FIU Law Review Hosting Labor Law Symposium on 3/26-27

Florida International University College Of Law, 2010 Law Review Symposium
Whither the Board?  The National Labor Relations Board at 75

As the National Labor Relations Board approaches its 75th anniversary, its continued vitality has been questioned.  It has operated with only two members since December 28, 2007.  Two calendar years have passed, and yet there are few signs that the public or the workforce has noticed.  Is this a temporary matter, or has one of the original New Deal agencies lost focus?  If it has, what should the Board do to reinvigorate its traditional role as the primary regulator of private-sector labor relations?

We invite you to a Symposium to discuss these issues, hosted by the Law Review at the Florida International University College of Law on March 26-27, 2010.  The gathering will bring together a small, select group of nationally- renowned scholars, government officials, and practitioners to present and discuss potential changes in national labor relations law, as well as structural and administrative reform that could, without change to the existing statutes, improve the efficacy of the NLRB.

On Saturday, March 27th, we will conclude with two more presentations and an off-the-record discussion among our distinguished guests.  For more information on this upcoming event, including a tentative schedule, please click this link.

Tentative Schedule:

Friday, March 26th
8:00 – 9:15 a.m.   Breakfast at Florida International University College of Law

9:15 – 11:45 a.m. Panel I
Structural and Administrative Reform under the Existing NLRA
Jennifer Hill, Esq., Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
Jeff Hirsch, Associate Professor of Law, University of Tennessee College of Law
Anne Lofaso, Professor of Law, West Virginia University College of Law
Jeffrey Lubbers, Professor of Practice in Administrative Law, American University College of Law
John Sanchez, Professor of Law, Nova Southeastern University Law School

11:45 – 12:00 p.m. Break

12:00 – 2:00 p.m.  Lunch
Speakers
Dean R. Alexander Acosta, FIU College of Law & Former Member, NLRB
Wilma Liebman, Chairman, NLRB

2:00 – 4: 30 p.m.  Panel II
Changes in Board Law under the Existing NLRA
Matthew Bodie, Associate Professor of Law, Saint Louis University School of Law
James Brudney, Newton D. Baker-Baker & Hostetler Chair in Law, Ohio State College of Law
Catherine Fisk, Professor of Law, University of California-Irvine School of Law
Michael Harper, Professor of Law, Barreca Labor Relations Scholar, Boston University

4:45 p.m.  Return to Westin, Coral Gables

Saturday, March 27th
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.  Breakfast

9:00 – 10:15 a.m.  Panel III
Structural and Legal Reform: The Discussion Continues
Samuel Estreicher, Dwight Opperman Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
Paul Secunda, Associate Professor of Law, Marquette University Law School
Peter Schaumber, Member, NLRB

10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Reflective Discussion

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Lunch

HOTEL INFORMATION: Most out-of-town guests will be staying at the Westin Colonnade Coral Gables, 180 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables.  To make reservations, please call the Westin Coral Gables directly at (305) 441-2600.

Entertainment Law News 12.2.09

• Comcast is inching closer to finally announcing the worst-kept secret in showbiz — the company has acquired a majority stake in NBC Universal. The legal work won’t end there, however. The takeover is expected to draw intense regulatory scrutiny from the FCC, FTC, Justice Department, and Congress. Lawyers for Comcast will likely need to show that the new company won’t undermine competition with other pay-TV services by withholding programming or by shaking up deals with NBC affiliates. Some are even beginning to question what the deal means for the future of online video as NBCU holds a significant stake in Hulu.
• A Massachusetts judge has handed media mogul Summer Redstone a legal victory against his nephew, Michael, who claimed he was unfairly deprived of shares worth millions of dollars in National Amusements, a holding company through which Summer owns controlling stakes in CBS and Viacom. Judge Hinkle ruled that the plaintiff had not met the burden of proving the creation of an oral trust in 1959.
• The Smashing Pumpkins have settled a pair of lawsuits filed against Virgin Records over use of the band’s songs in promotions. Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.
• The National Association of Broadcast Employees is threatening to pull the plug on NBC’s “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” special over an impasse negotiating a new labor contract. The union accuses the network of unfair bargaining practices.
• The FTC is examining how government might support journalism, from making news-gathering companies exempt from antitrust laws to granting them special tax treatment to making changes in copyright law.
• A mixed martial arts promoter is suing DMX and his management team for $1 million after the rapper backed out of a planned fight. The promoter says he gave DMX a $6,000 advance to prove his “tough guy” persona, but that the rapper wanted him to “fix” the fight.
• Dean Martin’s ex-wife is suing to regain agency commissions held by the family trust. Jeanne Martin says that obligations to pay agency fees ended after Martin’s agent, Mort Viner, died in 2003, but that the trust has held onto $130,000 in commissions.
• The Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology law is poking holes in the lawsuit we reported on yesterday concerning a New Jersey man suing Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey for exploitation. The author points out that the movie in question was shot in 1964 as a “short anti-drug film,” years before the first federal laws aimed at child pornography were enacted.
• At a legal conference in the U.K. yesterday, a High Court judge knocked the concept of “libel tourism,” saying that the press has invented the so-called phenomenon of plaintiffs rushing to British court to try defamation claims. Um, we beg to differ.

NBA Refs Locked Out: Season to start with replacement referees

The NBA told its teams in a memo Tuesday that it was proceeding forward with plans to use replacement officials in the upcoming season after referees shot down the latest offer from the league.

Locked out NBA referees voted 43-14 to decline the league’s proposal, and a changed vote by one member of the union’s executive board played a major role in scuttling the deal, ESPN.com learned Tuesday.

The vote took place Sunday in Washington as the league’s 57 referees met to review a new offer made by the league last Friday.

Sources told ESPN.com that executive board members Joey Crawford, Bob Delaney and Bill Spooner initially voted to accept the proposal, while officials Steve Javie and Bennett Salvatore gave it a thumbs-down.

But Spooner then switched his vote, the sources said, and the entire body of refs voted 43-14 to decline — a sequence of events that prompted lead negotiator Lamell McMorris to announce Monday that he was withdrawing from the talks.

Negotiations for the union are now in the hands of McMorris’ associate, Brian Lam, and as of 8 p.m. ET Tuesday there had been no further discussions between the league and the union.

ESPN.com also learned details of the concessions made by the NBA in its most recent proposal, made at a secret negotiating session held in Philadelphia last Friday that included deputy commissioner Adam Silver representing the NBA.

The league agreed to cut the number of game assignments given to D-League and WNBA referees from 75 to 50 (it had previously asked for 100), and it made changes to its severance proposal that would have allowed six current referees to retire over the next two seasons with severance checks of $575,000 rather than the $350,000 previously proposed.

Also, referees with fewer than 10 years of service who chose to retire during the proposed two-year labor agreement would be eligible for severance payments from $50,000 to $100,000. The NBA’s earlier offers on severance payments excluded that group.

“On Friday of last week, we reached an agreement in principal on the terms of a new two-year collective bargaining agreement with the negotiators for the National Basketball Referees Association,” the league told teams in a memo that was obtained by ESPN.com and other news organizations.

“On Sunday night, the membership of the NBRA voted to reject that agreement. As a result, we have no expectation of concluding a timely labor contract with the NBRA, and are proceeding with replacement referees.”

Article continued here.