Client Alerts

April

• 4/19/2018
  Client Alert: Ohio Qualified Opportunity Zones Announced
  The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) updated the list of designated Qualified Opportunity Zones on their website to include the designation of 320 Qualified Opportunity Zones in the state of Ohio, as well as additional Qualified Opportunity Zones in Alabama, Delaware, Missouri, Texas and the Northern Marianas Islands.
  Read more »
• 4/17/2018
  Labor and Employment Alert: New York Enacts Sweeping Sexual Harassment Legislation
  On April 12, 2018, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the state’s 2018-2019 budget bill, which includes sweeping changes to the state’s sexual harassment law.
  Read more »
• 4/13/2018
  Labor and Employment Alert: Sixth Circuit Holds That Title VII Protects Transgendered Status
  The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (with jurisdiction over Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee) recently held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects transgendered (or transitioning) status.
  Read more »
• 4/11/2018
  Labor and Employment Alert: Ninth Circuit Holds That Prior Salary Cannot Justify Unequal Pay
  On April 9, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that prior salary, either alone or in combination with other factors, cannot justify a wage differential between male and female employees.
  Read more »
• 4/11/2018
  Client Alert: Carried Interests and Investment Management Fees: Certain Tax Reform Changes for Fund Managers
  Family office investment vehicles often are organized as limited partnerships or LLCs treated as partnerships for federal income tax purposes.
  Read more »
• 4/10/2018
  Labor and Employment Alert: West Virginia Now Permits Employees to Keep Guns in Their Cars at Work
  West Virginia law allows property owners and employers to prohibit carrying firearms on any property “under his or her domain,” which previously included parking lots.
  Read more »
• 4/9/2018
  Labor and Employment Alert: New Jersey Enacts a Sweeping Equal Pay Law
  New Jersey recently enacted the “Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act” to significantly expand the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) with respect to pay equity.
  Read more »
• 4/5/2018
  Oil and Gas Alert: Pennsylvania Appellate Court Rejects Rule of Capture for Hydraulic Fracturing
  In Briggs v. Southwestern Energy Production Co. (Apr. 2, 2018), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held that trespass and conversion claims concerning hydraulic fracturing were not precluded by the rule of capture.
  Read more »
• 4/4/2018
  Client Alert: Ethical Considerations in Outsourcing Patent-Related Tasks
  Intellectual property (IP) attorneys (both in-house and outside counsel) are increasingly turning to outsourcing and offshoring to complete many patent-related tasks, such as prior art searches, patent drafting, formalizing patent drawings, and general patent prosecution.
  Read more »

March

• 3/28/2018
  Client Alert: Supreme Court Cert Denial Leaves Confusion in Determining Standing in Class Action Data Breach Cases
  The United States Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari last month in CareFirst, Inc. v. Attias permitting a data breach class action to proceed against a medical insurer. 
  Read more »
• 3/23/2018
  Client Alert: New PUCO Online System for Annual Reporting
  The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) recently rolled out a new system, called the “PUCO Community,” that must be used for submitting annual reports and eventually it will have additional uses.
  Read more »
• 3/20/2018
  Client Alert: D.C. Circuit Narrows FCC’s Broad 2015 TCPA Order
  Read more »
• 3/12/2018
  Client Alert: Ohio General Assembly Expands the Ohio Department of Taxation’s Authority in Connection with Liquor License Renewals and Transfers
  Last summer the Ohio General Assembly passed Ohio’s biennial budget and, in connection with doing so, expanded the Ohio Department of Taxation’s authority relative to the state’s processing of liquor license renewals and transfers.
  Read more »
• 3/12/2018
  Labor and Employment Alert: California Supreme Court Changes Overtime Calculation and Gives a Huge Bonus To Employees
  For California employers, no good deed goes unpunished. Dart Container Corporation paid its employees, in addition to their normal hourly wage, a flat sum $15 attendance bonus if they were scheduled to work on a Saturday or Sunday.
  Read more »
• 3/12/2018
  Client Alert: Not So Fast: Factual Questions Preclude Early Resolution of Patent Invalidity Contentions
  In addressing issues of subject matter eligibility, the Federal Circuit recently reached a potentially momentous decision in Berkheimer v. HP, Inc.
  Read more »
• 3/8/2018
  Labor and Employment Alert: Department of Labor Encourages Employers to Self-Report Their Wage-Hour Violations
  The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently announced a pilot program to encourage employers to self-report their wage-hour violations.
  Read more »
• 3/7/2018
  Client Alert: FTC Reaches Settlement with Paypal over Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and FTC Act Violations
  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a settlement with PayPal, Inc., operating as Venmo, over alleged violations of the Federal Trade Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). 
  Read more »
• 3/7/2018
  Labor and Employment Alert: $50 reduction of 2018 Limit on HSA Contributions for Family HDHP Coverage
  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changed the indexing of numerous dollar amounts under the Internal Revenue Code effective in 2018.
  Read more »
• 3/5/2018
  Client Alert: Employment Agreements must ‘Presently’ Assign IP Rights
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently addressed IP assignment clauses in employment agreements.
  Read more »
• 3/2/2018
  Labor and Employment Alert: New Ban-The-Box Laws Take Effect in June
  Effective June 2018, Kansas City, Missouri, and Spokane, Washington, will become the latest cities to have ban-the-box laws for private employers.
  Read more »