Holland & Hart News

Partner to Speak at 2009 Hospitality Law Conference

Holland & Hart Partner, Steven Gutierrez will speak at the Seventh Annual Hospitality Law Conference on February 9-11, 2009.  Gutierrez is currently the chair of the firm's Labor & Employment practice group and the primary contributor to the firm's employment law blog. He will speak on how to manage new technology, including blogs, instant messaging, and camera phones, and he will discuss issues concerning how to discipline and avoid loss of trade secrets.

The Annual Hospitality Law Conference brings together more than 350 private attorneys, human resource professionals, in-house counsel, loss-prevention personnel, risk managers, and hospitality owners and operators to learn about a host of legal issues pertinent to the hospitality industry.

 

The 2009 Hospitality Law Conference features new additions, including breakout tracks for Payment Card Industry (“PCI”) topics, risk management, and hospitality law basics. Core conference sessions will cover the areas of lodging, food and beverage, human resources, and loss prevention. Topics to be addressed include franchising, union and collective bargaining, incentive fees in management contracts, wage and hour laws, and employment and immigration laws. 

 

The Conference will be held Monday through Wednesday, Feb. 9-11, 2009, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. To Register or to obtain additional information on accommodations, please visit www.HospitalityLawyer.com.

 

FERC Approves Project Utilizing Hydrokinetic Device to Generate Electricity from In-stream Flow of Water

By Steven W. Snarr

December 17, 2008

In an order dated December 13, 2008, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) announced its approval of an electric generation project which would utilize a hydrokinetic device to generate electricity from the flow of water coming off the tailrace of an existing dam in the Mississippi River.  The Order Amending License (“Order”) approves the application of the City of Hastings to amend its existing license to operate a dam and related electric generation facilities located on the Mississippi River near the City of Hastings in Minnesota. [City of Hastings, Project No. 4306-017, 125 FERC  ¶ 61,287 (December 13, 2008)]

Read the full news alert, here.

CI Lists Carrigan as Candidate for Colorado U.S. Attorney

Much speculation exists over who will become Colorado's next U.S. attorney to president-elect Barack Obama. It is unlikely that Colorado’s current U.S. attorney, Troy Eid, will continue in that role. However, neither Sen. Ken Salazar, who would be charged with submitting recommendations for Eid's successor, nor his spokesperson will not disclose the possibilities.

Yet rumors fly about the replacement. Several names have been mentioned as possible candidates for Colorado U.S. attorney: among them is Holland & Hart's Michael Carrigan.

Carrigan is a former Denver deputy district attorney. When asked about the position, Carrigan told PolitickerCO.com early this month, “It’s something I’m seriously considering, and (it’s) flattering to have some people mentioning my name.”

Read more about Colorado's next U.S. attorney in The Colorado Independent, here.

Bankrupcy Filings in Colorado

Bankruptcy attorney, Risa Wolf-Smith was quoted today in The Denver Post on the escalation of bankruptcy filings across the nation, especially in Colorado. According to statistics released Monday from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Colorado recorded 5,916 filings in the third quarter, a 42.7 percent increase from the 4,145 counted in the third quarter of 2007.

The tight credit conditions behind the rise in bankruptcies make it harder to finance a restructuring, forcing more liquidations. "People are trying to get whatever they can," Risa said, "There aren't a lot of people willing to step in."

Read the full article "Colorado filings for bankruptcy accelerate," here.

Bush Administration Revises ESA Section 7

By William G. Myers III

December 12, 2008

Four months to the day after proposing changes to the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) Section 7 consultation regulations, the Secretary of the Interior announced that Interior and the Department of Commerce had finalized regulations clarifying the consultation process.  The final rule will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.  It is expected that the regulations will be in effect prior to President-elect Obama’s inauguration. 

Read the full news update, here.

Holland & Hart Named Finalist for Business-Ethics Awards

Holland & Hart was listed as one of 16 for-profit businesses, as a finalists in the annual Colorado Ethics in Business Alliance awards. Holland & Hart was the only law firm to be included in the list of finalists.

Since its 1991 start, the CEBA annual awards program has grown to become the largest single event of its kind in the United States. The organization has honored over 100 business organizations from the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, as well as business and civic leaders.

The CEBA awards recognize organizations and individuals who strive to operate ethically and honorably.

Read more about the award and the other finalists in the Denver Business Journal, here.

Founder of Holland & Hart's predecessor firm in Colorado Springs Remembered

The Colorado Springs community lost a prominent lawyer, a crusader for the developmentally disabled and an old-fashioned gentleman with the death of J. Donald Haney on Thursday. He was 97.

Holland & Hart is proud to recognize the contributions that Haney made to the practice of law and to the firm. Haney joined his father, John Turner, in his practice to form Haney & Haney in 1937. For 46 years, Haney served his clients, fellow attorneys, and the city of Colorado Springs. He retired in 1983, just three years before merging with Holland & Hart.

Family friend John Hazlehurst, described Haney as an attorney guided by personal integrity who served other people before himself. "He was a moral and ethical voice," Hazlehurst said.

We fondly remember this special man who helped establish the deep legal roots from which Holland & Hart has grown.

Read Haney's tribute article in the Colorado Spring Gazette, here.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Contributions can be made to the Stephen S. Haney Endowment Fund, in care of Mosaic, 4980 S. 118th St., Omaha NE 68137.

Mandatory Ethics Reporting Rule For Government Contractors Goes into Effect on December 12, 2008

By Charles Lucy and Craig Willis

On November 12, 2008 the FAR Council issued its long-awaited Final Rule aimed at curtailing contractor misconduct in the federal procurement sector.  The Final Rule becomes effective on December 12, 2008, and implements “The Close the Contractor Fraud Loophole Act” (Pub. L. 110—252, Title VI, Chapter 1), as well as adding additional, significant agency requirements.  As anticipated, the Rule includes detailed regulations intended not only to provide more ethics guidance to contractors doing business with the Government, but also to provide for greater accountability in the federal procurement process.  Among other things, the Final Rule provides a new ground for contractor debarment or suspension and also creates an affirmative duty for many contractors to disclose certain types of conduct to the Government.  The Final Rule also provides minimum business conduct requirements that many Contractors will have to maintain in order to do business with the Federal Government.

Read the full news update, here.

PS Contributes to Holland & Hart Attorneys' Success in Court

   

Trials can often be long and tedious for jurors, so it is important that counsel keeps their attention and presents their case as efficiently as possible.

Holland & Hart attorneys, Timothy Getzoff and Andrea Anderson represented the French company Babolat, specializing in tennis and other racquet sports, against a trademark infringement suit brought by Unique Sports. Getzoff and Anderson faced the challenge of presenting the breadth of other companies using the blue overgrip tape that Unique claimed customers associate with only their company. 

They turned to Persuasion Strategies, Holland & Hart's in-house graphics department, to convey how many other companies - even Prince, Wilson, and Head - had a similar product. Nick Bouck built a transportable rack himself, using copper tubing, that held all the racuqets wrapped in various blue tape.

Instead of going through almost 60 racquests individually, Getzoff and Anderson could demonstrate all other blue overgrip products in the market. This compelling evidence refuted Unique's claim that the blue tape was their's alone, and the case was settled that day.

Read Law Week Colorado's article, "Rack Helped Jurors Get a Grip" for more about this victory.

Legal Insights 2008: Hidden exports, hidden risks

Beware violating U.S. export laws
By Ivan P. Koves

You’ve just hired a brilliant engineer! She has two degrees from Cal Tech and can run circles around your current staff. She’s applied for her green card and can remain in the U.S. on her H-1B visa until the green card comes through. She has made it through all of your background checks and signed your standard employment agreements.

Your company has not been able to gain any overseas customers. However, a potential large customer in China is sending a representative to your plant in Colorado to evaluate your operations and products. You are ready to roll out the red carpet and show him your modern technology.

You take the specifications for your latest product to Canada to meet with potential customers at an international trade show in Toronto.

The common factor in each of these scenarios is that they put your company at risk of violating U.S. export laws.

Read the full article in ColoradoBiz Magazine, here.