Verbundtag 2015, neue OBVSG-Website, Reorganisation der ZDB-Bearbeitung im OBV: Mitteilungen der OBVSG

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Attorney–Client Privilege in Bad Faith Insurance Claims: The Cedell Presumption and a Necessary National Resolution

Attorney–client privilege is one of the most important aspects of our legal system. It is one of the oldest privileges in American law and is codified both at the national and state level. Applying to both individual persons and corporations, this expanded privilege covers a wide breadth of clients. However, this broad privilege can sometimes become blurred in relationships between the corporation and the individuals it serves. Specifically, insurance companies and those they cover have complex relationships, as the insurer possesses a quasi-fiduciary relationship in relation to the insured. This type of relationship requires that the insurer act in good faith towards its insured, giving equal weight to its own interests as well as the insured’s. When attorneys become involved in the claim-handling process—usually advising insurers about whether to accept or deny a claim—it is often difficult to determine whether the attorney is acting in an investigative capacity, thus merely a factual one, or in contemplation of litigation, thus a privileged and protected one. The separation of these duties is an important determination to make, especially in the event of a bad faith action. When an insured makes a bad faith claim against their insurer, presumably for fraudulently denying their claim, the insured would naturally be entitled to its claim file—the only documentation of its own claim assessment—right? Unfortunately, no uniform answer to that question exists in federal or state law. The insurer will likely claim attorney–client privilege to protect those documents, and the insured will likely seek to either pierce that privilege or to altogether abrogate it. And, to complicate matters further, different jurisdictions apply different standards and privilege exceptions in these difficult situations. Due to the fact that a large number of insurance companies are national entities that conduct business across various states, a uniform standard for addressing attorney–client privilege in insurance bad faith actions is paramount. Washington courts have imposed a presumption of no attorney–client privilege in insurance bad faith actions, recognizing the necessity of broad discovery and highlighting the importance of good faith in the often-unequal relationship between an insurer and its insured. It is this presumption that is recommended be nationally recognized by codifying it in either the federal rules, a national act, or adding an exception to the model rules of professional conduct, in order to promote discovery of vital case information and limit unfair practices

Molecular properties of uterine cytosolic and nuclear oestrogen and progesterone receptors of the primate cercopithecus aethiops pygerythrus.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Medicine University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.In the past 25 years, a large volume of data was collected on steroid hormone receptors and their role in the action mechanisms of steroid hormones. Efforts were made to use the principles, derived from fundamental investigations into the actual function of steroid hormone receptors in target tissues, (e.g. breast and uterine tissues) to provide a comprehensive understanding of the nature of hormone responsive tumours (e.g. breast tumours) and to formulate successful endocrine treatment regimes for e.g. breast cancer patients. Although some measure of success was achieved with antihormonal drugs like tamoxifen, clomiphene, medroxyprogesterone acetate, etc. a statistical analysis of patient response data has revealed disappointingly low median response times for breast cancer patients. A number of reasons can be offered in explanation of the discrepancies between theory and practice, however, it was felt that the two most obvious ones are the lack of a proper animal model, closer to man on the species scale, and insufficient understanding of the actual in vivo mechanisms of steroid hormone action. For this very reason it was decided to launch an in depth investigation into the properties and functions of steroid hormone receptors in the biological action of steroid hormones, especially the sex steroid hormone receptors, like the oestrogen and progesterone receptors. Furthermore, it was decided to employ a nonhuman primate, Cercopithecus aethiops pygerythrus, commonly called the Vervet monkey, as the animal model, instead of the more common Sprague-Dawley rat. Since the field of investigation defined is both broad and deep, it is obvious that this thesis could not contain all the answers. So, in view of the obvious limitation in time and man-power, the prime object for this thesis was defined as the laying of sound foundations for future research on the topic specified above. Thus, it was decided to concentrate on the molecular properties of the uterine oestrogen and progesterone receptors of the Vervet monkey. The basic arsenal of biochemical technology used in protein chemistry (competitive protein binding assays, sucrose density gradient analysis, size exclusion chromatography, ion exchange chromatography, chromatofocussing, isoelectric focussing) and available in the Institute of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Pretoria at the time of this investigation, was employed. In view of the information generated in the course of the study, attention was focussed upon a small, but important aspect of the mechanism of steroid hormone action, namely the process of activation or tranformation of receptor- ligand complexes and their interaction with the nuclear compartment. Since disturbance(s) in these processes in abnormal uterine tissues may exist, a limited study of the oestrogen and progesterone receptors in human uterine tissues was undertaken, because no abnormal Vervet monkey uterine tissues were available. Unfortunately it was also extremely difficult to obtain an abundance of pathological human uterine tissues necessary for an adequate study. The investigator consequently had to be content to study only a small number of pathological uterine specimens. Thus the latter part of this thesis only skims the surface of what could have been a major fait accompli with possible clinical significance.WHSLYP201

Mitteilungen der OBVSG

News from the Austrian Library Network

A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW OF RANSOMWARE ATTACKS IN HEALTHCARE

This culminating experience project conducted a Systematic Literature Review of ransomware in the healthcare industry. Due to COVID-19, there has been an increase in ransomware attacks that took healthcare by surprise. Although ransomware is a common attack, the current healthcare infrastructure and security mechanisms could not suppress these attacks. This project identifies peer-viewed literature to answer these research questions: “What current ransomware attacks are used in healthcare systems? “What ransomware attacks are likely to appear in the future?” and “What solutions or methods have been used to prepare, prevent, and recover from these attacks?” The purpose of this research is to identify a possible increasing trend of seeing ransomware in the future and to see what technologies are used to combat these attacks. The findings focus on three solutions, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and blockchain as there can be many solutions that could have been included. Because the healthcare industry has many different types of systems involved, limitations of the research are solutions suggested being other studies may not work with other studies. For future studies, indicating a specific type of healthcare organization may be recommended and will have better results

Idealized bodies, embodied ideals: Young female audiences and their (re)negotiations of the bollywood heroine in Trinidad

Film heroines have been an integral part of Hindi cinema’s long-standing transnational circuits and, in more recent times, of global Bollywood. Due to current changes in the reception context, young audiences in Trinidad are confronted with the need to make meaning of heroines within disjunctive cultural formations, both in negotiating heroines of newly released films as well as renegotiating established icons. This paper offers a historical overview of Hindi cinema, related notions of idealized Indian womanhood, and marginalized viewing pleasures. Secondly, drawing on interviews conducted in Trinidad between 2010 and 2013, it gives insights into the signifying practices of young women. The focus is on how young women exert discursive and interpretative power to selectively reconfigure heroines and star texts, thereby signifying Indianness as well as a space to express their desires

Service Learning with Migrant Equity Southeast

Through the Spanish Department’s pilot program, Spanish for Community Engagement, I have had the opportunity to serve as a Community Apprentice for Savannah’s nonprofit, Migrant Equity Southeast (MESE). This experience has greatly developed my understanding of the Hispanic community while applying the tools and lessons I have learned in the classroom. Each week, I have gained more experience and awareness of the needs for local immigrant families. I have learned about immigrants’ rights relating to education, housing, interactions with law enforcement, and work. I have researched available resources for immigrants including food banks, legal assistance services, rent assistance, and medical aid. With this research, I then developed resources in Spanish and English to serve MESE’s clients. This experience has also allowed me to serve at vaccination events, communicate with families, and advocate for clients. The experience intertwining education, service, and advocacy has been a deeply rewarding and inspiring opportunity

Risks and opportunities for the Austrian financial service industry in east- and southeastern Europe due to the financial crisis

Die österreichische Finanzindustrie war während der Finanzkrise oft im Fokus der Medien. Speziell in der Liquiditätskrise nach der Lehman Brothers Pleite im Herbst 2008 wurde das einstige Osteuropapotential der Finanzdienstleister plötzlich als enorme Risikoquelle dargestellt. Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht die Risiken und Möglichkeiten der österreichischen Banken und Versicherungen in ausgewählten Ländern der Region Ost- und Südosteuropa auf Grund der Finanzkrise näher zu analysieren. Es wurden Hypothesen über die Entwicklung verschiedener Bereiche (Region, Eigenkapital, Kosten, Marktposition, Regulierung) erstellt, die nach einer ausführlichen Umweltanalyse durch einen Interviewprozess getestet wurden. Die ausgewählten Länder (Tschechien, Slowakei, Ungarn, Bulgarien, Rumänien, Ukraine) sind sowohl repräsentativ für die einzelnen Subregionen (Zentraleuropa, Südosteuropa, CIS) als auch für die historische Entwicklung der heimischen Banken und Versicherungen. Die ersten Expansionsschritte wurden in unmittelbar angrenzenden Ländern getätigt, da hier auch ein historischer Zusammenhalt besteht, was einen erfolgreichen Markteintritt vereinfachte. Mit zunehmenden Erfolg expandierten die Unternehmen schließlich immer weiter und schneller Richtung Osten, was auch mit der Hauptgrund für den enormen internationalen Erfolg der österreichischen Finanzindustrie war. Aufgrund der Finanzkrise besteht nun allerdings die Frage, wie man sich von einer wachstumsorientierten Strategie zu einer Krisenstrategie entwickelt. Der erste Fokus der Arbeit liegt auf einer Analyse der Finanzstabilität der behandelten Länder. Die Informationen hierfür wurden vorwiegend von den Veröffentlichungen der individuellen Nationalbanken bezogen. Die Analyse zeigt auf, dass es sich um eine äußerst heterogene Region handelt, in der es eine große Anzahl verschiedener Risiken gibt. Die größten sind unter anderem eine hohe Staatsverschuldung, Währungsrisiken sowie eine abnehmende Höhe der Investitionen aus dem Ausland. Allerdings haben diese Risiken in den behandelten Ländern unterschiedliche Gewichtungen. Während einige Länder stark unter den Folgen der Krise leiden, wie zum Beispiel Ungarn, hielten sich manche Länder, wie Tschechien, während der größten Probleme wacker. Während sich die Slowakei durch den Euro Beitritt im Januar 2009 keine Gedanken mehr über die Währungsstabilität machen muss, haben andere Länder der Region stark damit zu kämpfen. Die Arbeit behandelt sowohl die Aktivitäten der drei größten Österreichischen Banken (UniCredit Bank Austria, Raiffeisen International, Erste Bank) als auch der zwei größten Versicherer (Vienna Insurance Group, Uniqa). Diese Institute zählen sowohl zu den einflussreichsten Finanzdienstleistern in Österreich als auch in Zentral- und Osteuropa. Die Analyse der Unternehmen beinhaltet einen Überblick der unterschiedlichen Geschäftsmodelle, der momentanen finanziellen Lage und der Entwicklung der Länderportfolios. Um die anfangs aufgestellten Hypothesen zu testen wurden in Rahmen der Diplomarbeit fünf Interviews sowohl mit leitenden Mitarbeitern der jeweiligen Unternehmen, als auch eines Mitarbeiters der OeNB -um die Objektivität der Analyse zu bewahren- geführt. Daraus ergab sich eine für den Ernst der Lage relativ positive Sicht der Dinge. Sämtliche Interviewpartner befanden, dass die Region noch enormes Wachstumspotential sowohl auf Banken- als auch Versicherungsseite aufweist. Weiters wird sich die dominante Position der österreichischen Finanzdienstleister in der Region kaum in Folge der Wirtschaftskrise ändern, da in den behandelten Märkten bereits große Eintrittsbarrieren bestehen. Allerdings ist die Lage in der Region trotz dessen, dass die österreichischen Banken und Versicherungen grundsätzlich gut aufgestellt sind weiterhin mit Vorsicht zu beobachten. Die Lage bleibt auf Grund der labilen Weltwirtschaft weiter angespannt. Die Zukunft der österreichischen Finanzdienstleister wird eher von der Entwicklung der Regulierung abhängig sein, da die Unternehmen auf Grund der heterogenen Region ein gut diversifiziertes Portfolio besitzen. Durch eine striktere Regulierung könnte es zu großen Nachteilen für die Finanzdienstleister, kommen falls die Regeln nur innerhalb Europas zu einem standardisierten Markt führen. Laut den Interviewergebnissen kommt es vor allem darauf an, möglichst schnell ein gesundes Maß an Regulierung zu finden, um die Finanzmärkte in Krisensituationen stabiler zu machen ohne einen möglichen Aufschwung zu verhindern oder zu verlangsamen