- Blog PostWest Virginia’s legislature recently introduced House Bill 2373, which would bring a Dormant Mineral Act to the state for the first time. Essentially the same as Ohio's DMA, West Virginia has the opportunity to learn from Ohio’s issues and draft a bill with more definitive and clear language.
- Blog PostOhio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals recently issued surprising decisions in two significant cases relating to the oil and gas industry. The following is an analysis of the unsettling portions of those cases and the impact of the court’s decisions.
- Blog PostRecently, Ohio House Bill No. 100 was introduced which would amend the language of Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act (DMA). The bill makes several changes to the DMA, at least one of which would have far-reaching impacts on Ohio landowners and oil and gas producers.
- NewsMargaret O’Bryon is bringing 15 years of experience developing an expertise in workers’ compensation to McDonald Hopkins LLC, joining the firm as counsel in the Cleveland office.
- Blog PostDetermining when a given cause of action has accrued under Florida law is often tricky business. Claims filed too early in the process often become the subject of motion practice and court orders staying the action. Claims filed too late may become time-barred by the applicable statutes of limitation. Like many causes of action under Florida law, the statute of limitation for legal malpractice claims is set forth in Chapter 95 of the Florida Statutes. Under Florida law, legal malpractice claims must be brought within two years.
- NewsDana White has joined McDonald Hopkins LLP in Detroit and Chicago as a member in the firm’s Business Law Department and Real Estate Practice.
- NewsLindsie A. Everett has joined McDonald Hopkins as an associate in the Intellectual Property Department of the firm’s Cleveland Office.
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McDonald Hopkins' invites you to be a part of our upcoming Leaders in Education Lunch Series! McDonald’s Hopkins’ Cleveland Managing Member, David Kall, and firm President Shawn Rile, each joined WKYC's Hollie Strano & Alexa Lee on Live on Lakeside today to share more.
- AlertOhio law establishes the maximum fees a health care provider or medical records company can charge for copies of a patient’s medical record. For 2019, the following maximum fees apply when the request comes from a patient or a patient’s personal representative:
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Unfortunately, being prepared for active shooter situations and other incidents of workplace violence is now a necessity. The following are 10 things employers should know or do related to the threat of workplace violence.
- Blog PostAfter months of speculation, on March 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced its proposed new salary level threshold for FLSA white-collar exempt status. Under the DOL’s proposal, the exempt status salary level will increase to $35,308 annually from the current level of $23,660 per year.
- Blog PostMany web based companies are installing arbitration clauses into their terms and conditions, but the proliferation of web based agreements raises the question about whether consumers are actually reading the often detailed, dense terms and conditions.
- Blog PostIntellectual Property Defense Post
- Blog PostThe U.S. Supreme Court ruled more is required than simply applying for a copyright registration and paying the fees before suing for infringement in a unanimous decision earlier this week.
- Blog PostThe Multistate Tax Commission recently approved model uniform legislation for states to adopt to address the new federal regime for auditing partnerships (including LLCs taxed as partnerships). Now that the 2018 tax season has arrived, it is time to brush up on the new audit rules that are now in effect and prepare for states to enact legislation in 2019.
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Last week a state court judge in North Carolina struck down an amendment that would cap the state income tax rate at 7 percent because the North Carolina General Assembly did not have the power to place the amendment on the ballot in the first place due to gerrymandered districts.
- Blog PostTaxpayers in Ohio wishing to contest the new value that the county auditor assigned to their real property for the 2018 tax year have a short window to contest the valuation that ends on March 31, 2019. Some counties have extended the deadline to April 1, 2019 because March 31, 2019 falls on a Sunday.
- NewsMcDonald Hopkins Miami Managing Member Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez has been recognized as a 2019 Superstar by Attorney at Law Magazine with a feature in its most recent Miami Edition entitled “Transforming Florida.”
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Part II of this series on maximizing recoveries from post-confirmation litigation explains why litigation trust beneficiaries who want to minimize risks and maximize potential recoveries from litigation should focus on preserving causes of action, reviewing release and exculpation provisions, transferring litigation privileges and enhancing protections for litigation trusts, and exploring the possibilities of using litigation funding to maximize recoveries.
- Blog PostAs temporary employees become more prevalent in the workforce, there has been a steady increase in litigation related to short-term workers. We have 5 important considerations for any company that utilizes a temporary workforce.
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HIPAA covered entities (healthcare providers, health plans and health care clearinghouses) that discovered a breach of protected health information (PHI) in 2018 involving fewer than 500 individuals are required to report those breaches by March 1, 2019.
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JPMorgan Chase announced the creation of its own digital currency, the JPM Coin, making it the first major bank to do so. The financial services industry, highly regulated and traditionally conservative, has largely stayed out of the digital currency space, but the introduction and successful use of the JPM Coin may pave the way for the industry to cautiously embrace digital currencies.
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Now more than ever, employers must look to protect their business assets from unfair competition through the use of reasonable restrictive covenant agreements. However, a restrictive covenant agreement is only as good as it is legal. It is imperative in using restrictive covenants to recognize the fundamentals in drafting a legally enforceable document.
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After facing unexpected resistance, Amazon made a shocking announcement that it would abandon its plans for a second headquarters in Long Island City. Politicians, lawmakers, union leaders, and members of the surrounding community starkly opposed Amazon’s HQ2, citing a number of concerns including the nearly $3 billion in tax incentives that had been promised to Amazon.
- Blog PostOn Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a West Virginia income tax scheme favoring state law enforcement retirees over their federal counterparts is unconstitutionally discriminatory. In Dawson v. Steager, the court agreed with retired U.S. Marshal James Dawson that West Virginia violated federal law codifying the intergovernmental tax immunity doctrine.
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Hayley J. Gladstone has joined McDonald Hopkins LLC as Counsel in the firm’s Executive Compensation and Governance Practice. Based in the firm’s growing Chicago office, Gladstone brings nine years of executive compensation and employee benefits experience to the group, which advises public and private companies, startups, entrepreneurs and executives across a variety of industries.
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There has been a lot of commentary on an IRS report that the average tax refund for 2018 was lower by $170 compared to 2017 - and some immediately concluded this was evidence that the 2017 Tax Act was not really a tax reduction. Here is a quick way to determine if your tax was reduced under the new law.
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A cryptocurrency exchange is an ideal target for cyberattack. Should an attacker gain access to an exchange’s reserves, the thief would gain control over a large sum of diversified cryptocurrencies, perfect for conducting anonymized transactions across the internet. As a result, the operators of these exchanges have faced increasingly complex cybersecurity attacks from bad actors against these reserves. Seeking the perceived safety of cold storage has its own dangers.
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Alec Davidson has joined McDonald Hopkins LLC in the Cleveland office as an associate in the firm’s Business Department, where his practice will enhance the Commercial Finance, Real Estate and Public Finance Practice Groups.
- Blog PostFollowing an investigative report by Ohio’s Inspector General on Feb. 12, hundreds of companies certified by Ohio’s Encouraging Diversity, Growth and Equity program, also known as EDGE, have had their certifications called into question.
- AlertFollowing an investigative report by Ohio’s Inspector General on Feb. 12, hundreds of companies certified by Ohio’s Encouraging Diversity, Growth and Equity program, also known as EDGE, have had their certifications called into question
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Walmart was recently ordered to pay a total of $95.5 million in damages to Variety Stores for infringing on the small retailer’s “Backyard” trademark. The decision marks the end of a five year legal battle and highlights the importance of monitoring your trademarks and knowing how and when to address trademark infringement.
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Google is on the receiving end of the first major enforcement action of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), to the tune of €50 million for lack of transparency and information and a failure to obtain valid consent for targeted advertising.
- Blog PostLenders should note the Delaware Court of Chancery’s recent opinion in Akorn, Inc. v. Fresenius Kabi AG, which the Delaware Supreme Court recently upheld. The court’s novel analysis of material adverse effect within the context of mergers and acquisitions provides valuable insight into how courts may treat lenders’ rights under credit agreements with respect to material adverse effects.
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On Episode 26 of MH Business Exchange, McDonald Hopkins corporate and transactional attorney Jeff Van Winkle joins host Mike Witzke to to discuss CFIUS and how the new FIRRMA pilot program is impacting foreign investment into U.S.
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Teresa Metcalf Beasley has joined the Cleveland office of McDonald Hopkins LLC as a member and will serve as chair of the firm’s Public Law Practice Group. She brings more than 25 years of experience and an established reputation as a real estate development and public finance attorney in the city’s public and private sector.
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In a recent article for Crain's Cleveland Business, McDonald Hopkins' Carl Grassi explains that because it's tax time for most business owners, it's time to crunch the numbers on the new tax benefits and limitations introduced in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
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We have been following a legal challenge to 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.
- AlertDue to the partial government shutdown, the EEOC recently announced an extension of the filing deadline for the 2018 EEO-1 Report from March 31, 2019, to May 31, 2019. Completing the EEO-1 Report can be a trying process. If you are in need of a refresher, we've compiled answers to a few common questions related to preparing and filing the EEO-1 Report.
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In Part 1 of a two-part series for the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, McDonald Hopkins' Marc Carmel addresses D&O insurance issues related to maximizing recoveries from post-confirmation litigation.
- AlertIn Illinois, health care facilities and practitioners are permitted to charge for copies of medical records when the patient, other health care practitioners, and/or attorneys request such records. The 2019 maximum fees that can be charged for copying medical records are as follows
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McDonald Hopkins survey sees steep drop in business sector confidence for 2019 - Crain's Cleveland February 1, 2019, article
- NewsMcDonald Hopkins' Christal Contini and Michael Kaczka discuss how to navigate the purchase of a distressed business in a recent article from Crain's Cleveland.
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Updates on OSHA's requirements for posting OSHA’s Form 300A (which summarizes job-related injuries and illnesses logged during 2018) and on record keeping requirements.
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The business community’s exuberance about the U.S. business climate has diminished considerably since last year, according to the ninth annual McDonald Hopkins Business Outlook Survey. Only 34 percent of executives who responded to the survey expect business conditions in the U.S. to improve in the next year. Last year, nearly 80 percent predicted improvement.
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On episode 25 of MH Business Exchange, McDonald Hopkins healthcare attorney Rick Hindmand joins host Mike Witzke for a deeper dive into best practices for cybersecurity in the healthcare industry. The episode builds on the Jan. 9, 2019 blog Hindmand authored with fellow MH attorney Emily Johnson, "Guidance Recommends Healthcare Cybersecurity Best Practices"
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According to the results of McDonald Hopkins' ninth annual Business Outlook Survey, the business community’s exuberance about the U.S. business climate has diminished considerably since last year.
- NewsOhio State Senator John Eklund was the guest speaker on Tuesday night at when McDonald Hopkins hosted its annual dinner for clients and friends of the firm following day one of the 2019 Ohio Tax Conference.
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On Jan. 25, 2019, the Supreme Court of Illinois held that no allegation of actual harm is required for an individual to bring an action for a violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). McDonald Hopkins has recommendations for precautions that any private entity doing business in Illinois which collects, purchases, or possesses biometric data should take.
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