News & Legal Updates Archive

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

McDonald Hopkins survey sees steep drop in business sector confidence for 2019 - Crain's Cleveland February 1, 2019, article

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.

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.

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"

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.

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.

McDonald Hopkins' Christine Czyuprynski answers the question "As an automotive manufacturer or supplier, what is a significant cybersecurity threat I can expect to face?" for DBusiness magazine.

McDonald Hopkins, along with Proforma, Althans Insurance Agency and the International Franchise Association, is proud to announce the formation of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Franchise Business Network.

On Jan. 15, 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Domino’s Pizza’s website and mobile application were in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act because they may not be fully accessible to a blind or visually impaired person.

5 tips for employers to consider when faced with an impending layoff or reduction in force. With the ups and downs of today’s economy, a company must be prepared to take action, if necessary, to downsize or eliminate sectors of their workforce. During what is an already difficult process, it is important that employers take certain steps to mitigate and minimize any additional risk.