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On episode 16 of MH Business Exchange, host Mike Witzke and McDonald Hopkins attorney John Heer discuss some of today’s hot issues in environmental law.
- Blog PostTrade associations continue to be a focus of antitrust enforcers such as the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, and states attorneys general. Potential criminal and civil antitrust liability exists for the association and its officers and directors, as well as its members under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, Section 5 of the FTC Act, and various state antitrust laws.
- Blog PostSupreme Court rules that manufacturer's purchases of natural gas do not qualify for sales and use tax exemption
- Blog PostSouth Dakota v. Wayfair Update: Quick congressional action appears unlikely following House Judiciary Committee hearing
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- Podcast
Host Mike Witzke talks with Ilirjan Pipa, the chair of McDonald Hopkins' Securities Practice Group, about the use of representation and warranty insurance in M&A deals.
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With the rise of distributed ledger technology and the corresponding ability to share and mutually agree on information, developers have begun to expand the scope of applications on and uses of blockchain technology. As a result, blockchain technology developers have moved beyond merely tracking the movement of cryptocurrencies, and newer networks (such as Ethereum and Ripple) permit network users to run stand-alone applications on top of the underlying blockchain.
- Blog PostFour states sued the IRS and Treasury Department on July 17, 2018, alleging a recently-enacted tax reform measure included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is unconstitutional.
- Blog PostThe North Carolina General Assembly has proposed amending the state’s constitution to cap the state income tax rate at 7 percent.
- Blog PostIn a divided 4-2 ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a controversial 1.5% soda tax that the City of Philadelphia levied on beverage distributors for sugary drinks.
- Blog PostUnexpected conditions can become a major problem for contractors. Regardless of whether the project is a design-bid-build process or billed on time and materials, contractors never look forward to telling an owner that the project is going to be more expensive than initially thought.
- Blog PostThe language companies have been using to comply with California’s Proposition 65 may no longer be adequate as of Aug. 30, 2018. That’s the deadline for compliance with updated regulations affecting all companies whose products end up in the Golden State.
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The exclusivity restrictions of the Medicare Shared Savings Program pose challenges for physician practices that employ nurse practitioners, physician assistants or certified nurse specialists and desire to participate in multiple accountable care organizations. Alternatives are available to avoid ACO exclusivity but often require careful planning. This Alert describes ACO exclusivity principles with particular focus on implications and workarounds for group practices that employ nonphysician practitioners.
- Blog PostUnder a consent decree filed on July 12, 2018, the EEOC and Estee Lauder agreed to resolve a lawsuit by providing a $1.1 million settlement for the over 200 new fathers allegedly denied the same leave rights as new mothers.
- Blog PostIllinois physicians will be allowed to collaborate with more physician assistants following Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s July 13, 2018 approval of Public Act 100-0605, which is likely to expand the use of PAs in the state.
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In what appears at first blush to be a ruling contravening the general law mandating arbitration in Doctors Associates, Inc. v. Alemayehu, the Honorable Janet Hall of The United States District Court, District of Connecticut, after detailed analysis found a long-used franchise application lacked mutuality and therefore could not be enforced by the prospective franchisor.
- AlertThe Associated General Contractors of Ohio, its affiliated associations, and the Ohio Contractors Association, represented by Peter D. Welin, Jason R. Harley, and John A. Gambill of McDonald Hopkins’ Construction Law Group, filed a “friend of the court” brief on July 13, 2018 with the Ohio Supreme Court in New Riegel Local Sch. Dist. Bd. of Ed., et al. v. The Buehrer Group Architecture & Eng’g., Inc., et al., Case No. 2018-0213.
- AlertIn an update to our alert, “Texas District Court issues temporary injunction preventing CMS from recouping overpayments,” on June 28, 2018 the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered a preliminary injunction preventing CMS from recouping an alleged overpayment pending an Administrative Law Judge decision on the appeal of the alleged overpayment determination.
- Blog PostFederal and state laws make it illegal to harass individuals of other characteristics, including but not limited to marital status, familial status, genetic information, military or veteran status, age, and physical or mental disability. A recent Missouri federal case where an employee was allegedly harassed based on his Christian religious convictions illustrates this point
- NewsJeff Van Winkle has joined the Chicago office of McDonald Hopkins LLC as a member, bringing more than three decades of experience representing businesses, investors and entrepreneurs. He comes to McDonald Hopkins from Clark Hill PLC
- Blog PostThe U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case set aside 50 years of settled law to hold that states may require online and direct mail sellers to collect sales tax from their consumers, whether they have a physical presence in the state or not.
- Blog PostLast week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to a West Virginia law that provides an income tax exemption for retirement benefits of state law enforcement officers, but does not extend the same exemption to federal law enforcement officers.
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- Blog PostWhile the majority of international attention has focused on cryptocurrencies and the associated rise in value of these assets, distributed ledger networks, the technology responsible for and supporting the development of cryptocurrencies, has matured, leading to an influx of new applications across a wide variety of industries
- Blog PostIn a landmark decision on June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court by a 5-4 margin overruled a thirty-year precedent requiring public employees to pay “agency fees” for non-union member individuals. What does this mean for the future? Detroit Free Press writer John Gallagher, who is also a union president for the Newspaper Guild of Detroit, offers the fascinating perspective on “why unions will survive” the court’s decision. Detroit-based McDonald Hopkins attorneys James Boutrous, Miriam Rosen, and David Schelberg have been considering how the decision will impact their clients and other organizations, public and private.
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- Blog PostAn irrevocable trust is a trust with terms and provisions that cannot be changed. However, under certain circumstances, changes to an irrevocable trust can be made and a trust can even be terminated.
- Blog PostOn April 23, 2018, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Trump administration’s indefinite delay of higher penalties for automakers that don’t meet certain fuel efficiency standards
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Raquel (Rocky) A. Rodriguez, John T. Metzger, Alan M. Burger, and Peter M. Bernhardt of McDonald Hopkins were recognized among the top attorneys in Florida on Monday, June 18 by Florida Super Lawyers.
- Blog PostOn April 13, 2018, U.S. EPA published a notice containing information related to the EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy program which identifies acceptable and unacceptable substitutes for ozone depleting substances.
- Blog PostThe DOJ Antitrust Division’s Spring Update touts a number of federal enforcement priorities that could impact your business.
- Blog PostLess than a month after unanimously passing an ordinance that would have imposed a per-employee head tax on large companies, the Seattle City Council voted on June 12 to repeal the tax. The tax was meant to generate roughly $47 million a year to fund affordable housing and homeless services.
- Blog Post. The call for guidance from the SEC has increased through the growing number of industries utilizing distributed ledger technology. Now, the SEC has begun to respond, including recent indications that the two largest cryptocurrencies in circulation, bitcoin and ether, do not qualify as securities.
- Blog PostThe Ohio Supreme Court recently weighed in on the manufacturing exemption for sales and use taxation while the General Assembly elaborated upon an exemption for equipment used to produce oil and gas.
- Blog PostThe U.S. Supreme Court today overturned over 50 years of its own precedent regarding state authority to collect sales tax from online merchants. In a divided 5-4 decision, the court in South Dakota v. Wayfair held that South Dakota may require remote sellers to collect sales tax from their consumers whether or not they have a physical presence in the state.
- Blog PostAfter years of decisions by a National Labor Relations Board that seemed to have lost sight of how work rules impact the practical realities of the workplace, employers recently received some relief.
- Blog PostEffective July 1, 2018, a new provision of the Florida Insurance Code allows physicians, chiropractors, nurse practitioners and primary care group practices to furnish primary care services for a flat monthly fee directly to their patients or to employee groups and establishes parameters for direct primary care agreements
- Blog PostThe court found that the arbitrator’s award of rescinding franchise agreement because the franchisor had an incomplete disclosure statement was consistent with established defined legal principles. As such, the court refused to apply the manifestly unjust doctrine to vacate the award.
- Blog PostBusiness Insights Post
- Blog PostThe increase in the cash required to service existing tax-free bond obligations, could have a significant impact on the ability of already cash-starved charities to provide the services that comprise their missions
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- Blog PostEveryone in the commercial real estate industry needs to be ready and look for ways blockchain will quite soon morph into our everyday world.
- AlertTexas District Court issues temporary injunction preventing CMS from recouping overpayments
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Employment Law Q&A: Should I require my employees to sign arbitration agreements?
- Blog PostWe have been following legislation in the Ohio General Assembly that would modify the test for determining whether individuals reside in Ohio for state income tax purposes. The bill, House Bill 292, would also reinstate the direct right of appeal from the Board of Tax Appeals to the Ohio Supreme Court for many cases, which was eliminated last year.
- Blog PostIn the wake of the #MeToo movement, we have all heard the shocking stories of systematic and persistent sexual harassment in the workplace. But sometimes, the lines are not so clear.
- Blog PostLast year we reported on legal challenges to a nine percent “amusement” tax that the city of Chicago imposes on consumers and requires service providers to collect and remit.
- Blog PostThe Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service recently issued a notice stating they intend to address state efforts to circumvent the new federal limit on individual deductions for state and local taxes (SALT).