- AlertThe Ohio Supreme Court sided with Ohio construction contractors in its highly-anticipated decision issued on July 17, 2019, regarding Ohio’s construction statute of repose in New Riegel Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Buehrer Group Architecture & Eng., Inc., 2019-Ohio-2851.
- NewsMcDonald Hopkins' Carl Grassi provides insight on the key issues he thinks business owners need to factor into their approach to dealmaking.
- Blog PostEffective January 1, 2020, Texas has amended its data breach notification law to create new reporting requirements and deadlines.
- AlertThe Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced a landmark new policy to incentivize companies to develop robust antitrust compliance programs. For the first time, the Antitrust Division will now consider a company’s antitrust compliance program as a factor in evaluating whether or not to bring criminal charges against the company and its officers.
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- Blog PostThe U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision on June 21, 2019 that ruled a North Carolina tax levied on a trust violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
- Blog PostBehind the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case South Dakota v. Wayfair that now allows states to levy sales and use taxes on remote sellers with “economic nexus” lurks a similar, yet distinct, issue with respect to state corporate net income taxes. Sales taxes are levied on transactions, in contrast to corporate net income taxes that are imposed for the privilege of doing business in a particular state. The difference may seem inconsequential at first blush but different factors matter when analyzing whether a business triggers nexus for state income tax purposes as opposed to sales and use tax purposes.
- Blog PostThe Registro Italiano Navale (RINA), a ship classification society, recently employed blockchain technology to develop a new, tamper-proof electronic logbook. Through RINA’s platform, the logbook is linked to a public blockchain which is time-stamped and immutable, so the data cannot be altered after the fact and is accessible to port authorities.
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States across the country continue to revise laws to limit the use of noncompete agreements. The trend started last year in Massachusetts, and continues now on both coasts. Critical amendments have been made to Washington, Maryland, and Oregon’s laws governing noncompete agreements, and organizations that employ individuals in these states should take the time now to ensure their agreements are in compliance.
- Blog PostRansomware is one of the most common types of data security incidents, and any and all industry sectors have been victimized by these attacks to varying degrees. Taking steps now to prepare a response strategy before any malware hits your system can save precious minutes (and dollars) when an attack hits. We have 5 tips on how to prepare.
- PodcastEpisode 31: Litigation finance field finds exciting new resource in Dispute Financing Library at NYU
On Episode 31 of MH Business Exchange, McDonald Hopkins attorney Marc Carmel, co-chair of the firm's Litigation Finance Group, joins host Mike Witzke to continue their exploration into the field of litigation finance. This time, they are joined by David Siffert, the Director of Research and Projects for the Center for Civil Justice at NY School of Law.
- Blog PostOn June 27, 2019, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis approved House Bill 369, which narrowed an exception to the Florida patient brokering statute and revised various statutory provisions relating to substance abuse services.
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Lifeway Foods CEO Julie Smolyansky joined McDonald Hopkins attorneys Christal Contini, Hayley Gladstone, and Benjamin Panter for a panel discussion on navigating growth as a female executive on Tuesday, June 11.
- Blog PostThe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has adopted a North American Electric Reliability Corporation-proposed Reliability Standard that imposes new cybersecurity incident reporting requirements on responsible entities, including balancing authorities, distribution providers, generator operators, generator owners, reliability coordinators, transmission operators, and transmission owners. Whereas previously, responsible entities were only required to report cybersecurity incidents that have “compromised or disrupted one or more reliability tasks,” the new Reliability Standard requires responsible entities to also report incidents that “compromise, or attempt to compromise” certain systems.
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June 26, 2019 was McDonald Hopkins Day at Progressive Field as the firm and the Cleveland Indians celebrated their relationship in the Cleveland Indians Community Parters program.
- Blog PostOn June 14, 2019, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) issued final regulations allowing advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who satisfy training and education requirements to practice independently of physicians.
- NewsMcDonald Hopkins' Dominic Paluzzi comments on Microsoft Office 365's new cybersecurity features in an article for CIO Dive.
- NewsMcDonald Hopkins' Isabelle Bibet-Kalinyak is a guest on the MGMA Insights podcast, speaking along with Cameron Cox, III, Will Latham, and Neil Johnson, on the M&A landscape and discussing what physician-owned and other independent practices can do to remain independent.
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Raquel (Rocky) A. Rodriguez, John T. Metzger, Alan M. Burger, and Peter M. Bernhardt of McDonald Hopkins have been rated among the top attorneys in Florida while Christine Dimitriou was selected as a Rising Star in the Florida 2019 edition of Super Lawyers Magazine.
- Blog PostAs the budget process rolls on in the Ohio General Assembly, one of the main sticking points has become the Ohio business income tax deduction enacted just a few years ago. For tax years 2016 and onward, business owners could deduct the first $250,000 of “business income” earned in the ordinary course of their businesses and pay a flat 3 percent tax rate on income earned above that amount. The business deduction and other proposals to lower personal income tax rates have become a major issue as legislators work to enact the two-year budget bill.
- Blog PostThe taxation of digital services remains uncertain and non-uniform for many companies that offer streaming, web hosting, and other digital products and services. Amid the uncertainty and lack of uniformity, courts are being asked to interpret state laws and regulations as debates rage in state legislatures across the county and even Congress.
- Blog PostTexas has enacted two new laws designed to bolster the security of its utilities and electric cooperatives against cyber threats. This comes on the heels of the United States Department of Energy’s May 2019 announcement that utilities operating in California and Utah experienced cybersecurity incidents in March that interrupted electrical system operations.
- Blog PostThe Illinois General Assembly has passed several bills that would institute major changes to the state tax code. By and large, the measures are designed to raise tax revenue to pay for state spending and pension promises.
- Blog PostThe Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Kik Interactive Inc. with conducting an illegal, unregistered initial coin offering, signaling the SEC’s continued willingness to treat tokens, and cryptocurrency generally, as securities.
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On Episode 30 of MH Business Exchange, McDonald Hopkins Chicago Managing Member David Agay and Lincoln International Managing Director Alex Stevenson join host Mike Witzke to discuss corporate restructuring from the perspective of role and interaction between lawyer and the investment banker.
- NewsMichael Kaczka and Maria Carr explain how the passage of the Small Business Reorganization Act could dramatically change a majority of Chapter 11 bankruptcies for the better.
- Blog PostThe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in late May issued a fact sheet on direct liability of business associates for violations of the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Breach Notification and Enforcement Rules.
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Matthew C. McElwee has joined McDonald Hopkins LLC as an associate in the firm’s Chicago office.
- NewsChristopher Allen has joined the Chicago office of McDonald Hopkins LLC as an associate in the Litigation Department.
- Blog PostThis blog post offers four tips on how to be best prepared when selling your business. Selling your business can be both an exciting and stressful time. One of the ways to reduce your stress level is by being organized prior to engaging with an investment banker and/or potential buyer. This blog post offers four tips on how to be best prepared when selling your business.
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On May 10, 2019, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphey signed Assembly Bill 3245 into law. AB 3245 expands the definition of “personal information” under the state data breach statute and addresses electronic notification in the event that a data breach involves a username or password.
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On Episode 29 of MH Business Exchange, David Agay joins host Mike Witzke for a discussion of the Chicago law firm market.
- Blog PostThe biennial budget bill that the Ohio House of Representatives passed on May 9, 2019, contains a number of tax provisions that are now headed to the Ohio Senate for their review.
- Blog PostFollowing contentious debate in the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed H.B. 3427 into law last week, adopting the new Oregon corporate activity tax.
- Blog PostOn May 20, 2019, municipalities challenging the new process in Ohio for businesses to file their municipal net profits tax returns centrally with the Ohio Department of Taxation rather than with several separate municipalities filed a notice of appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court from a lower court decision upholding the state law. The Supreme Court has discretion to accept or deny the case.
- Blog PostIn Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, the United States Supreme Court resolved a circuit split by holding (in an 8-1 decision) that a debtor-licensor's rejection of a trademark license under Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code, which enables a debtor-licensor to “reject any executory contract” (a contract that neither party has finished performing), amounts only to a breach of the license and not a termination of that license.
- Blog PostIn response to a federal district court order, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on April 4, 2019, that covered employers will have until Sept. 30, 2019, to report 2018 pay data under the EEO-1 Component 2 reporting requirements. Then, responding to the court’s mandate that the EEOC collect two years of pay data, the EEOC announced in early May 2019 that the EEO-1 Component 2 filing must include pay data for both calendar years 2017 and 2018.
- AlertOn May 6, 2019, the Fifth District Court of Appeals concluded that both tort and contract claims are time-barred by Ohio’s statute of repose, which bars property damage and personal injury claims against architects and builders more than 10 years after substantial completion of the project. This decision comes despite the fact that the Ohio Supreme Court is still deliberating the issue.
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Two members of McDonald Hopkins intellectual property litigation team, Dave Cupar and Matt Cavanagh, won a significant judgment in a patent and trade secret case in favor of their client, Horizon Global Americas Inc., ending an eight-year legal battle between Horizon and a former business partner, Let’s Go Aero, Inc. (“LGA”) over intellectual property rights to hitch-mounted bike racks and automobile accessories.
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The Washington legislature recently delivered Washington House Bill 1071 (“HB 1071”) to Washington Governor Jay Inslee for signature. HB 1071 will revise the Washington state data breach law to, among other things, shorten the time period for data breach notification to 30 days.
- Blog PostMedicare site neutral payment changes are making hospital employment of physicians in some off campus settings less financially attractive for health systems and physicians.
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Ohio's joint employer law, which became effective March 20, 2019, could conflict with new federal joint employer standards. Because of this, franchisees and franchisors in Ohio should make sure their business and related businesses are complying with all state labor laws, and franchisors may want to review their franchise agreements to ensure that a franchisor is not assuming “direct control” over a franchisee’s employees.
- NewsNicole Kline has joined the Cleveland office of McDonald Hopkins LLC as an associate in the firm’s Business Department. She will work primarily with the Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group.
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A recent article identified multiple HIPAA violations that have been most prevalent in HIPAA settlements. The settlements, while significant, show only the tip of the iceberg of the costs involved with inadequate safeguards.
- Blog PostGiven the rising demand for higher education in the U.S., it is not surprising that smaller, rural, or poorly managed university systems are encountering financial distress as larger or more prestigious institutions take over the market. Unfortunately, struggling educational institutions that receive federal student financial aid funding from the United States Department of Education (DOE) pursuant to Title IV of the Higher Education Act cannot just file for bankruptcy to obtain relief from debt obligations and restructure; an institution’s eligibility to receive Title IV funding terminates immediately upon a bankruptcy filing.
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Cleveland-based McDonald Hopkins sees so much potential in the business of third-party financing of lawsuits that it's building its latest practice around it. As that sector sees explosive growth, expect other law firms to jump on the trend.
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McDonald Hopkins President Shawn Riley reviews 90 years of the firm's history in the May 2019 edition of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Journal.
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McDonald Hopkins' Margaret O'Bryon explains how issuing a notice of intent to settle pursuant ORC 4123.512 may have the unintended result of eliminating the right to eppeal.
- Blog PostWith the Ohio budget season upon us, the Ohio General Assembly is considering tax proposals that could have big implications for consumers, business owners, and investors. Let’s take a look at three major proposals that are currently on the table:
