The Ohio Boards of Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, and Nursing have adopted new guidelines pertaining to prescribing opioid medication. The guidelines are part of Ohio’s continuing effort to combat and reduce prescription drug abuse and diversion, and intended to further caution health care practitioners when prescribing high levels of painkillers for long-term use. Based on this objective, these agencies will be encouraging Ohio physicians and health practitioners to utilize Morphine Equivalent Dosing (“MED”) to evaluate or reevaluate the efficacy and safety of a patient’s treatment plan when it involves opioids.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, 47 USC 227, et. seq. (“TCPA”) and the accompanying Federal Communications Commission rules (47 CFR 64.100, et. seq.) ban many phone calls and text messages that are sent to a mobile phone using an automatic dialing system (“ATDS”) as defined in the TCPA. The ban is complete unless the recipient previously gave consent to receive the message or the message was sent for emergency purposes. Prior to October 16, 2013, consent could be inferred from an existing business relationship between the sender and the recipient.

As required by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules for all public companies and foreign private issuers that use conflict minerals. The conflict minerals rules require extensive supply chain due diligence and disclosure. Although controversial, the Conflict Minerals Rules have survived a challenge in federal district court. As a result, public companies should be well on their way to completing the necessary steps to provide the mandated disclosure which is due by May 31, 2014 on new Form SD.

On October 7, the Secretary of State for the Home Department in the UK released a policy paper entitled, Serious and Organized Crime Strategy, in which the Secretary discussed the government’s strategy towards combating organized crime and among other things, bribery and corruption. The strategy announced may have lasting implications for companies doing business in the UK.

The need to enforce nondiscrimination policies and conduct thorough investigations into claims of workplace harassment is not new advice, but it is advice that bears repeating. Allegations of harassment that go uninvestigated, or are investigated improperly, can cost your company dearly.

A recent Ohio Court of Appeals decision highlights the importance of careful drafting in real estate documents and the need for due diligence in property transactions. Sellers of land sometimes intend to reserve a right to repurchase the property if certain conditions are not met. If a dispute occurs, the courts, not the parties, interpret that language.

As we enter into autumn, we see the leaves change colors and the squirrels prepare for winter. We may want to take a lesson from the squirrels and put some extra funds aside in anticipation of any extra tax burden that may come due on April 15, 2014. This year, a number of income tax changes went into effect. These changes could increase your federal income tax bill. In some cases, your employer may not be obligated to withhold the full amount of payroll tax or you may not have adjusted your estimated tax payments to account for these tax changes.

Global mergers and acquisitions activity during the first half of 2013 was down 8 percent from last year's tally, but recent developments have changed the outlook for the rest of the year, thanks to a pair of massive telecommunications deals.

State sovereignty over the regulation of coal mining is again under attack by anti-industry groups. In Montana Environmental Information Center, et al. v. Stone-Manning, et al., Appeal No. 13-35107 (Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals), the Sierra Club and other appellants (“Sierra Club”) are attempting to convince a federal appeals court to disregard the plain meaning of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (“SMCRA”), by recognizing federal court jurisdiction to hear their complaints about the manner in which the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (“MDEQ”) administers its state program.

As suggested in a “Guidance Memorandum” issued by the Obama Administration in November 2009, and solidified through a Memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining (“OSM”) in November 2010, the meaning of state “primacy” under the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (“SMCRA”) has been greatly diminished in recent years. Indeed, the concept of exclusive state jurisdiction to regulate coal mining (as clearly intended by Congress in passing SMCRA) remains under attack.

Once taken into a lender's inventory, these "OREO" (Other Real Estate Owned) properties can pose challenges to lenders if they are not prepared. This article will provide some suggestions for lenders faced with managing OREO properties post-foreclosure.

Health care providers are well aware of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), taking precautions to ensure that protected health information (“PHI”) is protected on computers, phones, and in filing cabinets. It is standard provider practice to wipe the hard drives on computers and phones, but what about the office photocopier?

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has furloughed 1600 of its 1611 employees as a result of the failure of the United States government to reach an agreement to fund the federal agencies.

Federal courts have issued two notable rulings recently that may have implications for other pending disputes in West Virginia, and could affect future lease negotiations between natural gas owners and producers. These decisions are just two of the latest in a series of rulings issued in this area over the last several years, as various challenges to gas leases and production-related activities wind their way through the federal and state court systems.

A recent Ohio Court of Appeals decision sheds some light on the enforcement of confession of judgment (“cognovit”) provisions in commercial loan documents. These provisions remain enforceable in a few states, including Ohio.

When Katie Shoultz and her parents, Julie and A.J. Shoultz, began their quest to obtain a sport-horse farm of their own in the Bluegrass eight years ago, they found that most offerings on the market at the time were either too big or too small for them. Instead of buying an established horse operation, they purchased 50 acres of raw land on Paris Pike in 2005 and transformed it into Isidore Farm.

For the first time in 10 years, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) has a full slate of approved members. On August 12, 2013, the Board swore in four Senate-confirmed members. Late last month, the Senate confirmed all five of President Obama’s nominees: Mark Gaston Pearce, the current chairman; Kent Hirozawa, chief counsel to NLRB Chairman Pearce; Harry Johnson III, a labor and employment partner from Arent Fox LLP; Philip Miscimarra, a labor and employment partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; and Nancy Schiffer, associate general counsel at AFL-CIO. The two Republican confirmations, both coming from private practice with experience representing employers primarily, are Mr. Johnson and Mr. Miscimarra. The last time the Board had a full slate of approved members was August 21, 2003.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), by a 3-2 vote, proposed rules to require companies to disclose the median annual total compensation of all employees and the ratio of that median to the annual total compensation of the company’s chief executive officer. These proposals are designed to implement Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank’). As proposed, the new rules provide flexibility in calculating median annual compensation for employees to reduce costs.

Global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) during the first half of 2013 was down 8 percent from last year's tally, but recent developments have changed the outlook for the rest of the year, thanks to a pair of massive telecommunications deals. The top transaction was Verizon Communications (VZ) agreeing to buy a 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless from joint venture partner Vodafone PLC, in a deal valued at a whopping $130 billion. It's the third-largest M&A deal of all time, and was followed by Microsoft (MSFT) announcing that it will acquire Nokia's phone unit for nearly $7.2 billion. After a slow start, the summer’s activity has pushed global M&A activity across all sectors to $1.55 trillion so far in 2013, according to Thomson Reuters. That is a 1 percent bump over the same period in 2012. Global telecom M&A is now $231.6 billion, which is its highest YTD level since 2006. Other blockbuster deals are rumored or have since been announced.