August 2011: New Connecticut law limits employer access to employee credit data.
Adding to the growing number of states limiting employers’ use of credit reports, Connecticut recently passed Public Act No. 11-223 restricting employer use of credit reports and credit history for employees or job applicants.  The Connecticut law goes into effect October 1, 2011, and prohibits employers from requiring an employee or job applicant to consent to a request for a credit report “as a condition of employment.”  This includes reports that contain information about credit score, credit account balances, payment history, savings or checking account balances or savings or checking account numbers.   

The law has four exceptions.  Paraphrasing from the law, employers may request credit data if:

1.      The employer is a financial institution;

2.      A report is required by law;

3.      The employer reasonably believes that the employee has engaged in specific activity that constitutes a violation of the law related to employment; or

4.      Either (a) a report is substantially related to the job or (b) the employer requests the credit report for a bona fide purpose that is “substantially job-related” and discloses this purpose in writing to the employee or applicant.

Regarding the last exception, the law broadly defines “substantially related to the job” to mean that the information contained in the credit report is related to the following: a managerial position that involves setting direction and control of the business; a position that involves access to customers, employees or the employer’s personal or financial information (other than retail transaction information); involves a fiduciary responsibility to the employer; provides an expense account or corporate debit or credit card; provides access to confidential or proprietary business information; or involves access to the employer’s nonfinancial assets valued at $2,005 or more, including but not limited to, museum and library collections and to prescription drugs and other pharmaceuticals.

Job applicants and employees may lodge complaints alleging violations of the law with the Connecticut Labor Department.  Employers will be liable to the Labor Department for a civil penalty of $300 for each improper request for a credit check.  The Connecticut Attorney General can bring civil actions to recover penalties brought by the Labor Department.

As a result of these new restrictions, Connecticut employers should review hiring policies, and other policies that require employee credit information, and prepare to comply with the law by October 1, 2011.

July 2011: Connecticut Court of Appeals Upholds Privacy Violation as Grounds for Denial of Unemployment Benefits. On December 17, 2008, Wellpoint Companies terminated the employment of one of its enrollment and billing department managers for a failure to report a suspected violation of the company’s privacy policy for information protected under HIPAA, and on July 19, 2011, the Connecticut Court of Appeals released an opinion that supported the denial of unemployment benefits to that individual for failure to report. 

Eddie Tosado was discharged for willful misconduct when he failed to report that a subordinate employee had brought her daughter to work, and allowed her daughter to staple invoices containing protected health information (PHI).  This action was a violation of not only company policy but also HIPAA.  Wellpoint requires its employees to report all known or suspected HIPAA violations. When the stapling violation was brought to Tosado’s attention by a separate employee, Tosado told that employee to “keep quiet” about the incident and Tosado did not report the suspected violation anyone within the company.  That employee then reported Tosado to the human resources department. 

The human resources department investigated the report, and requested that Tosado keep the investigation confidential, which he did not.  Shortly thereafter, Wellpoint terminated Tosado’s employment for violating the company policy for failing to report a suspected HIPAA violation and for failing to keep the investigation confidential. 

Tosado then filed for unemployment, which Wellpoint opposed as Tosado was fired for willful misconduct, and under Connecticut law, an individual is not eligible for compensation benefits if the employee’s termination was for such willful misconduct. (General Statutes § 31-236(a)(16)) In order for the misconduct to be considered willful, an individual must be deliberate in his actions, the action must be contrary to an employer’s interest, and the act or omission was either intentional or made with reckless indifference. (Regs. Cong. State Agencies § 31-236-26a) Tosado ultimately was aware of the employee’s daughter stapling documents containing PHI, and it was brought directly to his attention.  Tosado was also aware of his obligation to report such suspected violations based on company policy, and he failed to do so. 

This case demonstrates the importance of reporting every HIPAA violation, no matter the size, and that a failure to do so may have a significant personal impact. 

June 15, 2011: Duane Berlin moderated a CASRO Webinar on recent developments in US Privacy Law. Other presenters included Russell Anderson of Lev & Berlin, Larry Ponemon of the Ponemon Institute and Peter Milla of Peter Milla Consulting. A recording of the Webinar is available at www.casro.org.

May 18, 2011: Lev & Berlin attorneys Duane L. Berlin and Russell F. Anderson represented 5-15 West Putnam Associates, LLC in its $7.75 million sale of mixed use commercial real estate located in the central business district of Greenwich, Connecticut.

April 29, 2011:  Duane L. Berlin participates in the World Wide Web Consortium on Web Tracking and User Privacy at Princeton University. The W3C is an is an international community that develops standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web. Tracking (e.g., for behavioral advertising) has come to the forefront recently as part of the overall Web privacy conversation in the broader Web and policy community. Several software vendors are offering measures that are intended to permit users to opt out of this tracking, or to prevent tracking by Web sites that are known to engage in these practices. Similar technology is deployed in a number of plugins.  As part of ongoing efforts in the area of user privacy on the Web, W3C conducted a Workshop on Web Tracking and User Privacy, in which Duane participated on behalf of CASRO.

February 15, 2011: Lev & Berlin represents Langer Research Associates in its agreement with Bloomberg News for the production and publication of the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, a monthly gauge of economic expectations, based on the share of Americans who say the economy is getting better, getting worse or staying the same, which Langer has tracked in representative, national surveys on a weekly basis continuously for 25 years.

January 2011: Duane Berlin is quoted in Jeff Henning’s article “Dolphins in the Tuna Net: Protecting MR from Marketing Regulation”, which discusses how the market research industry should deal with new rounds of government privacy regulation.

January 2011 Duane L. Berlin has been elected to the Board of Directors of The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research (www.ropercenter.uconn.edu). The Roper Center is one of the world's leading archives of social science data, specializing in data from surveys of public opinion. The data held by the Roper Center range from the 1930s, when survey research was in its infancy, to the present. Most of the data are from the United States, but over 50 nations are represented. Founded in 1947, the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is the leading educational facility in the field of public opinion. The Center exists to promote the intelligent, responsible and imaginative use of public opinion in addressing the problems faced by Americans and citizens of other nations. In an increasingly complex and interdependent global environment, the Roper Center hopes to foster increased international understanding and to promote cross-national research.

December 2010 Managing Principal, Duane L. Berlin named in the 2010 edition of the New Canaan/Darien and Stamford Magazines Top Lawyers.

November, 2010: The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a Vermont law, which prohibited the sale of prescriber-identifiable (PI) data for certain marketing purposes, violated the First Amendment of the US Constitution. In a 2-1 decision, the Second Circuit ruled in favor of three data collection companies that contested the law, as well as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represented the interests of the primary customers of the data collection companies in the suit. The Court said the state failed to show that its substantial interest in protecting public health and reducing healthcare costs could not be as well served by a more limited restriction on speech, and as such, it was an unconstitutional restraint on commercial speech. Lev & Berlin attorneys Duane L. Berlin and Russell F. Anderson prepared and submitted an Amicus brief in support of the data collection companies on behalf of the market and opinion research organizations CASRO and AAPOR.

November 2010: Attorney Russell F. Anderson named Rising Star in the 2010 edition of the New England Super Lawyers.

October 14, 2010: The use of so-called “flash cookies” and similar objects has become wide spread among various online businesses. Read Lev & Berlin’s Memo addressing many of the legal and regulatory issues related to these technologies.

September 14, 2010 - Duane L. Berlin served as co-presenter for CASRO Webinar on the negotiation of legal agreements related to the survey research business. A recording of the presentation is available at www.casro.org.

August 2010- Duane L. Berlin is co-founding member of CASRO’s Social Media Research Task Force. CASRO announced the formation and purpose of the group as follows:
To address the many ethical and methodological issues developing in the wake of social media research’s emergence, CASRO has established a task force charged with defining salient topics and soliciting industry-wide commentary with an eye on crafting guidelines that may potentially be included withinThe CASRO Code of Standards & Ethics.

“More and more companies are seeking to extract sentiment and market the data culled from social networks and other Internet posts, and with this work comes numerous issues regarding privacy, disclosure, and the proper handling of data,” noted Jeff Resnick, Global Managing Director at Opinion Research Corporation and chair of the CASRO Social Media Research Task Force.

Consisting of market research practitioners, social media research tool providers, and legal and standards experts, the task force has met to outline the scope of its work and its plans to solicit feedback from the industry.

“In the recent past, we successfully added a section of Internet research standards to ourCode, and social media research is a sector that features unique issues that need to be specifically addressed,” commented Susan McDonald, CEO of National Analysts Worldwide, and 2011 CASRO Board Chair. “There also are specific implications for pharmaceutical research vis-a’-vis adverse event reporting.”

“Ensuring that the lines between marketing and research are clearly defined and understanding the concerns and expectations of online ‘conversants’ regarding how their conversations will be used are among the critical topics we are discussing,” added Jeffrey Henning,  Vice President of Strategy at Vovici Corporation and CASRO Social Media Research Task Force member.

March 11, 2010- eT Venture, LLC, an affiliate of Centripetal Capital Partners, a Stamford, Conn.-based private banking firm, made a significant investment in a private placement of Convertible Secured Notes and Warrants to purchase Preferred Stock of Annapolis, Maryland-based eTelemetry, Inc. Duane L. Berlin and Andrew M. Walsh of Lev & Berlin, P.C. represented eT Venture in the transaction.

February 25, 2010- Duane L. Berlin presents at the Counsel of American Survey Research Organization’s 2010 Research Panel Conference. Mr. Berlin spoke on the subject of data quality technologies, including proposed ethical guidelines for Digital Fingerprinting, also known as Machine ID.

December 2009 - Russell F. Anderson joins Lev & Berlin as associate attorney. Russell will concentrate his practice in commercial, privacy and market research related legal issues.

October 2009 - Duane L. Berlin presents seminar on Legal Issues relating to Survey Research at the Counsel of American Survey Research Organizations Annual Conference in Colorado Springs.

April 27, 2009 - Lev & Berlin attorneys Duane L. Berlin and E. Barry Lyon, on behalf of Council of American Survey Research Organizations, Inc., and Michael Slotznick, on behalf of Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Group, Inc., prepared and filed an Amicus Brief in support of IMS Health, LLC’s and Verispan, LLC’s petition to the United States Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) for a Writ of Certiorari (“Writ”) in the matter of IMS Health, Inc. and Verispan, LLC v. Kelly M. Ayotte, as Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire; requesting that the Supreme Court grant the Writ, overturn the ruling of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and strike down the New Hampshire Prescription Information Law, New Hampshire Laws § 328 (codified at N.H. Revised Stat. Ann. §§ 318:47-f, 318:47-g, and 318:-B12, IV). The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether it will grant the Writ prior to its summer recess. 

March 24, 2009 - Lev & Berlin attorney Duane L. Berlin was the lead presenter in a webinar titled “A Dangerous New Battlefield in Pharmaceutical Market Research” sponsored by the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (“CASRO”). Mr. Berlin presented an update on (a) current and pending state legislation addressing gifts or other compensation to physicians, including without limitation the current law in Minnesota and Massachusetts; (b) pending Federal legislation addressing gifts or other compensation to physicians; and (c) CASRO’s intended course of action to address the issue of providing compensation to physicians in connection with pharmaceutical market research at both the state and Federal levels.

February 11, 2009-Lev & Berlin attorneys Duane L. Berlin and E. Barry Lyon prepared and filed an Amicus Brief on behalf of the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (“CASRO”) and the American Association for Public Opinion Research (“AAPOR”) in support of a motion for a protective order in State of Oklahoma v Tyson, a case filed in the United States District Court for the District of Oklahoma, to prevent the disclosure of respondent-identifiable information. The federal district judge granted said motion, citing the Amicus Brief filed by CASRO and AAPOR as decisive on the issue of respondent confidentiality.

February 11, 2009-Lev & Berlin represents an affiliate of Centripetal Capital Partners in connection with its $750,000 investment in senior secured convertible notes and warrants offered by Juniper Content Corporation (OTCBB: JNPC).

February 9, 2009- Duane L. Berlin participates in CASRO's Leaders Exchange Webinar, "Strategies for Challenging Times". Duane talked about legal issues related to cost-cutting measures such as reductions-in-force, renegotiations of vendor agreements, and equity-based compensation awards.

February 2, 2009- Duane L. Berlin serves as a panelist on the issue of Digital Fingerprinting and Machine ID at CASRO's 2009 Panel conference in New Orleans. Duane discussed legal, ethical and privacy issues related to the use of these technologies in connection with personally identifiable information.

November 7, 2008:  APJeT Venture, LLC, an affiliate of Centripetal Capital Partners, a Stamford, Conn.-based investment banker, made a significant investment in a private placement of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock by Santa Fe-based APJeT, Inc.  Lev & Berlin represented APJeT Venture in the transaction.

August 26, 2008:  Iris Venture, LLC, an affiliate of Centripetal Capital Partners, a Stamford, Conn.-based investment banker, made a significant investment in a private placement of Convertible Promissory Notes by Greenwich, Conn.-based  Iris Wireless, LLC.  Lev & Berlin represented Iris Venture in the transaction.

August 11, 2008:  Cytogel Venture, LLC, an affiliate of Centripetal Capital Partners, a Stamford, Conn.-based investment banker, made a significant investment in a private placement of Series B Convertible Preferred Units by Darien, Conn.-based Cytogel, LLC. Lev & Berlin, P.C. represented Cytogel Venture, LLC in the transaction.

June 19, 2008: Lev & Berlin represented Centripetal Capital Partners in its follow-on investment in eTelemetry. An affiliate of Centripetal acted as lead investor in the Company's offering of secured notes convertible into preferred shares and attached warrants.

May 29, 2008: eT Venture, LLC, an affiliate of Centripetal Capital Partners, a Stamford, Conn.-based investment banker, made a significant investment in a private placement of Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Notes and Warrants to Purchase Series B Convertible Preferred Stock by Annapolis, Maryland-based eTelemetry, Inc. Lev & Berlin, P.C. represented eT Venture, LLC in the transaction.

May 5, 2008: Duane L. Berlin presented at CASRO's International Research Conference in New York. Duane, who has served as CASRO's General Counsel for nine years, discussed issues related to transferring personal information from the EU to the US, including Safe Harbor Certification and use of the EU Model contract clauses.

April 4, 2008: eT Venture, LLC, an affiliate of Centripetal Capital Partners, a Stamford, Conn.-based investment banker, made a significant investment in a private placement of Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Notes and Warrants to Purchase Series A Convertible Preferred Stock by Annapolis, Maryland-based eTelemetry, Inc. Lev & Berlin, P.C. represented eT Venture, LLC in the transaction.

March 20, 2008: eT Venture, LLC, an affiliate of Centripetal Capital Partners, a Stamford, Conn.-based investment banker, made a significant investment in a private placement of Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Notes and Warrants to Purchase Series A Convertible Preferred Stock by Annapolis, Maryland-based eTelemetry, Inc. Lev & Berlin, P.C. represented eT Venture, LLC in the transaction.

February 29, 2008: Juniper Content Corporation (OTC BB: JNPC.OB) sold 21.4 units, representing an aggregate of 668.75 shares of Senior 7% Convertible Series A Preferred Stock ("Preferred Stock") and five-year warrants to purchase an aggregate of 668,750 shares of Common Stock. The securities were sold in a private placement to Juniper Venture, LLC, an affiliate of Centripetal Capital Partners. The Company received gross proceeds of $2,140,000 from the private placement. Lev & Berlin represented Juniper Venture in the transaction.

January 4, 2008: ET Venture, LLC, an affiliate of Centripetal Capital Partners, a Stamford, Connecticut-based investment banker, made a significant investment in a private placement of preferred stock by ETelemetry, Inc. Lev & Berlin represented ET Venture in the transaction.

December 7, 2007: Electro Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: EEEI) completes a private placement of an $18 million Convertible Secured Note with attached warrants to the Quercus Trust, a California based private investor. Lev & Berlin acted as counsel for Electro Energy in the transaction.

October 25, 2007: Electro Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: EEEI) completed the private placement of 2,500,000 shares of the Company’s common and Warrants to KIT Financial, Inc. for the purchase price of $750,000. Lev & Berlin represented  Electro Energy in the transaction.

August 22, 2007:
Duane Berlin will be among the faculty for The Privacy Symposium to be held at Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts. Duane will speak about privacy issues in Marketing Research. For more information go to www.PrivacySummerSymposium.com.

July 2007:
Lev & Berlin, P.C. is pleased to announce that Andrew M. Walsh and E. Barry Lyon have joined the firm as associates.

June 1, 2007:
Lev & Berlin, P.C. has been included in the LexisNexis Martindale Hubbell Bar Registry of Preeminent Lawyers. Martindale Hubbell describes the Bar Registry as " the definitive guide to America's leading lawyers and law firms. Only the most distinguished lawyers and law practices appear in the Bar Register- those that have achieved the prestigious 'AV' rating, the top ranking in the Martindale Hubbell Law Directory. Fewer than 5% of all law firms qualify and are included, making [such firms] the most distinguished and respected in the country."

October 2006:
Duane L. Berlin urges research organizations to negotiate client services agreements. Duane made his presentation at CASRO's Annual Conference in Marina Del Rey, California. Click here for CASRO's press release describing the presentation.

September 2006: Duane L. Berlin participates in Pharmaceutical Market Research Group (www.pmrg.org) Fall Conference program on adverse events reporting requirements for pharmaceutical market researchers. Duane and Susan McDonald, chair of CASRO's Pharmaceutical Market Research Task Force, discussed the increasing significance of this issue for researchers, drug companies, physicians and the public.

September 2006: Lev & Berlin has become a founding member of Gravitas Partners (www.gravitas-partners.com),  the world's first ever global consulting group dedicated to the market research industry. Seven highly respected consulting firms in Europe, North America and Latin America have come together to offer the experience and expertise of some of the market research world's most talented management consultants. The new group offers specialist consulting advice, coaching and mentoring to senior management in market research companies in the following areas:

• Strategy design and implementation
• Human Resources Strategy
• Senior level recruitment
• Finance and accounting
• Financial valuation of intangibles
• Information Technology
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Due Diligence
• Capital financing
• Post-merger integration
• Legal advice, including contracts
• and legislation

Gravitas has offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Argentina and plan to add partners in Asia-Pacific in the near future. Combining the talents of Cambiar, Transition Strategies, Lev & Berlin, meaning ltd., Bill Pegram & Co., synygis ltd., Watermann Agens GmbH and JGG Consulting, gravitas brings together some of the most experienced management experts dedicated to the market research industry.

September 2006 - The Qualitative Research Consultants Association's QRCA Views quarterly magazine publishes article by Duane L. Berlin entitled "Legal Issues in Pharmaceutical Market Research." The QRCA is the nation's leading trade association representing focus group moderators and other qualitative market researchers. Its Views magazine is read by more than 1000 QRCA members and other research professionals across the country.

June 22, 2006 - Duane L. Berlin presents at CASRO annual Technology Conference. At the premiere technology event for marketing researchers, Duane Berlin described recent legislative and regulatory developments affecting the research industry. Duane serves as General Counsel to CASRO (www.casro.org), the leading trade association for the market research business.

May 2006 - The Qualitative Research Consultants Association's QRCA Views quarterly magazine publishes article by Duane L. Berlin entitled "The Top 10 Issues in Research Services Issues." The QRCA is the nation's leading trade association representing focus group moderators and other qualitative market researchers. Its Views magazine is read by more than 1000 QRCA members and other research professionals across the country.

April 5, 2006 - Attorneys Duane L. Berlin and Janet A. Brody close asset purchase and financing transactions for Electro Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: EEEI). Pursuant to this transaction, the Company completed its acquisition of certain assets relating to the manufacture of lithium-ion and nickel based rechargeable cells and batteries. The total purchase price for the assets consisted of 5,750,000 unregistered shares of its common stock (the “Consideration Shares”) and a six-year warrant to purchase up to 2,000,000 shares of its common stock at an exercise price of $7.00 per share. The Company also entered into lease agreements covering certain real property located at 12781 N.W. Highway 441, Alachua, Florida (near Gainesville). In connection with the lease agreements, and in addition to rental payments, the Company issued a four-year warrant to purchase 1,000,000 shares of its common stock at an exercise price of $7.00 per share. The Company also entered into and closed on a note and warrant purchase agreement with seven institutional accredited investors, pursuant to which the Company issued and sold $11,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of 8.5% senior secured convertible notes due 2010 and related warrants to purchase common stock. More detailed descriptions of the asset purchase and financing transactions are set forth in the Company's Form 8-KSB, filed April 6, 2005, which can be found at: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1175636/000102660806000057/eei_8k040606.htm

January 23, 2006: Judge affirms previous ruling in favor of the Norwalk Housing Authority in a case where an adjoining landowner claimed that the Housing Authority's oil tanks had caused contamination of Plaintiff's property. Attorney Donna Lattarulo had previously obtained a judgment in May, 2005 which found that the Plaintiff had failed to prove that the contamination on its property emanated from the Housing Authority's oil tanks. The Plaintiff filed several motions seeking to overturn the judgment, including a motion to open the judgment, motion for reargument and reconsideration, and a motion to open the evidence so that the Plaintiff could submit additional evidence. The Judge denied the Plaintiff's motions and re-affirmed its previous decision which found that the Housing Authority was not responsible to pay the costs for clean-up of the Plaintiff's property.

October 17, 2005: Martindale-Hubbell (www.Martindale.com) awards Duane L. Berlin its AV Peer Review Rating, its highest category, which "identifies a lawyer with very high to preeminent legal ability" and is a reflection of that lawyer's "expertise, experience, integrity and overall professional excellence". Martindale-Hubbell states that the AV rating "shows that a lawyer has reached the height of professional excellence. He or she has usually practiced law for many years, and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity." For more information, please go to: http://www.martindale.com/xp/Martindale/About_Us/Ratings/ratings_intro.xml

July 28, 2005: Duane L. Berlin will discuss privacy regulation at the Qualitative Research Consultants Association's 2005 Annual Conference, October 18-22 in Beverly Hills. See the full conference description at  http://www.qrcaconference.org ..

July 22, 2005: Duane L. Berlin presents to CASRO's International Research Conference in New York, discussing legal and regulatory issues facing research U.S. research organizations doing business in the EU.

June 16, 2005: Duane L. Berlin presents a report on spyware, the CAN SPAM Act and pending federal data security legislation at CASRO's 10th Annual Technology conference in New York City.

May 17, 2005: Attorney Donna M. Lattarulo successfully defends the Norwalk Housing Authority in an oil contamination case. The case, 50 Day Street Associates, LP v. Norwalk Housing Authority, was tried in the Stamford Superior Court, Complex Litigation Docket, before the Honorable Judge Taggart Adams in September and October, 2004. The Plaintiff's complaint sought damages for the clean-up of its property estimated at over $830,000, damages for the diminution in value of its property and attorney's fees. The court issued its judgment in favor of the Housing Authority on five of the six counts of the Plaintiff's complaint. The Judge held that the Plaintiff failed to establish the groundwater flow direction and, therefore, was unable to demonstrate that any oil which may have leaked from the Housing Authority's oil tanks traveled through the groundwater and migrated onto the Plaintiff's property. The Judge's ruling included a finding in favor of the Plaintiff on the remaining count of the complaint which alleged that the Housing Authority had violated the Connecticut Environmental Protection Act by causing pollution to its own property. A later hearing will determine whether further clean-up will be required of the Housing Authority.

April 20, 2005: MSNBC.com's technology reporter Bob Sullivan quotes Duane Berlin in article on privacy concerns raised with respect to "Researchware". The article my be found at http: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7546554/.

March 31, 2005: Duane L. Berlin makes presentation on protection of intellectual property assets at CASRO University's Marketing Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

February 15, 2005: Lev & Berlin Attorneys Duane L. Berlin and Eric S. Darmofal are key speakers at the Council of American Survey Research Organizations' Outsourcing Think Tank in Washington, D.C., in which they discuss the potential impact on the survey research industry of pending state and federal offshoring legislation. 

December 15, 2004: Duane L. Berlin is named a Member of the Board of Arbitrators of the National Association of Securities Dealers Dispute Resolution.

December 6, 2004: Lev & Berlin files Resale Registration Statement on behalf of Electro energy, Inc. (OTCBB: EEEI.OB). Through this filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Form SB-2, Electro Energy seeks to permit a portion of its common shares to become freely tradable on the open market, subject to review, comment and approval by the SEC.

October 18, 2004: The Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) names Duane L. Berlin as a panelist in its Email authentication Summit, to be held at the FTC offices in Washington D.C. on November 9th and 10th, 2004. The FTC has proposed an email authentication system as a technology-based alternative to a Do-Not-Spam (DNS) Registry, which it determined would not be an effective deterrent to unsolicited commercial email. The panel will consist of some of the most significant software, hardware, internet and marketing companies in the world, as well as major consumer and business associations.

September 10, 2004: Lev & Berlin authors comments to the Federal Trade Commission on behalf of the Counsel of American Survey Research Organizations in response to the Commission's Notice of Public Rulemaking with respect to establishing definitions and related regulations under the CAN SPAM Act. 

August 16, 2004: Lev & Berlin authors comments to the Federal Communications Commission with respect to the adoption of a " Safe Harbor" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act regarding the use of autodialers to call telephone numbers that have been recently ported from landlines to wireless.

August 13, 2004: The Federal Trade Commission cites comments authored by Lev & Berlin on behalf of the Counsel of American Survey Research Organizations in the Commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking under the CAN SPAM Act.

June 16, 2004: The Council of American Survey Research Organizations ("CASRO") appoints Duane L. Berlin to the Directorate of its Government and Public Affairs Committee. Mr. Berlin, who also serves as CASRO's General counsel, will be responsible for national legislative monitoring, analysis and other key aspects of CASRO's newly expanded national government affairs initiative.

June 7, 2004: Lev & Berlin represents Electro Energy, Inc. (OTCBB: EEEI) in successful closing of $3 million private placement and merger with MCG Diversified, Inc.