- Blog PostWhen developing a new brand for your business, it’s not as easy as coming up with a clever and catchy name. Rather, you need to consider conducting additional research into the new brand before investing substantial time and energy into its marketing.
- NewsColin M. Battersby has joined McDonald Hopkins, a business advisory and advocacy law firm, as counsel in the firm’s national Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group.
- NewsMcDonald Hopkins, a business advisory and advocacy law firm, welcomes attorney Christopher G. Hawley. Based in Cleveland, he is an associate in the firm’s Business Department.
- Blog PostThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has completely revamped the current Medicaid Integrity Manual. The new Medicaid Integrity Manual, effective April 3, 2018, will only have two chapters instead of 17.
- NewsMcDonald Hopkins, a business advisory and advocacy law firm, has once again been nominated by Advisen as a finalist for their 2018 Cyber Risk Awards in the category of Cyber Law Firm of the Year. The firm’s national Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice, led by co-chairs James J. Giszczak and Dominic A. Paluzzi, was previously nominated as a finalist for Advisen’s Cyber Risk Awards in 2017 and 2015 in the categories of Cyber Law Firm of the Year and Cyber Risk Pre-Breach Team of the Year, respectively.
- NewsMcDonald Hopkins, a business advisory and advocacy law firm, welcomes litigator Christine M. Dimitriou to the Miami office as an associate.
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- AlertIt’s valuation season for ESOPS. As the first valuation season following the September 2017 First Bankers Trust settlement, now is a particularly good time for ESOP companies to carefully consider all items their plan trustees will need to review as part of the valuation process.
- Blog PostIn 2017, several states considered legislation that would impose additional tax on carried interest. While there has been energy behind these proposals in the past, these new endeavors are, in part, a response to the federal 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted in December 2017.
- Blog PostThe battle to lure Amazon’s HQ2 continues. On Jan. 18, 2018, the retailing behemoth announced its short list of 20 cities, narrowed from 238 proposals within the United States, Canada and Mexico. Learn about next steps for Amazon - and find out what other U.S. megadeals in the works are motivated by tax incentives.
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States have taken different approaches to addressing the issue of whether software as a service (Saas) is taxable. Indiana is one that has legislation waiting for the governor’s signature. The crux of the bill is the exclusion of SaaS transactions from the sales tax.
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- AlertOn March 8, the Florida Senate unanimously passed HB 37, smoothing the way for physicians, chiropractors, nurse practitioners and primary care group practices to furnish primary care services for a flat monthly fee directly to their patients or employee groups. Specifically, HB 37 sets forth parameters for direct primary care agreements.
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When developing a new product, you may want to consider whether a design patent can provide intellectual property protection that could bring value to your business.
- Blog PostCMS issued a notice regarding its intent to start denying provider enrollment or change of ownership applications where there is an outstanding Medicare overpayment owed by a provider, supplier or owner.
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- NewsMcDonald Hopkins, a business advisory and advocacy law firm, has launched MH2020, a three-year initiative to commemorate the firm’s 90th anniversary in the year 2020.
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Since 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division has criminally charged 575 individuals and 199 companies with antitrust violations. DOJ has collected over $10 billion in criminal antitrust fines and penalties, and the average prison sentence imposed on individual antitrust violators was 21 months. What are emerging enforcement trends in this area, and what can companies do to ensure they do not unwittingly run afoul of complex antitrust laws? DOJ Antitrust Division officials and top private antitrust attorneys discussed these issues in a panel at the American Bar Association White Collar Crime Conference in San Diego. The highlights of the discussion included the following:
- AlertMichigan recently updated the maximum amount health care providers can charge for copies of medical records. For the 2018 calendar year the following fees are in place:
- 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 2018 maximum fees that can be charged for copying medical records are as follows
- AlertWhen it comes to data privacy and cybersecurity, employees can be your greatest asset and your greatest weakness. While most employers provide onboarding training to new employees and some training throughout the year, it is best practice to train all employees on cybersecurity and data privacy awareness.
- Blog PostIn 2017, plaintiffs had more success in persuading federal courts that even in the absence of actual identity theft, they had standing to sue for data breach. The recent shift in case law has significant implications for how companies should prepare for a data breach and possible class action litigation.
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- Blog Post3 tips on how to improve your residential construction contract.
- Blog PostIt’s already been a busy 2018 for the constantly evolving landscape of data breach notification laws. Here is an update on what is happening in South Dakota, Colorado, North Carolina, and Maryland.
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In a dramatic reversal, this week the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) vacated its Dec. 14, 2017 decision in Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, Inc. because of a conflict of interest.
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For 2018, the following maximum fees apply when the request for a patient's medical records comes from a patient or a patient’s personal representative, or someone other than a patient or a patient's personal representative.
- AlertIn Florida, the Hal S. Marchman Alcohol and Other Drug Services Act of 1993, commonly referred to as the Marchman Act, can be used in certain circumstances to force someone to get involuntary drug/rehabilitative treatment before it is too late.
- Blog PostUntil last summer’s budget bill came along, Ohio businesses that operated in multiple municipalities had to file separate tax returns for each one. But now there is a state-administered alternative that taxpayers may elect for tax years beginning after Jan. 1, 2018.
- Blog PostThe United States Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on April 17, 2018 in South Dakota v. Wayfair, which pits the state’s authority to impose tax collection obligations against out-of-state retailers’ rights to be free of such duties.
- Blog PostA look at how states across the country are struggling with data breaches impacting government agencies.
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Common issues that arise when attempting to sell, transfer or pledge liquor permits under applicable Ohio law and federal bankruptcy law.
- Blog PostTrade secrets are protectable, even in the absence of a non-disclosure agreement. Here are 5 steps to immediately take if a new employee is accused of stealing trade secrets and you're sent a C&D letter.
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- AlertThe OIG found that CMS paid clinical laboratories and physician offices $66.3 million dollars for specimen validity testing billed in conjunction with urine drug tests. It concluded that these payments were made because the providers did not follow existing Medicare guidance.
- NewsMcDonald Hopkins LLC, a business advisory and advocacy law firm, held a Business Hour regarding exit strategies that focus on the best interests of the founder and the company.
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Earlier this month, I wrote a blog regarding Massachusetts’ refusal to fulfill their energy needs from domestic sources, instead of threatening the environment by importing U.S.-sanctioned Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Last week, the Boston Globe’s editorial board doubled down on the foolishness of this policy and took a more in-depth look at the harm it poses for the environment:
- Blog PostIn the case Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP v. city of Detroit, the Michigan Court of Appeals examined whether attorney income, from a client located outside of Detroit, was in-city or out-of-city income for purposes of the City Income Tax Act (Act). The law firm’s office is located inside the city of Detroit.
- Blog PostIllinois has a statute on the books, the Illinois False Claims Act (Act), also known as the Whistleblower Act, that is designed to allow an individual to sue another person or entity in the name of the state, for, among other things, failure to collect and remit taxes owed to the state. The complaint and related documents that initiate what are sometimes referred to as qui tam suits are kept under seal for 60 days, during which time the Attorney General may investigate, choose to intervene, and proceed with the action as the party with primary responsibility for pursing the charges.
- Blog PostOhio imposes a real property conveyance fee, or a transfer tax, on real estate sales. Interested parties are circulating draft legislation that would close the so-called “LLC Loophole” on such the transfer tax, which currently does not apply to the transfer of ownership interests in a pass-through entity that holds real property. The proposed bill would impose the transfer tax in these circumstances, according to the Legislative Service Commission’s (LSC) bill summary.
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- AlertOhio taxpayers wishing to contest the new fair market value that the county auditor assigned for the 2017 tax year have a short window to contest the valuation that ends on March 31, 2018.
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The NLRB held that two entities are joint employers under the National Labor Relations Act only if proof exists that one entity has actually exercised control over the essential employment terms of another entity’s employees, and has done so directly and immediately in a situation that is not limited and routine.
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Franchise establishments are expected to grow by an additional 1.9 percent in 2018 to 759,000. Alongside the growth in franchise businesses, franchise employment is forecast to grow by 3.7 percent, continuing to outpace the rest of the U.S. economy.
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McDonald Hopkins' Miami office hosts KIPP Sunrise Academy luncheon
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The explosion of the craft beer market may lead to a saturation of the market and the unintentional violation of franchise and distributing laws.
