Fall is here and in full swing! Many of us thought that as we sipped hot apple cider and watched the leaves on the trees change color, we would also be mulling over the new regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education. Betsy DeVos’ timetable is clearly not ours. While we wait for the
A Closer Look: Internal Investigations
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PA Colleges and Universities Must Implement Online Anonymous Reporting System and Adopt Victims Bills of Rights Policy under New Law
Cohen Seglias Summer Associate Alexandra M. Aversa also contributed to this article.
On July 8, 2019, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed two campus safety initiatives into law to combat sexual violence and increase campus safety at Pennsylvania colleges and universities. The two initiatives are a part of Act 16 of 2019 (HB 1615), an omnibus…
Tips for Representing Clients in OAG Consumer Protection Investigations
This article originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer on January 9, 2019.
The Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL), 73 P.S. Section 201-1 et seq., and the Administrative Code of 1929, specifically 71 P.S. Section 307-3, vest the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General (OAG) with the power to investigate “unfair methods of…
Changes Ahead: Department of Education Proposes Revisions to Title IX Regulations
As expected, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) recently released proposed Title IX regulations, specifically concerning sexual harassment, including sexual assault. This is significant because the DOE has never addressed these issues through regulation. In the past, guidance has only been available through informal resources, such as the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter and the 2014…
Lessons from the Kavanaugh Hearing
I’m a management-side employment lawyer. It’s my job to go to court and defend employers and executives accused of all different types of misconduct, including sexual harassment. Over the last 20 years, I have seen it all. Some of my cases involve relatively tame allegations, like telling dirty jokes around the watercooler. And I have…
Title IX Religious Exemptions and the Transgender Student
By Karen Karas
The recent proliferation of news stories about transgender students facing discrimination has brought an increased focus on universities and colleges claiming religious-based exemptions to excuse their compliance from Title IX as it applies to transgender students. …
The “Limitations Period” in Research Misconduct Cases: What You Need to Know
In litigation, claims are subject to statutes of limitations. Because the passage of time can affect such things as witness memory and evidence preservation, states pass statutes of limitations providing that claims cannot be brought after the expiration of a certain number of years after a claim arises. While the statutes of limitations vary from…
Five Tips for Successfully Drafting Pa. Legislation
This article originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer on August 01, 2017
IN-HOUSE COUNSEL
I have never met an attorney who did not believe that he was perfectly capable of drafting legislation. This confidence may come from a mastery of the case law governing the subject matter of the proposed legislation. Or perhaps it derives…
DOE Announces Intention to Revise Title IX Campus Sexual Misconduct Investigation Requirements
As we suggested in our February 2017 blog post, the future of Title IX application in our institutions is in flux. The Department of Education Office for Civil Rights rescinded the Obama era 2011 Dear Colleague Letter and 2014 Guidance on September 22, 2017. These guidelines placed certain procedural requirements on investigations of sexual…
Corporate Counsel and Trump’s Regulatory Reform Agenda
This article originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer on April 25, 2017
IN-HOUSE COUNSEL
Since taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has issued two executive orders designed to implement what his chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon has described as “deconstruction of the administrative state.” While ”deconstruction” is perhaps too strong a word for what…