Articles Posted in Publications

In the October 13, 2022 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang wrote “The Great Pandemic Heist: Attorneys’ Role in Fighting PPP Loan Fraud

In the COVID-19 era, there has been a heist of great value, but it has not gone undetected. Prosecutors have called the heist the largest fraud in U.S. history, with the thieves stealing hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money through fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

The “good” thieves are able to abscond with tremendously valuable items while remaining undetected. They take care to cover their tracks, to make sure any witnesses are silenced, and to financially clean the ill-gotten goods as quickly as possible. In the COVID-19 era, there has been a heist of great value, but it has not gone undetected. Prosecutors have called the heist the largest fraud in U.S. history, with the thieves stealing hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money through fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The thieves’ plan to line their pockets was fairly simple: steal the money that the government was doling out to help buoy the economy during the throes of the pandemic. They took advantage of the government’s urgent loan dispersal to those who required immediate help. But the thieves could not resist showing off their looted wealth. They began purchasing flashy and expensive Lamborghinis, beautiful beachfront houses, and spending large amounts in cash. The careless and reckless nature of the heist has proven to be its undoing, and now the U.S. government is coming to take back what was stolen—although they are not acting alone.

An examination of the processes often undertaken to dismiss cases before trial, and the lasting effects that a decline in jury trials may have on the American legal system at large.

In the September 22, 2022 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang wrote “The Disappearing Jury Trial and Its Affect on the American Legal System.” Continue reading ›

Throughout the past decade, the country has been battling a raging epidemic and public health crisis: opioid addiction. In 2021, over 80,000 people died from opioid overdoses. Pennsylvania has one of the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths in the country. The crisis in Pennsylvania is so severe that it is decreasing the life expectancy in the commonwealth.

In the July 29, 2022 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang wrote “Individual Liability in the Opioid Epidemic: An Examination of Recent Developments.Continue reading ›

Practitioners should anticipate when a witness will invoke the privilege and how to deal with or use such invocation applying the principles of fairness and reliability.

In the June 30, 2022 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang wrote “Nonparty Witness Invoking the Fifth Amendment Privilege in a Civil Case.Continue reading ›

Depp-v-Heard-1024x538Beyond the substantive legal matters at issue, one procedural aspect of the trial has also generated significant attention; namely, that the entire proceeding was livestreamed for the public. We discuss below the pros and cons of such coverage, the history of recording devices in courtrooms, as well as provide recommendations for balancing the countervailing concerns at issue.

In the June 16, 2022 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang co-authored, “‘Depp v. Heard’: Public Trials and the Social Media Era.Continue reading ›

Because veil piercing is a highly fact-intensive inquiry, it can be difficult to predict in advance when a court will grant such a remedy. This is because, in addition to the multi-factor analysis that often goes into the decision of whether to pierce, there are also a variety of different forms that veil piercing can take.

In the May 12, 2022 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang of Kang Haggerty co-authored “Enterprise Liability and When to Seek Piercing the Corporate Veil, Part II.Continue reading ›

Business-Paperwork-1024x576-1In the April 14, 2022 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang of Kang Haggerty co-authored “Anticipation and Preparation: The Scope of the Pa. Work-Product Doctrine.

The Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure are modeled after their federal counterparts and share much of the same language. Both contain provisions codifying the attorney work-product doctrine, and both use the phrase “prepared in anticipation of litigation” in defining the scope of this privilege. Despite this seemingly similar language, however, a stark distinction has emerged between the two. Continue reading ›

Social-MediaWhether you bring a suit over a complicated product like a social media network or a simple tangible product, like an apple, a relevant product and geographic market must be defined properly to succeed.

In the March 17, 2022 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang wrote “What Makes a Market, a Market, Anyway? A Look at Social Media.

Picture an antitrust action against an apple farmer who supplies almost all the apples in America. If you were bringing the suit for antitrust violation, how would you define the market for an apple? Is it the market for a snack? For healthy snacks? For healthy handheld snacks? For fruits? The list could go on and on. Defining the market for an antitrust analysis becomes far more complicated for products or services that are newer, such as the market for social media networks. When it comes to the Sherman Act one may think that because it has been combatting monopolies for over a century, there can be no room for interpretation about what constitutes a monopoly, much less a market for one. In the past 100 years, however, new markets and questions about those markets have risen. Social media networks probably did not come across the minds of the Sherman Act’s drafters in 1890. Continue reading ›

For practitioners, these Daniel Snyder events provide helpful tips relating to how organizations both large and small should conduct internal investigations.

In the January 20, 2022 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang of Kang Haggerty co-authored “Internal Investigations in the NFL: Lessons for Organizations Large and Small.

Daniel Snyder, the embattled owner of the Washington Football Team, has been in the news again recently for all the wrong reasons. No stranger to scandal, Snyder has now been accused of interfering with the 2021 investigation into the workplace environment of his organization. This is just another in a long list of controversies Snyder has found himself embroiled in, which include suing financially distressed season ticket holders during the Great Recession, banning fans from bringing signs to FedEx Field, and rebranding his franchise after its former namesake was retired. This, coupled with Washington’s lack of success during his tenure, has led some to label him the worst owner in all of professional sports. Continue reading ›

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