Education & Nonprofits

What is the responsibility of a public educational institution when it receives a public records request for material that it believes it must keep private under state and federal student records laws?

With stunning speed, the balance of power between collegiate athletes and the institutions they play for has changed. Recent events at the University of Missouri may feel like a tectonic shift but the preceding tremors had been evident for some time. 

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) voted 3-1 to reconsider its decision in Brown University, 342 NLRB 483 (2004) that graduate teaching and research assistants are not employees under the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”) and, therefore, not entitled to collective bargaining rights.

Our colleague Ray Cotton was recently recognized by Best Lawyers in America as one of the country's top peer-selected lawyers in Education Law.  Best Lawyers is considered the oldest and most highly-respected peer review guide to the legal profession worldwide.

On Tuesday, September 29th Mintz Levin's Education practice will host a panel on "VAWA Implementation and the Potential Impact of Proposed Massachusetts Bill S.650 on College and Universities".

Mintz Levin's Patricia Moran recently completed the final installment of "Student Employees and the Affordable Care Act", an insightful, four-part series discussing the ACA and issues relevant to the variety of student employee positions available at today's educational institutions.

The heady days of 2012 saw “Gangnam Style” dominate the U.S. music charts, Patricia Krentcil rocket to fame as the “New Jersey Tanning Mom,” and the New York Giants win the Super Bowl.

In my post of April 2, Divided Supreme Court Restricts Provider Challenges to State Medicaid Rates, I wrote about the March 31st Supreme Court decision that providers may not sue in federal court over the adequacy of state Medicaid rates (See Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Ctr., Inc. (“Exceptional Child Center”).

Last year New York passed legislation known as the “Emergency Medical Services and Surprise Bills” law, a much-heralded consumer protection law primarily intended to guard against surprise bills for out of network (OON) health care services.

On February 5, 2015, Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) introduced H.R. 9, entitled the “Innovation Act.”

On February 8, 2015, the Board of Governors of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) approved changes to the IEEE Patent Policy that provide additional specificity as to the nature of the obligation attaching to member-owned patents that are essential to an IEEE standard.

Currently on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is Carnegie Mellon University’s (“CMU”) $1.535 billion judgment for patent infringement against Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. (collectively “Marvell”), which is one of the largest damages awards for patent infringement in history.

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l on patentable subject matter, courts have tried to follow the prescribed framework.

Significant portions of the New York Nonprofit Revitalization Act (the “Revitalization Act” or the “Act”) went into effect in 2014. The Act represents the first overhaul in more than 40 years of laws applicable to nonprofit organizations that are incorporated and operate or solicit charitable contributions in the State of New York.

In Univ. of Utah Res. Foundation et al. v. Ambry Genetics Corp., No. 2014-1361 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 17, 2014), the Federal Circuit once again has weighed in on the patent eligibility of Myriad Genetics, Inc.’s patents related to BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

On October 24, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2014-67 (the “Notice”), which provides important guidance and increased flexibility for issuers and conduit borrowers of tax-exempt bonds regarding contracting with private parties in a manner that avoids “private use” by such parties of bond-financed facilities.

As we reported on Monday, due to a massive software failure of the Department of State’s Consular Consolidated Database (CCD), there continue to be delays in the issuance of visas at consular posts around the globe.

Multiple reports have confirmed that the U.S. Department of State’s global database for issuing travel documents recently crashed. While the system has been restored, it is operating at reduced capacity and significant backlogs have developed.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) Directorate has recently begun implementation of an L-1 site inspection program in response to an August 2013 report released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) titled “Implementation of L-1 Visa Regulations.”