who were liable of financial or other crimes from using the program and to conduct background checks on potential regional center managers.  Further, the amendment strives to ensure that all users of the program are in full compliance with securities laws requiring a certification of compliance with securities laws in initial designation applications and regional center applications.  If a regional center does not make the requisite certification, the amendment provides USCIS the authorization to terminate the regional center.  Such termination is at the unreviewable discretion of USCIS.

S. 744 markups continue today (May 20, 2013) with Title III and then again with Title II on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Sheppard Mullin will keep our EB-5 Stakeholders updated on this legislation as it makes its way through committee and Congress.

The post Senator Leahy’s EB-5 Amendment Added to Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill appeared first on LXBN.

As we discussed in a recent blog post, all I-526 petitions were originally slated for filing through ELIS, but due to concerns from EB-5 stakeholders regarding the system’s ability to handle the volume of documents I-526 petitions require, the implementation was delayed.  The mandatory transition from paper-based I-526 filings to ELIS was reconsidered and, instead, USCIS is considering a voluntary pilot program.

USCIS is also in the process of updating the ELIS system to facilitate efficient filings through the creation of a “document library” that allows multiple investors in the same regional center project to use the previously submitted project-specific documentation.  The document library will provide investors with access to documents and then, perhaps, link the documents to the I-526 petition filing.  Initially, it has been reported that the core documents will come from the I-924, Application for Regional Center Under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program.  The specifics are not known yet and are still being decided.  Whatever the end process will look like, we expect it to greatly assist in streamlining the process of filing I-526 petitions, ensure consistency for regional center-affiliated petitions, and increase the service’s productivity by cutting down on duplicative reviews.  Use of the ELIS program for investors filing I-526 petitions will begin as a voluntary option, but is expected to become mandatory after the voluntary pilot phase concludes.

USCIS invited stakeholders to participate in the meeting, but limited the number of in person attendees to twenty-five.  Partner Dawn Lurie will report in the meeting to our readers from Washington, D.C.  We urge you to join the conversation and register to listen by phone.  Registrations for phone attendance must be received no later than May 22, 2013.

The post USCIS Stakeholder Engagement Regarding ELIS and the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program appeared first on LXBN.

The Finance Committee’s bill is on the Texas Senate’s calendar for second reading sometime today, May 20th. Businesses, and their Texas tax advisers, can watch that body’s floor debate on the bill as it occurs on the Senate RealMedia Live Broadcasts page. Of course, if the Senate passes its version of House Bill 500, the versions of the bills from both houses will have to be reconciled by a conference committee. And that will have to be accomplished very quickly.

The post House Bill 500 Could End Up As a Franchise Tax Rate-reduction Bill appeared first on LXBN.

The bill, entitled “Keeping Employees’ Emails and Phones (KEEP) Secure Act,” carries the title and tracks the language of a bill introduced in the U.S. Congress in February 2012 by Rep. Sandy Adams (R-FL), which would have prevented the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB or Board) from implementing a rule requiring employers to provide to a union or the Board employee telephone numbers or email addresses. The federal bill did not pass. The Virginia law provides that employers cannot be “required to release, communicate, or distribute” to third parties personal identifying information (defined as home and mobile telephone numbers, email addresses, shift times and work schedules) about current or former employees, unless required by federal or state law, ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction, required pursuant to a warrant, or required by a subpoena or discovery in a civil case.  These exceptions may largely swallow the rule, particularly if the NLRB changes the election procedures under the National Labor Relations Act (the NLRA) to include, among other things, a requirement that employers disclose employees’ phone numbers and email addresses to labor organizations once an election has been ordered.  

Anticipated Legal Challenges

KEEP is an apparent response to an NLRB representation election rule that was proposed in June 2011, initially requiring employers to provide a final Excelsior list that includes employees’ names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses to the union within two days after the representative election is scheduled.  Although the NLRB historically has held that unions engaged in organizing campaigns are entitled to employee lists, they have only required that employers provide names and addresses of all eligible bargaining unit employees after an election is scheduled.  The proposed rule would have significantly expanded the amount of personal information that employers are required to provide.  The final rule, which was issued in December 2011 and was subsequently enjoined, does not contain these enhanced provisions regarding Excelsior lists; however, NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce has stated his intention to continue seeking these additional rule changes.  An update on this issue, which was recently addressed at a Senate HELP Committee Hearing, can be found here.

While KEEP’s strict definition of  “personal identifying information” does not conflict with the existing Excelsior rule, if the NLRB changes this rule as proposed, KEEP could become the subject of a preemption battle, focusing on whether such disclosures are “required” by federal law and therefore within the exemption.

Recommendations for Virginia Employers

Pending the outcome of any court challenges, employers in Virginia should consult with counsel to ensure that their practices and policies comply with the new law.  Employers also should monitor developments at the NLRB and in the courts, and revise their policies concerning the confidentiality of personal data and work schedules, and access to personnel files, and similar policies commonly contained in employee handbooks and manuals to ensure information is not released in violation of KEEP.  Employers also should provide training to human resources professionals who are charged with overseeing employee files to ensure that they understand these new obligations.

Additionally, employers should be mindful that KEEP does not prohibit the disclosure of private employee data if an exception does not apply; it merely states employers cannot be “required” to release such information.  Therefore, employers have the discretion to decide their internal policies regarding voluntary disclosure of employee data in circumstances not covered by the Act.  That said, KEEP articulates a public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which means it may be cited by plaintiffs’ attorneys in negligence cases and public policy wrongful discharge cases, among others.  It will be important to ensure that human resources managers are aware of the terms of the statute.   

The post New Employee Privacy Law in Virginia Goes into Effect July 2013 appeared first on LXBN.

The 47-year-old Kitchen was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Kitchen had already been the subject of a related injunction issued in December 2012 by the Missouri Secretary of State.

From 2008 to 2009 Kitchen is said to have operated a fraudulent high-yield investment program under the guise of his company, PIF Financial Services, LLC. Kitchen solicited funds by telling investors he traded leveraged banking instruments among the world’s top 100 financial institutions. He claimed the transactions were so safe as to be “foolproof,” telling one alleged victim in a rather frank admission that the program was “almost too good to be true.” PIF’s vehicle was so good that it generated 1000% annual returns, ludicrous profits at ludicrous speed. To convince one investor of his bona fides, Kitchen produced a supposed letter from Bank of America stating that his account held $840 million just waiting to be tapped once a special SEC-issued code was entered.

Yet none of the story, the US Attorney asserts, was actually true. According to his indictment, there were no prime bank instruments; Kitchen was simply collecting investor funds and spending them on himself. In its own documents, the State of Missouri says that Kitchen blew through at least $300,000 in clients’ cash, sinking $10,000 alone on pet supplies. While every hound deserves a bone now and then, those purchases evoke images of diamond-studded collars and luxury doghouses.  Kitchen would only pamper his pets so far, though; travel to the canine day spa would be restricted to a Ford Edge and Kia Borrego allegedly bought with victims’ money.

MICHAEL KITCHEN

• Age: 47
• Company: PIF Financial Services, PM Solutions
• Job: Broker
• Scam: International Bank Instruments
• Profits: 1,000% per year
• Ponzi Time: 2008-2009
• Number of Victims: At Least 5
• Amount of Fraud: $500,000
• Location: St. Louis, MO
• Indictment: Multiple Counts of Wire Fraud, Money Laundering
• Court: US District Court, Eastern District of Missouri

US v. Michael Kitchen Indictment

The post Accused Scammer Offered Investors Returns at Ludicrous Speed appeared first on LXBN.