Beginning July 30, 2007, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will increase its filing fees for all nonimmigrant and immigrant applications and petitions, as well as naturalization applications, biometric fees and other related immigration documents.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) has released an important new exposure draft of "Guidance for Smaller Public Companies Reporting on Internal Control over Financial Reporting." This draft guidance was generated to give smaller businesses an alternative to COSO’s full-blown “Framework” for internal controls.

On January 29, 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (the "FTC") formally adopted amendments to the rules and regulations under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the "HSR Act").

Two weeks after announcing that most all employment-based immigrant visa categories would be current July 1, 2007, the Department of State announced today that effective Monday, July 2, 2007, all employment-based immigrant visa numbers were unavailable, and further, would not become available until October 1, 2007 (under fiscal year 2008 numbers).

As part of the Senate Finance Committee’s investigation of tax-exempt organizations, Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) on June 1, sent letters to two top IRS officials, asking them to increase enforcement related to perceived abuses in the tax-exempt area.

On Wednesday, June 13, just one week after oral argument, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment to our client, Coventry Health Care, Inc., in the lead case in the Managed Care Multidistrict Litigation.

By way of follow-up to our February 13, 2007 Client Alert, on February 21, 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") abruptly withdrew Transmittal 187, CR 5449, "Implementation of New Compliance Standards for Independent Diagnostic Testing Facilities" ("IDTFs"), just a week before its scheduled implementation date of February 26, 2007.

On May 23, 2008, Judge James Robertson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia entered summary judgment in favor of Powell Goldstein's client hospital plaintiffs, vacating a controversial Medicaid rule that would have severely curtailed payments to Medicaid providers.

The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has handed down opinions regarding how county and municipal governments may enact and enforce sign ordinances. In light of these recent decisions, certain exemptions to sign ordinances, once thought constitutional, may now be considered content-based regulations, and held to unconstitutionally infringe on free speech.

On August 15, 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a State Medicaid Directors Letter (SMDL) regarding a change in the law with respect to cost-sharing for non-emergency services furnished to low-income patients in emergency rooms and to announce the implementation of a grant program for non-emergency services.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted information regarding agency audit and enforcement initiatives pertaining to Medicare Advantage (MA) and Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) organizations conducted since January of 2006.

The United States Constitution gave Congress the power to grant patents to promote the progress of science and useful arts. On Monday, the Supreme Court, overruling precedent from the Federal Circuit, made clear that in order to promote such progress, routine improvements cannot receive patent protection.

The federal low-income housing tax credit is a credit available to investors, including banks, over a ten year period and is based upon a percentage of the cost of construction of a multifamily apartment complex.

On July 24, 2007, four U.S. Senators proposed bipartisan global warming legislation that is intended to be less burdensome on business than competing plans that have been offered to date.

On July 3, 2006, Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic and Business Development ("DBED") began accepting applications for the qualification of Maryland biotechnology companies under the Biotechnology Investment Incentive Act.

Prior to adjourning for the August recess, the Senate and the House of Representatives passed different bills reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Reconciling these bills in September may be complicated due to the variation in the bills and the issues that they raise.

On Saturday, September 29th, President Bush signed into law a temporary funding extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), as well as a separate bill that will continue several health care programs that were set to expire on September 30th.

The Department of State ("DOS") has published a regulation modifying the procedures for expedited passport issuance through its Passport Services Office.

On April 19, 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested seven current and former managers of IFCO Systems North America, Inc. ("IFCO"), the largest pallet services company in the United States.

On May 15, the Supreme Court ruled that, in deciding whether to issue permanent injunctions in patent infringement actions, the trial courts should apply the traditional four-prong test for granting injunctive relief. In eBay, Inc. v. MercExchange, the Court, in a unanimous decision, rejected the use of categorical rules and reversed the Federal Circuit's decision for applying the incorrect standard. Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinion states that courts should apply the traditional following