News & Legal Updates Archive

Shilpa Gokhale has joined the Chicago office of McDonald Hopkins LLC as Counsel in the Executive Compensation and Governance Practice Group.

Seven attorneys at McDonald Hopkins have been recognized on the Michigan Super Lawyers list as being among the top attorneys in Michigan for 2020. Another two McDonald Hopkins attorneys were recognized on the list of Michigan Rising Stars. 

The Problem Solvers Caucus recently introduced the “March to Common Ground” COVID-19 stimulus framework in an attempt to address several key areas, including COVID-19 testing, unemployment insurance, additional direct stimulus, worker and liability protection, small business and non-profit support, food security, schools and child care, housing, election support, and state and local aid.The framework introduces new stimulus money and reallocates previously appropriated CARES Act funding

Ohio has joined six other states in enacting a law limiting employers’ liability in COVID-19 lawsuits. Specifically, H.B. 606 (the “Good Samaritan Expansion Bill”) grants qualified civil immunity to healthcare providers, individuals, schools, corporations, estates, trusts, partnerships, associations, for profit and non-profit entities, governmental entities, religious entities, and state institutions of higher education.

On Sept. 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor issued revised regulations under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) in response to a New York federal court decision last month that struck down key aspects of the original FFCRA regulations. With the revised regulations, the DOL holds its ground on much of its initial FFCRA interpretation while providing additional guidance to support its initial positions. 

On September 10, 2020, Senate Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a compromise on an additional COVID-19 relief package. This is only one of several attempts since the passage of the March 2020 CARES Act to introduce a new economic stimulus bill to further address the effects coronavirus has had on the entire nation. 

The Ohio Department of Health recently released official guidelines and restrictions all Ohio senior centers and adult daycare facilities must follow to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

James R. Baldwin has joined McDonald Hopkins LLC in the Intellectual Property Department of the firm’s Chicago office.

Theresa M. Lanese has joined McDonald Hopkins LLC as an associate in the Litigation Department of the firm’s Cleveland office.

On August 28, 2020, the IRS and U.S. Treasury issued guidance implementing an order from President Donald Trump to defer collection of certain payroll taxes normally withheld from employees’ paychecks. However, a number of questions remain for businesses, including whether or not the deferral is mandatory and how the order would be implemented.

On August 26, 2020, the SEC adopted amendments to the “accredited investor” definition, which is one of the principal tests for determining who is eligible to participate in private securities offerings. These changes are anticipated to become effective by the beginning of November (the final rule will be effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register). The SEC stated that these amendments are intended to update and improve the existing definition of “accredited investor” to “identify more effectively investors that have sufficient knowledge and expertise to participate in investment opportunities.” 

The new Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers Guidance Version 4.0, released by the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency on August 18, lists essential workers that require specialized risk management strategies to ensure they can work safely. In addition, CISA hopes that the guidance will assist workers and organizations plan and prepare for the allocation of resources used to protect essential workers.

Just in time for the first bell, the Department of Labor has issued new frequently asked questions to help employers and working parents understand how the Families First Coronavirus Response Act applies to the various return to school formats and schedules that school districts are implementing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called House of Representatives members back from recess on Saturday, August 22, to vote on a bill to provide emergency funding to the USPS. The $25 billion measure, largely backed by Democrat House members, is intended to inject extra funding into the struggling USPS and reverse several changes to the Postal Service’s operations made by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

Mitchell Capp has joined McDonald Hopkins LLC as an associate in the Litigation Department of the firm’s Detroit office. Mitch’s practice focuses on business litigation and counseling issues in a broad range of contexts, including contractual disputes, general and professional liability, construction liability, labor and employment, corporate governance, intellectual property, and risk transfer.

Alan Burger, an experienced litigator and Member in McDonald Hopkins’ West Palm Beach office, offers insight gained over the course of a 30-year legal career on three common questions clients ask when facing litigation.

Lawyer of the Year honorees Shawn M. Riley and Peter D. Welin headline a list of 42 McDonald Hopkins LLC attorneys who have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2021 Edition of the Best Lawyers in America. In addition, three attorneys have been named in the 2021 Edition of the Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch.

For weeks the Senate and House of Representatives have been attempting to negotiate a second stimulus package to address the economic affects of COVID-19. However, due to disagreements in the amount of aid to be provided and what individuals and entities would be eligible, both houses have failed to reach an agreement. It is now increasingly likely that Americans will not see additional economic aid until late September.

A recent Ohio Supreme Court case reminds property owners that it is critically important to clearly describe what rights and interests are being conveyed - and, more importantly, what rights and interests are being reserved - in any real estate transaction. The absence of such clear language can give rise to issues down the road.

Jermaine N. Conner has joined McDonald Hopkins LLC as an associate in the Litigation Department of the firm’s Data Privacy and Cybersecurity group in the Cleveland office.

As the COVID-19 public health emergency continues, one issue that all companies stand to face is the rising threat of Rule 10b-5 claims made in connection with the purchase or sale of securities. Hence, public companies, their officers and private companies alike should be very careful in what information they disseminate regarding COVID-19.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule for Medicare payment and related policy changes under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule going into calendar year 2021. This proposed rule would help to implement a recent Executive Order from the Trump administration which aims to permanently expand telehealth benefits for Medicare beneficiaries following the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and increase access to care in rural communities.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued proposed changes and offered guidance on Medicare payment requirements for remote patient monitoring and other services within its Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule for calendar year 2021.

President Donald Trump signed four controversial executive actions on August 8 in an attempt to provide much needed economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. If successful and implemented, the actions would provide additional unemployment benefits, defer payroll taxes, extend the moratorium on student loan payments, and provide for the ability to halt evictions and foreclosures.

On August 4, 2020, Senators Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders introduced the National Biometric Information Privacy Act (the “National Act”), a data privacy law modeled after the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (the “Illinois Act”). As Illinois’s experience shows, the proposed act has potential to give rise to a tidal wave of expensive class action lawsuits against all manner of businesses throughout the country. Companies should carefully monitor the progress of the National Act and analyze the impact it would have on their businesses.

Have you ever settled a dispute for less than you deserved on a claim because you didn’t have the backup to substantiate your claim? We see it all the time and it never sits right with us or our client when we know that money was left on the table because the records didn’t show what we all knew to be true. 

The FDA is issuing new warnings and increasing its monitoring of the production of alcohol-based hand sanitizer due to the presence of contaminants in violation of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and the fact that many products are failing to meet production guidelines put in place during the coronavirus public health emergency. Currently, 87 hand sanitizers are on the FDA’s do-not-use dangerous product list.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the internet has become an essential tool to help people work and carry out daily tasks; however, for some people with disabilities, the internet has long been critical to helping them live independently. With this in mind, now is the time for your business to evaluate its website to determine whether it is appropriately accessible to disabled persons.

Words matter. This is especially true in the context of post-employment restrictive covenants, which are generally disfavored by courts. This article assesses how the lack of consistency of triggering verbiage will impact the applicability and ultimate enforceability of a post-employment restrictive covenant.

Senate Republicans have introduced a new $1 trillion stimulus package - the HEALS Act. According to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the HEALS Act is intended to be a “tailored and targeted draft that will cut right to the heart of three distinct crises facing our country – getting kids back in school, getting workers back to work, and winning the healthcare fight against the virus.”

Everyone involved in a construction project has a responsibility to take precautions to avoid injuries. The precautions that an employer takes will not only help avoid injuries, it will also help limit citations in the event of an injury or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection, and can help limit the severity of any citations that do result in the event of an inspection. Here are the steps that an employer should take before, during, and after an OSHA visit.

In a diversion from its now regular stream of COVID-19 related guidance, the Department of Labor recently turned its attention to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). On July 16, 2020, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division announced what it called “significant steps to improve workers’ and employers’ experiences with the use of the FMLA” by issuing new model notices and forms

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the, “General and Targeted Distribution Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements,” on its CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) website. This notice is intended for healthcare providers who received one or more General or Targeted Distribution payments exceeding $10,000.

In the hectic day-to-day world of managing a construction project, it can be difficult to make sure you are including all costs that result from a change to your scope of work, whether you are pricing a proposed change order or a claim. While your contract likely addresses which specific time and cost impacts you can, and cannot, include in a change order or claim, this checklist can help to make sure you are not leaving things on the table.

Martin T. McElligott has joined the Chicago office of McDonald Hopkins LLC as an associate in the firm’s national Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group.

On June 23, 2020, the IRS and the Treasury Department issued new guidance (Notice 2020-51) that allows more people to roll a distribution (that they thought was a minimum required distribution) back into the plan or an IRA.

It is clear that the construction industry has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Project owners, contractors, material suppliers, and equipment lessors are understandably concerned as some construction projects have stopped work and others are stalling as developers evaluate the situation. In this volatile environment, those in the construction industry need to know how a bankruptcy might impact the projects where they are working. In this post, we will look at what happens when the general contractor files for bankruptcy.

It is clear that the construction industry has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Project owners, contractors, material suppliers, and equipment lessors are understandably concerned as some construction projects have stopped work and others are stalling as developers evaluate the situation. In this volatile environment, those in the construction industry need to know how a bankruptcy might impact the projects where they are working. In this post, we will look at what happens when the project owner files for bankruptcy.

The CARES Act creates a moratorium on required minimum distributions for 2020. You can take the distribution if you prefer, of course, but you will not be penalized if you do not. This will be welcome relief for people who do not want to liquidate investments in a down market in order to satisfy the minimum distribution requirement.

At the end of March 2020, CMS suspended Medicare Fee-for-Service review due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. CMS recently announced that it plans to discontinue that suspension on August 3 due to the reopening of states and the importance of these medical review opportunities.

Contractors who assume that the terms of the contract included with a request for proposals (RFP) will be negotiated and finalized if the contractor is selected from the list of proposers do so at their peril.

New markets tax credits (NMTCs) create an incentive for taxpayers to invest in community development projects located in low-income census tracts that may otherwise not attract significant private investment. Although the federal NMTC program is set to expire on December 31, 2020, there is currently bipartisan support to extend the program. 

Ambassador of France to the United States Philippe Etienne formally introduced McDonald Hopkins member Isabelle Bibet-Kalinyak as the new Honorary Consul for France in Cleveland and Columbus and discussed opportunities for French business in the U.S. Midwest while visiting Cleveland for the first time on Wednesday.

Perhaps no doctrine in construction law causes as much confusion as pay-if-paid and pay-when-paid provisions. In many states, the terms are used interchangeably; however, in Ohio, they mean very different things despite the seemingly identical terms. It is critically important that contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers understand the distinction and the consequences of those contingent payment clauses.

The OIG Work Plan sets out the various projects, audits and evaluations that the OIG will focus its efforts on each year. It is updated monthly and when finalized, the reports are publicized with recommendations. This alert will highlight two of the recent updates - using trend analysis to determine fraud and abuse in COVID-19 add on testing and review of expanded telehealth services

Industry experts predict that the current pandemic will likely result in a flood of litigation in the construction industry. If you either do not have a contract or your contract does not contain a force majeure provision, you should be aware of the common law doctrines of impossibility, impracticability, and commercial frustration that can excuse contract obligations and when they apply.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the nation’s top financial privacy watchdog, has survived a constitutional challenge to its very existence. As such, financial institutions subject to the bureau’s jurisdiction are required to remain in compliance with the bureau’s robust privacy regulations.

As the majority of the country experiences a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, many states, counties and cities are mandating that face coverings be worn in public and when social distancing is not possible. Many of the mandatory orders follow the guidelines initially introduced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

In a 233 to 188 vote, the House of Representatives successfully adopted the Moving Forward Act, a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill intended to drastically improve American infrastructure and guide the country towards greener and renewable energy sources. However, the Moving Forward Act still faces an uncertain future.

As the world has reeled from the impact of COVID-19 this spring, bankruptcy courts across the country  have also been adjusting to a new type of bankruptcy case – the first bankruptcy cases filed under the new subchapter 5 of the Bankruptcy Code (“subchapter 5”). Part one of this two-part blog series will address the issue of a debtor’s election to proceed as a subchapter 5 debtor.