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Foley & Lardner

2006 Golf Survey and Industry Outlook
Sixty percent of industry leaders cited an increase in rounds played in 2005, despite concerns of declining rounds at golf courses across the country, according to the 2006 Golf Industry Outlook Survey conducted by Foley's Golf and Resort Industry Team. The survey also reveals that environmental, safety and liability issues remain a chief concern among industry executives.

For the first time in five years the majority of respondents cited a boost in overall rounds in 2005 after experiencing declines from 2001 to 2004. The Southeastern United States experienced the steepest rebound in 2005 of any region surveyed, as one in four respondents cited increases of up to 20 percent.

08-01-2006

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Foley & Lardner

Immigration Reform: Can Congress Cure Decades of Bad Immigration Policies?
How does a ""nation of immigrants"" find itself in this situation? Why can't Congress pass a simple law that secures our borders yet allows a reasonable flow of needed labor? The answer is, as ""blue collar"" comedian Ron White might say, ""You can't fix stupid.""

There are approximately 11 million undocumented workers in this country, many of whom are performing unskilled or lower-wage jobs that American citizens are not taking. They did not appear overnight. Many have been here for years and have been allowed to stay as a result of the government's ""wink and a nod"" attitude towards enforcement. The economy needs these ""illegal"" workers, so the government has looked the other way.

American history tells us that immigrants have always been willing to work at lower-paying jobs. A burgeoning immigrant population performed the lower-wage or unskilled jobs generated by the emerging industrial economy of the U.S. during the 20TH Century.

But then the proportion of European immigrants decreased. Immigration policies discouraged immigration of unskilled labor in favor of higher-wage workers or students who aspired to be engineers or work in the science, health care or technology fields.

The construction industry operates in the wake of what these policies have wrought. Consistently, the construction industry accounts for approximately 10 percent of the nation's gross domestic product and is one of the top two or three employers. Nonetheless, despite continued efforts to promote workforce recruitment, education and training through school-to-work programs, college and university outreach, and professional development training, there still remains a drastic shortage of workers in the industry at every level, both skilled and unskilled.

There are not enough workers (immigrant or domestic) to do the unskilled work (even though the industry pays the same legal wages to both), and the educational system is producing fewer skilled craftspeople and engineers.

Current immigration law provides construction companies the ability to bring in workers to perform unskilled tasks in nonagricultural industries through the H-2B visa program. Unfortunately, there are only 66,000 of these visas available, and the workers allowed to enter the United States via this program can stay for less than one year.

The Department of Homeland Security announced on Jan. 4, 2005, that the annual cap for H-2B visas had been exhausted for 2005, meaning that no more applications for those workers would be accepted for the remainder of the calendar year.

Nonetheless, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, the construction industry has more than 1.4 million unauthorized workers, accounting for about 12 percent of the industry workforce. This is the largest number of unauthorized workers in any major industry category.

According to these same studies, most unauthorized workers are performing lower-wage or unskilled jobs in private households, or in the food, manufacturing, farming, furniture, construction, textiles, food service, hospitality or manufacturing sectors of the economy.

These people work in the shadows of our society. In the early part of the 20th Century, these ""illegal"" immigrants would have been granted entry visas to work under standards that then existed. They were our parents, our grandparents and our great-grandparents.

Comprehensive immigration reform is needed, but you can't fix decades of ""stupid"" with one law. Nonetheless, we need to begin.

The U.S. House has passed proposed legislation that focuses on border security, ""criminalizes"" illegal immigration and makes assistance to undocumented aliens a felony. Proposals emanating from the U.S. Senate largely incorporate the tough border enforcement aspect of the House bill but offer undocumented workers an opportunity to legalize their status. Proposals coming out of the Senate have included a guest worker program that makes temporary work visas available for lower-wage workers and allows for renewal of employment eligibility as warranted by market demand.

Senate proposals have also included the creation of an immigration identification system that would allow employers, as well as government officials, to electronically verify and track workers. Recent refinements of the Senate proposals include dividing the ""illegal"" population into two groups: long-term illegal immigrants, generally defined as those who have been in the country for more than five years who would be eligible for legalization, and short-term illegal immigrants, who would either have to leave the country permanently or leave and then reapply for temporary worker status.

The House and Senate versions will be debated in a conference committee. It is likely that no one will be totally satisfied with the final legislative outcome if, indeed, there is one.

But this is an important debate for a nation of immigrants. Our nation should expect its lawmakers to pass legislation that effectively secures our borders and allows a reasonable flow of immigration needed to fill jobs for the American economy. Stupid need not be forever.

08-01-2006

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Foley & Lardner

Final Word: Omnitrope's Approval: What Does it Mean For Other Generics?
Nathan Beaver and Kelly Hoffman write in BioPharm International on the approval of Omnitrope, a recombinant human growth hormone product, and what this means for other generic biologics.

Reprinted with permission from BioPharm International, Vol. 19, #8, August 2006, pg. 82. BioPharm International is a copyrighted publication of Advanstar Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

08-01-2006

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Dorsey & Whitney, L.L.P.

Richard Baumann Discusses the Proposed Combination of NYSE and Euronext
Dorsey partner and head of the firm's International Capital Markets group Richard Baumann discusses in IFLR the proposed combination of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Euronext's stock and derivates exchange business. While some European leaders have raised concerns over U.S. regulatory overreach, Baumann says that the exchange will act as a constant reminder of the need for achieving transatlantic regulatory harmonization or convergence.

While the means by which a transatlantic exchange is regulated could have important implications for the way law firms structure their business, Baumann suggests that firms will be able to maintain their current strategies. ""I think you'll see a lot of new brochures but not much real change,"" he said. "" The perception could arise that law firms need people in Paris, for example, although as a matter of substantive law they won't need to be there.

08-01-2006

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Dorsey & Whitney, L.L.P.

"Employees Can Make or Break Reorganizations," The Journal of Corporate Renewal
Dorsey partner Mark Kalla discusses in The Journal of Corporate Renewal publication the importance of maintaining the goodwill of employees while a business undergoes reorganization. Companies must be sensitive to the notion that employees control the value of their contributions - and therefore the value of the entire company.

In addition, Congress has mandated certain procedures for dealing with employees in the face of a business reorganization or bankruptcy. Kalla suggests that while these procedures are generally intended to benefit employees by protecting their interests in accrued salaries, health accounts, and retirement accounts, business can also reap the benefits of these procedures by salvaging some of their valuable human capital.

08-01-2006

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Cozen O' Connor

Cozen O'Connor Attorney Justin B. Wineburgh Serves as Panelist at Ethics in Filmmaking
Cozen O'Connor member Justin B. Wineburgh recently served as a panelist at ""Ethics in Filmmaking,"" held at The ARIA Condominiums in Philadelphia. Sponsored by the Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (PVLA) and the Greater Philadelphia Filmmakers, the event was comprised of filmmakers and lawyers discussing ethical issues in all aspects of filmmaking. Attorneys in attendance also received a Continuing Legal Education credit.

Wineburgh is resident in the firm's Philadelphia office. He has extensive experience litigating cases throughout the United States in both federal and state courts, and has a broad-based entertainment litigation practice, representing clients in the film, television, music and sports industries in complex tort, commercial, defamation, privacy, corporate, employment and intellectual property matters. He has represented writers, distributors, retailers, managers, agents, engineers, production companies and talent in a variety of capacities, including corporate matters, contract and transactional negotiations, and pre-litigation counseling.

Wineburgh is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida, and before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey. He has also been specially admitted to handle cases in New York, California, Illinois, Virginia, Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan and the District of Columbia.

Wineburgh is a member of the American, Pennsylvania and Florida bar associations, Young Lawyers' Division of the Philadelphia Bar Association, Sports and Entertainment Law Section of The Florida Bar, American Intellectual Property Law Association, American Judicature Society, Philadelphia VIP, Young America PAC and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. He is active in numerous civic organizations, serves as a mentor to law students and newly admitted attorneys, and regularly handles pro bono matters for a variety of organizations. Wineburgh is also an accomplished violinist and tuba player, and has performed at New York's Lincoln Center and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

Wineburgh earned his undergraduate degree from Lafayette College (B.A., 1994) and his law degree from Widener University School of Law (J.D., 1997), where he was editor/administrative board member of the Delaware Journal of Corporate Law, a member of the Moot Court Honor Society and a member of Phi Delta Phi, Harrington Inn, Honor Chapter. He served as a judicial intern to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and as a law clerk for the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

08-01-2006

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Baker & Hostetler, L.L.P.

Cleveland Bar Journal: Renew Domain Names!
Cleveland partner Deb Wilcox, co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation practice, and associate Brandt Gebhardt co-authored an article, ""Renew Your Domain Names!,"" which was published in the July/August edition of the Cleveland Bar Journal.

The article focuses on the ""domain name speculation market,"" in which cybersquatters make a business of ""being the first to register domain names that are released back into the pool of available domain names when registrants fail to pay the renewal fees.""

Wilcox and Gebhardt detail the way in which these cybersquatters can earn profits by picking up the non-renewed domain names through two web trends: direct navigation and pay-per-click advertising.

The article concludes with this advice for trademark owners: ""Despite the cost, trends in the domain name industry indicate that defensive registrations are imperative. In addition to proactively registering at-risk domain names, trademark owners need to take active measures to guard the domain names that they already control. If they do not, someone else will register them and will likely use them to trade off the goodwill of the trademark and advertise goods and services competitive to the trademark owners' business.

08-01-2006

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