News & Legal Updates Archive

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 two of this two-part blog series examines the definition of a “small business debtor,” and the role and powers of a subchapter 5 trustee.

July 1, 2020, marks six months since the California Consumer Privacy Act came into effect. And perhaps more importantly, it also marks the first day that the California Attorney General may file enforcement lawsuits against for-profit entities that run afoul of the landmark legislation.

When a deal starts, it doesn’t always seem necessary to “paper” every little detail. But, the importance of using written contracts and purchase order forms for construction projects simply cannot be overstated.

Government and public work contracts can be difficult for contractors given all the rules and requirements that exist. If a public entity doesn’t follow certain procedures, a contractor may not receive payment even if it performed flawlessly under its contract.

Brian G. Bembenick has joined McDonald Hopkins LLC as Of Counsel in the firm’s Cleveland office, where he will bring 30 years of experience to the firm’s Intellectual Property Department.

Introduced on June 22, 2020, by the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, The Moving Forward Act includes $1.5 trillion to overhaul and rebuild American infrastructure. In addition to providing funding for the improvement of America’s roads, bridges, transit systems and renewable energy initiatives, the Moving Forward Act contains several new and expanded public finance provisions.

House of Representatives Democrats unveiled a massive $1.5 trillion bill on Monday, June 22, intended to overhaul and rebuild American infrastructure. The 2,300 page bill, titled the Moving Forward Act, allocates billions of dollars to America’s roads, bridges, transit systems, schools, housing, broadband access, and renewable energy initiatives. 

As Illinois and other states continue to lift restrictions and move into different stages of reopening, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued new guidance on how non-essential businesses should reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic. The new guidance is intended to supplement OSHA’s previously developed Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 and the White House’s Guidelines for Opening up America Again

On June 17, 2020, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that in a case involving whether franchise agreements violate antitrust laws, an arbitrator– not a court – was the proper party to resolve a dispute between a former employee of a Domino’s Pizza franchise and Domino’s Pizza.

Vermont has recently amended its data breach notification statute, and organizations who transact with Vermont residents should be aware of the law’s new requirements.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) continues to update its COVID-19 Technical Assistance Guidance Q&A to provide employers with practical return to work guidance. In a June 11 update, the EEOC addressed questions concerning pandemic-related harassment, pregnant employees, age concerns, as well as other workplace issues.

Washington, D.C. is joining dozens of states that are expanding the applicability of, and the requirements under, their data breach notification statutes.

Monday, June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark employment decision, Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, ruling that the prohibitions against workplace discrimination and harassment in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Recognizing the difficulties faced by participants and retirement plan administrators trying to operate in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the IRS issued Notice 2020-42 which temporarily deems the physically present witnessing requirement for spousal consent to be satisfied if certain applicable requirements are met. 

Employers with employees returning to the workplace have a long list of new requirements to deal with. Now employers can add to that list the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) requirement relate to evaluating and reporting when a COVID-19 case is a work-related incident.

On June 5, 2020, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (PPPFA) was enacted, relaxing loan forgiveness requirements and improving access to relief through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

James P. Muraff has joined the McDonald Hopkins LLC as a member in the firm’s Chicago office, where he will bring more than 25 years of experience to the firm’s Intellectual Property Department.

4 highlights of the Small Business Reorganization Act, which became effective on February 20, 2019. The passage of the SBRA in this contentious season in Congress was one of Congress’s most remarkable and unexpected achievements. 

On June 3, 2020, the Senate approved the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act of 2020 (H.R. 7010), legistlation the House passed on May 28, that is intended to relax requirements and increase access for small businesses seeking emergency funding under the PPP. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill within the next few days.

McDonald Hopkins members Peter M. Bernhardt, Alan M. Berger and John T. Metzger have been recognized by Florida Super Lawyers as among the top attorneys in Florida. No more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by Super Lawyers.

A new bill, which significantly relaxes the terms and restrictions for the Paycheck Protection Program, overwhelmingly supported by the House of Representatives, is on its way to President Donald Trump for signature after the Senate cleared the bill on June 4.

Recently, the DOL issued final regulations, which will provide plan administrators (who are often the employer sponsoring the plan) with an alternative “safe harbor” method to provide ERISA-required information and disclosures electronically. The DOL previously issued regulations providing one safe harbor for electronic disclosure; those regulations still are operative. The new regulations provide an additional safe harbor.

Four intellectual property considerations to keep in mind when adapting your business and products in these changing times to help mitigate risk of dispute, and also protect the your valuable brand and business assets for the future.

Operating a successful business requires working capital and regular cash flow. When money is tight, business owners often consider alternative sources of funding when more conventional sources are less available. One of the riskier and more dangerous funding options is the merchant cash advance (MCA). MCAs alleviate short-term cash needs, but often leave the merchant with a long-term financial crisis.

A new bill, which significantly relaxes the terms and restrictions for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), was overwhelmingly passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday, May 28. The legislation, titled the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, is now on its way to the Senate for further consideration but it is unclear if the Act will receive the same bipartisan support from Senate leaders.

As employers focus their attention to returning employees to work, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on May 7, 2020, that due to the COVID-19 pandemic it will delay collection of the 2019 EEO-1 report scheduled for filing in 2020. 

A summary of which sections and restructions of the Stay Safe Ohio order businesses and individuals must continue to following following Dr. Amy Acton's new director’s order that rescinds and modifies portions of the Stay Safe Ohio Order.  

These are unprecedented times for nonprofits. As boards of directors and senior staff have tried to survive the last three months and face an uncertain future, here are five things they should look at to keep moving forward, or make the decision to merge or consolidate with another organization…or make the painful decision to close.

Ohio is one step closer to granting workers’ compensation benefits to first responders diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. This policy change would allow workers’ compensation benefits for this mental health condition without requiring an accompanying physical injury.

During the week of May 18, 2020, two committees in the Ohio General Assembly are expected to hear testimony regarding competing measures that would provide immunity from civil tort liability for certain professionals and businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic. Anyone across Ohio making heads or tails of the various national and statewide orders and best practices emerging in response to COVID-19 should pay attention.

Under the CARES Act, individuals may be eligible to receive a payment of up to $1,200 as an advance for a 2020 tax credit. These payments are all automatically mailed or directly deposited into individuals’ accounts, including retirees and Social Security recipients that are not required to file an income tax return. But what happens when the recipient is deceased? Guidance was recently released that if an individual receives an economic impact payment and the individual was deceased at the time of receipt, then the payment must be returned.

You have probably found yourself in this position at least once: There is a disagreement about whether something a contractor has been asked to do constitutes a change order or is within the base scope of work. The question then becomes, does the contractor have to perform the work before that dispute is resolved even if the owner does not issue a change order? 

Will your college or university open this fall? It may sound silly, but for many colleges and universities it’s a pressing question for students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

On Friday May 15, the United States House of Representatives passed a new stimulus bill, known as the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions act (HEROES Act), in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. If passed by the Senate, the bill, estimated to be worth more than $3 trillion, will be the largest relief package in the country’s history. The sweeping legislation is intended to financially fuel the economy, similarly to the original CARES Act.

In two recently released notices and changes made by the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), some of the rules regarding cafeteria plans, flexible spending accounts and dependent care reimbursement plans have been relaxed. Most of these changes are not required. Employers can choose to implement them or not. If implemented, they will require notifying employees and making plan amendments.

As employers across the country focus on getting back to work, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) continues its focus on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). On May 7, 2020, the DOL updated its FAQs resource page with additional FFCRA guidance in Questions 89 - 93.

If your commercial lease does not contain an express force majeure provision, or otherwise contains an unclear force majeure provision (specifically regarding the payment of rent), then there are a few legal defenses to performance that may be raised by commercial tenants.

In response to the global COVID-19 crisis, Congress passed the most comprehensive (and expensive) recovery act in the history of the country. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act will cost $2 trillion and is unprecedented in its scope. The rescue package will provide historic relief for American business with an array of new and expanded programs. McDonald Hopkins is using its multi-disciplinary approach to assess the CARES Act and to bring its full value to our clients.

Ohio’s Gov. Mike DeWine recently proposed $110 million in cuts to higher education – amounting to a 3.8% cut to all four-year and two-year state colleges and universities. Although this is slightly better than had been anticipated, before we begin to celebrate it is important to realize the real reckoning is coming next school year when all Ohio universities and colleges, both private and public, are facing enormous challenges for the fall. 

The Seventh Circuit issued an important decision regarding whether a plaintiff asserting claims under Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) satisfies the requirements of Article III standing. Although the decision seemingly authorizes federal jurisdiction over certain BIPA claims, its disparate treatment of section 15(a) and 15(b) claims raises a number of practical questions regarding BIPA removals that actually may limit the number of BIPA claims that end up in federal court.

On May 7, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced an extension on the deadline for providers to accept or reject automatic payments of CARES Act Provider Relief Funds. The original 30 day deadline from receipt of payment has now been extended to give providers a total of 45 days to attest and accept the terms and conditions. If providers do not wish to accept the funds they still need to contact HHS and initiate returning the payments.

The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday, May 6, released its long-awaited final regulations governing campus sexual assault under Title IX, the law prohibiting sex discrimination at federally funded institutions. McDonald Hopkins has compiled a list of the major changes Title IX requires to the way sexual assaults and harassment are dealt with on college and university campuses nationwide.

McDonald Hopkins represented GRAIL, a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured, in its $390 million Series D financing.

The CARES Act does not address whether deductions otherwise allowable under the tax code for payments of expenses such as rent, utilities, mortgage interest, and payroll costs and benefits paid to employees are permitted if funded with a Paycheck Protection Program loan that is subsequently forgiven. However, the IRS released Notice 2020-32 on April 30, 2020, and confirmed that such double-dipping will not be allowed.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced a new Prioritized Examination Pilot Program for qualifying applications and applicants.

The IRS has issued guidance allowing for additional time to pay 2019 federal income taxes and 2020 first quarter estimated taxes up to certain amounts. States have begun to follow suit with some following the federal government and others taking different approaches.

Employees returning to the office after weeks of remote work creates data privacy and cybersecurity challenges that businesses need to confront head on. These considerations are especially critical as many states and regulators are requiring employers to collect COVID-19 related health information. Below are 10 ways to combat potential cyber risks and stay #CyberSavvy while employees are returning to work.

This article on the sweeping and urget changes in the telehealth space has been updated to reflect the April 30, 2020, press release by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announcing expanded Medicare payments and coverage for telehealth services.

One thing that hasn’t changed since the COVID-19 crisis hit? Directors and officers of corporations still have the same fiduciary duties that they had before the pandemic. What COVID‑19 has changed is what constitutes due care, and the impact of this is likely to be broadened by an enlargement of the parties who should be considered as fiduciary duties are discharged.

On April 30, Dr. Amy Acton, Director of the Ohio Department of Health, issued a new “Stay Safe Ohio” order that replaced the previous stay at home order and eased certain business operation restrictions. Although the order directs Ohioans to remain home, select businesses and operations in the state are permitted to reopen so long as all workplace safety standards and social distancing requirements are met.