Blog – Komlossy Law, P.A.

Addressing Widespread Seafood Fraud

Recent studies by Oceana and others have alerted many consumers that they cannot be completely sure where the seafood on their plate came from or even what kind of fish is on their plate. Earlier in the year, Oceana published the results of extensive testing and revealed that one-third of the seafood samples tested across the country were mislabeled. Generally, consumers imagine restaurants and markets passing off mackerel as grouper or farmed salmon as wild salmon so they can charge the highest possible price. Seafood fraud, however, includes a variety of other activities, such as over-breading prepared seafood products or packaging fish with too much ice to artificially increase the weight of seafood products to drive up the price. Seafood fraud isn’t always employed merely as a means of simply passing costs along to the consumers.

For example, foreign seafood producers […]

Court Considers SEC’s Unbundling Rules, Common Sense Abound

We recently had the occasion in our office to review a proxy statement that recommended certain amendments of a company’s certificate of incorporation. This got us thinking about the SEC’s “unbundling” requirements.

ProxySample After shortly rehashing the rule, we’ll happily move into quite a bit of plain English analysis. First, Rule 14a-4(a)(3), requires that the form of proxy “shall identify clearly and impartially each separate matter intended to be acted upon, whether or not related to or conditioned on the approval of other matters.” 17 C.F.R. §240.14a-4(a)(3). Rule 14a-4(b)(1) requires that shareholders have “an opportunity to specify by boxes a choice between approval or disapproval of, or abstention with respect to each separate matter referred to therein as intended to be acted upon.” 17 C.F.R. § 240.14a-4(b)(1). Therefore, the “unbundling” rules “require distinct voting items on ‘each separate matter’” in a management proposal. 17 C.F.R. […]

Persistence Pays: Appealing Insurance Denial Can be Fruitful

From http://www.vhi.org/ health_insurance_intro.asp

When preparing for surgery, nerves are likely already high. A health insurance denial only adds to the problem. Many people don’t learn until after their procedure that their procedure will not be covered by their medical insurance. In some situations – emergencies for example – it’s unavoidable. But when you have an opportunity to schedule a surgery in advance, it is best to ensure that your insurance company plans to cover the procedure as expected. Take the initiative to make a phone call and seek to speak with a supervisor. If you can find out that the insurance company will cover the procedure, ask for an email address so you can follow up with a confirmation email. Of course, it won’t always be so simple.

If you are told that the procedure isn’t covered – or if you know […]