You may have heard something about GDPR lately and thought "Why should I care? It probably won't affect me or my business.” In reality, the implications of GDPR are far-reaching. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a set of regulations strengthening data privacy and protection laws for residents of the EU. The regulations take effect in just two months: May 25, to be exact ...
Tennessee has become one of the first states in the country to approve the use of “smart contracts,” which are made through the use of blockchain technology. In essence, the law gives blockchain contracts and electronic signatures submitted through blockchain as having equal standing to more traditional forms of contracts ...
Lots of folks have been asking of late, “Do I have to show taxes in drink prices?” The Tennessee Department of Revenue recently clarified that including taxes in drink prices is optional. Previously, the state required that menu prices include both liquor by the drink and sales taxes. The law now gives taxpayers the option to include taxes on the final bill to the customer, instead of in the sales price listed in menus. A copy of the notice from Revenue is included here ...
In recent months, the influential Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) voted unanimously to reduce reimbursement rates for some urban, free-standing emergency departments (FSEDs). MedPAC is the independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program. While MedPAC’s recommendation is just that — a recommendation — its advice typically serves as a harbinger of Congressional action ...
The Madrid system for the International Registration of trademarks is a convenient and economical system for applicants in member countries to secure trademark registrations in other member countries throughout the world. There are 98 contracting parties to the Madrid Protocol, covering 114 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Mexico, China, and much of Europe and the Pacific Rim (http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/) ...
Among the many liquor laws passed this legislative session by the Tennessee General Assembly, one of the biggest changes, in our humble opinion, is the new Open Carry law. P.C. 755 allows restaurants, hotels and other liquor-by-the-drink establishments to serve alcohol into common areas and allow adjacent restaurant patrons to bring alcoholic beverages into their restaurant. You can now walk between restaurants with your cocktail, glass of wine or mug of suds ...
Does your bank have a website? Unless your bank uses an abacus to tally deposits, the answer is probably yes. If so, do you know if your bank’s website complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”)? Did you even know that your website might be subject to scrutiny under the ADA? Let’s discuss ...
Earlier this year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its report on the direct spending and revenue effect of H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA), as passed by the House of Representatives. CBO made this estimate in conjunction with the Joint Committee on Taxation ...
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has clarified the priorities and expectations when a designated contract market (DCM) or swap execution facility (SEF) lists new virtual currency derivatives or when a derivatives clearing organization (DCO) clears virtual currency derivatives. Background and Key Terms The CFTC is an independent federal agency that administers the Commodity Exchange Act, which regulates transactions in commodity interests ...
It goes without saying that a lender must work to maximize its recovery when a borrower is in default and has no reasonably realistic or meaningful way to cure the default. This scenario far too often forces a lender to determine the most efficient and effective method to sell its collateral ...
It goes without saying that a lender must work to maximize its recovery when a borrower is in default and has no reasonably realistic or meaningful way to cure the default. This scenario far too often forces a lender to determine the most efficient and effective method to sell its collateral ...
Generations of restauranteurs and hoteliers have been told they cannot give away liquor. Since liquor by the drink was originally adopted in Tennessee in the late 1960s, it has been illegal to give away wine or spirits at any restaurant, hotel, entertainment venue or other on-premise outlet. No more. P.C. 755 allows any liquor by the drink establishment to serve a complimentary sample of wine ...
Recent insider trading charges are shining a renewed spotlight on the need for companies to take a fresh look at their insider trading policies. On May 31, 2018, the SEC issued a press release announcing that it has filed civil charges against an executive of a bulge bracket investment banking firm in an insider trading scheme based primarily on the “misappropriation theory” of insider trading. On the same day, the FBI and the U.S ...
The hits keep coming to plaintiffs’ attorneys seeking to invalidate nursing home arbitration agreements. Last year, the plaintiffs’ bar could smell victory when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its new rule banning arbitration clauses in nursing home admission contracts ...
After two years of review, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently announced that it will begin accepting applications for special purpose national bank charters from financial technology (fintech) companies. The OCC’s announcement came hours after the Treasury Department endorsed the approach ...
The skilled nursing sector has seen a significant number of facility divestitures and closures in the last few years. Quite frankly, this negative trend is due in part to a reluctance by some operators to implement clinical-based care standards and a lack of honest self-evaluation to improve the clinical care provided at skilled nursing facilities. Outdated operating models – solely meeting the basic needs of patients – does not bode well for SNF operators to survive ...
Tilray, Inc. officially launched its initial public offering on Thursday, becoming the first U.S. cannabis cultivator to directly list on an American exchange. Based on a better-than-expected share price of $17, the company raised more than $153 million in the offering. The IPO is notable for two reasons: 1) Tilray was incorporated in Delaware in January 2018 and is, therefore, the first U.S. cannabis company allowed to list directly on Nasdaq. The company’s U.S ...
Gov. Jerry Brown signed California Senate Bill 826 into law, which requires publicly held companies whose principal executive offices are located in California to have a minimum of one woman on their boards of directors by the end of 2019. Thereafter, women’s representation will have to increase based on the law, with what will be codified as Section 301 ...
Late last month, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a final order placing FDA-approved drugs that contain cannabidiol (CBD) derived from cannabis and no more than 0.1 percent tetrahydrocannabinols in Schedule V of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA). Schedule V of the CSA includes drugs such as Robitussin and Lyrica ...
We suspect that thousands of Tennessee restaurants, hotels, bars and other hospitality businesses gather personal information from their customers for marketing purposes. It’s just a birthdate, address, anniversary, spouse’s name – good stuff to know, right? That’s all fine and dandy until some hacker steals the information ...
While buzzwords like consolidation and price transparency continue to dominate headlines, major players throughout the healthcare ecosystem are working tirelessly behind the scenes to deploy creative and complex service methods that leverage a smarter, more holistic approach to care. The goal? Control escalating costs and deliver tangible value to patients – all while maintaining a healthy balance sheet ...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”) created a new tax incentive designed to encourage long-term investment in low income communities, as defined in Code Sec. 45D(e),1 which are specifically designated as “qualified opportunity zones” (“QOZs”) in accordance with procedures set forth in Code Sec. 1400Z-1 ...
