On February 7, the Division of Audits of the Office of Enforcement of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a report presenting the areas of noncompliance it identified during an audit of PNM Resources (PNMR), an energy holding company, and Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), a wholly owned public utility operating company subsidiary of PNMR.

President Obama announced on September 2 that his administration was withdrawing the draft ozone ambient air quality standards that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had prepared and was in the process of issuing as new regulations.

Under new requirements effective April 22, government contractors must now submit to the government information regarding past criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings when bidding for a contract or grant.

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released its September 2010 Visa Bulletin.

In TiVo, Inc. v. EchoStar Corp., et al., No. 2009-1374 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 20, 2011), a recent en banc decision, the Federal Circuit vacated an Eastern District of Texas court’s ruling that EchoStar was in contempt of the district court’s permanent injunction.

Deferred compensation arrangements under which payments subject to Section 409A are contingent on a release must be brought into compliance with documentation requirements by December 31.

Decision by court of appeals affirms that settlements that do not expand the exclusionary scope of a patent are not subject to antitrust challenge.

Although most supply agreements are a benign business reality, when favorable terms negotiated with a supplier foreclose the buyer’s rivals from competing, the antitrust waters can get murky, and buyers, especially those with market power, risk government investigations and private litigation.

Focus turns to completing 2012 and 2013 compliance tasks following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision.

D.C. Circuit Order prevents the Board from enforcing rule until the court resolves all of the issues before it; oral arguments scheduled for September 2012.

On February 7, the Division of Audits of the Office of Enforcement of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a report presenting the areas of noncompliance it identified during an audit of PNM Resources.

On February 15, 2012, FERC issued a notice announcing that it is establishing a docket to solicit comments exploring the extent to which the natural gas and electricity markets are interdependent and how FERC should oversee coordination between such markets.

On October 1, a New York appellate court held in RLI Ins. Co. v. Smiedala that an insured who prevailed in a declaratory relief coverage action brought by its excess insurer could recover its attorney’s fees in the litigation, even though the excess insurer’s coverage obligations with respect to underlying litigation had not yet been triggered.

Court finds that using technology to undertake more efficient document review is reasonable.

The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) has started the process of reviewing and updating the USP Medicare Model Guidelines v5.0 (Guidelines).

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on December 27 entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. that includes a unique monitorship approach designed to ensure compliance with France’s blocking statute.

In a decision that potentially expands the scope of wrongful discharge claims in Pennsylvania to encompass claims for "failure to hire," a military reservist who claims he was denied the right to "reclaim" his civilian job upon returning from a deployment in Pakistan has won the right to pursue punitive damages in a claim under Pennsylvania common law for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy while concurrently pursuing claims under the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reempl

This past year was an active year for developments in the fiduciary responsibility and disclosure areas of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA).

On 13 October, the UK’s Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) handed down its decision in Todd v Care Concern.

In the absence of new federal cybersecurity legislation, FERC uses its available authority in an effort to increase the resilience of the nation's critical electric infrastructure to cyber attacks.