[!<CDATA[ As of September 1, 2021, in a change to Texas caselaw that had been in place for over a century, Texas contractors now have protection in certain circumstances from liability for defective plans and specifications provided to the contractor by someone else. In the 1907 Texas Supreme Court case Lonergan v ...
Have you ever heard a story and thought, “That only happens in the movies!”? Well, this story may invoke that thought, but unfortunately for one lawyer, it transpired in real life. Although the rule is clear that lawyers cannot reveal privileged communications without client authorization, a Washington lawyer’s conduct illustrates that the rule is tough to remember, or recognize, in casual, friendly settings ...
On November 16, 2020, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert addressing the fraud and abuse risks of speaker programs that are commonplace in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries ...
A pair of recent rulings involving the economic loss doctrine from North Carolina serve as a timely reminder to carefully consider the extent of contractual remedies in negotiation of construction agreements – lest a later breach of contract remedy prove insufficient, and further recovery barred by the economic loss doctrine ...
Although bankruptcy filings have been scarce in the couple years since COVID-19 emerged,[1] filings are expected to start ticking upward again as governmental pandemic assistance and financial leeway, such as forbearance agreements, are lifted ...
The next state in our series exploring non-compete agreements is the Magnolia State, Mississippi. Unlike Texas and Louisiana, Mississippi’s noncompete laws are purely creatures of the common law. Mississippi has no statutory scheme in place governing covenants not to compete. For this chapter we are joined by my partners Justin Scott and Slates Veazey ...
On December 28, 2020, New York passed a new law entitled the “COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020.” The act places a moratorium on COVID-19-related residential real property mortgage foreclosure actions and residential eviction proceedings until May 1, 2021, where a tenant or homeowner has submitted a “hardship declaration” to the foreclosing party, landlord, and/or the court ...
The president has signed into law the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, which includes several temporary special rules aimed at minimizing forfeitures and increasing the utility of health and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSAs). Plans providing for one or both accounts can take advantage of these participant-friendly rules immediately ...
Governor Ivey in her State of the State address on February 4 argued forcefully that Alabama must do more to attract physicians (and nurse-practitioners) to practice in the rural, under-served areas of the state. Unfortunately, one of the only current tax incentives to do so—a $5,000 income tax credit that can be claimed over a 5 consecutive year period--has been the source of many audits and administrative and Alabama Tax Tribunal appeals ...
The EEOC updated its very clearly titled, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws,” last week to provide some much needed guidance on COVID-19 vaccine issues. While the EEOC’s guidance is helpful, not surprisingly, it leaves open some questions. Section K of the guidance addresses vaccines, so the references below are to the specific questions and answers in that section. Employers can mandate vaccines ...
As we begin 2022, the renewable energy industry in the United States has much for which to be thankful: A strong demand for clean power, increasing recognition of the need for an accelerated energy transition, and a thriving, successful base of developers and contractors working toward this common goal ...
[!<CDATA[ The trend toward conducting business online has gained even stronger momentum as the economy continues to adapt to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. But an increased digital presence carries the potential for increased legal risk ...
On page 8 of the September–October issue, we discussed the COVID-19 forbearance landscape and related compliance challenges for mortgage servicers. In this article, we unpack the post-forbearance world, focusing on the transition out of forbearance and into other forms of loss mitigation assistance, including, but not limited to, payment deferrals, repayment plans, loan modifications, etc ...
One consistent struggle faced by the mortgage servicing industry is the prevalence of conflicting state laws that address payoff statements. One state may permit a servicer to charge a fee for providing a payoff statement while another prohibits such a fee. One state may have specific content requirements that must be included in a payoff statement while another provides the servicer with discretion about the content of the payoff statement ...
In response to ongoing pleas for guidance, the Department of Labor (DOL) has published an informal outline expressing its views on how retirement plan administrators should be addressing missing or unresponsive participants. Through contrasting lists of "red flags" and "best practices," the publication reveals the DOL's expectations of plan administrators and provides helpful guideposts for them to follow ...
On Oct. 13, Mississippi's highest court ruled that a South Korean company, LG Chem Ltd., which manufactured a battery that powered a vaping device, could be sued in Mississippi, despite that company having no physical presence in Mississippi and not being registered to do business in the state ...
Lost for many in the avalanche of news about the midterms, voters in five states went to the polls last month to vote on proposals allowing adult-use cannabis, often referred to as recreational cannabis. We won't bury the lede: two states, Maryland and Missouri, voted to allow adult-use cannabis, while three others — Arkansas and the Dakotas — voted down the proposals ...
For the past decade or so, the regulated community and federal courts alike grappled with the outer reaches of the Clean Water Act (CWA) point source permitting program. The core of the program—the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)—is clear enough. Under the NPDES program, discharges from point sources to navigable waters (what qualifies as “navigable waters,” i.e ...
New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez (D), his wife, Nadine, and two businessmen are scheduled to face trial on bribery charges on May 6. They’ll become the latest example where the dual intent, or mixed motive, concept turns the reasonable doubt standard on its head by essentially requiring defendants to prove their innocence ...
Last month, special counsel Robert Hur issued a report detailing his reasons for declining to charge President Joe Biden for retaining classified documents from Biden's time as vice president. Regardless of one's views on its conclusions and underlying rationale, at least some of the report's significance results from the rare glimpse it provides into prosecutorial decision making. The report was delivered pursuant to special counsel regulations, but the U.S ...
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council recently issued its long-awaited final rule1 limiting the ability of civilian agencies to use the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) procurement method. The final FAR rule — which took effect on February 16, 2021, and largely tracks the language contained in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) final rule from 2019 2 — is codified at FAR 15.101-2 ...
Please join Bradley, Graham & Co., and the Peoples Bank of Alabama for a live webinar addressing key questions our clients are asking about navigating the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the Commercial Real Estate and Lending market in 2020 and beyond ...
Lawyers prosecuting COVID-19 claims should keep the law’s potential speedbumps in mind as they drive their cases. This article briefly describes what both sides of the bar should consider—and look for moving forward—when navigating COVID-19 cases in Florida. Florida recently codified significant protections for individuals, businesses and other organizations facing COVID-19-related lawsuits ...
Liens are one of the primary tools for the construction industry to secure payment claims. However, lien rights and remedies vary between states, and these distinctions are often difficult for owners, contractors, and subcontractors to navigate ...
Bradley attorneys have partnered with Lexology to draft the Getting the Deal Through Employment chapter for Mississippi. This guide covers a state snapshot, the employment relationship, hiring, wage and hour, discrimination, harassment and family leave, privacy in the workplace, trade secrets and restrictive covenants, labor relations and discipline and termination. With a premium Lexology account uses can use the interactive tool to create a cross border comparative report ...
