A divided Federal court in the District of Columbia sided with more business owners who brought suit to challenge the Affordable Care Act (“ObamaCare”) birth control mandate today. The court’s order expressly provided “a temporary reprieve from the mandate.” The plaintiff business owners complained
The old story goes it was Harry Truman who said “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog?” For dog-lovers there is no substitute for the quality of companionship a canine buddy brings. But what happens when the unthinkable happens and someone or something…
The recent appeal and 5th Circuit opinion regarding whether claimants needed to match claims to expenses have halted the processing of business claims. The trial court, under Judge Barbier, subsequently set a hearing on December 2, 2013, to determine if matching is required by the settlement agreeme
It’s called the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). It’s a been heralded as the “the most important trade agreement in a generation” and yet you probably have never heard of it. That is because negotiations “have been conducted in extreme secrecy.” While it is styled a…
The Women Lawyers of the Mobile Bar Association, along with over one hundred of their professional peers from a broad cross-section of industries, were recently regaled with Dr. Judy Bonner’s stories bout her rural Alabama upbringing and her father’s influence on her career path. Most…
Building rapport with your jury is essential for any litigator. Many of us rely on the professional expertise of jury consultants and expert studies to help make than connection. Other of us may have, or think we have, our legal fingers firmly on the pulse…
We live in a brave new world where our technology has outstripped our traditional attitudes and expectations. The law has struggled to keep up. Two recent news items encapsulate the current struggle. One concerns an individual’s legal rights to protect his beliefs against technology and…
Individuals and employees of small businesses will have access to the private health insurance market created by the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) as of January 1, 2014. Employers are required to give all employees notice of coverage options by today, October 1, 2013. Employees hired…
There is a famous story, perhaps apocryphal, concerning what happened in the cigar-filled back rooms of the 1920 Republican National Convention which produced the surprise nominee Warren G. Harding. As the story goes, certain factions allegedly pushed for Harding because he “looked like a President.
I still remember my first exposure to the nutty idea. I was reading an anthology of humorist P.J. O’Rourke’s early work from his National Lampoon days. There is was, dripping with satire, a flow chart about how fluoridated water was turning America’s kids into communists. I laughed…
While you have already guessed that your phone calls and e-mails are not free from the NSA’s prying eyes, it doesn’t stop there. The German newspaper Der Spiegel has broken a story that many other features on your iPhones, BlackBerry and Android devices are not…
Part of a doctor’s duty in treating his or her patients involves educating the patient. A close relative of mine just retired from the long-time practice of medicine in Alabama, and he has described to me the extent to which he would go to get…