As electric vehicle production and use are becoming a significant part of the country’s energy conservation and global warming reduction effort, many states are passing laws in order to help expand the installation and use of electric vehicle charging (EVC) stations. New Jersey has now joined that list of states.
Continue Reading Electric Vehicle Charging Stations – Pulling Up to Your Community Association Soon?
For many employees, bonuses and commissions represent a significant portion of the compensation they expect to receive in exchange for their hard work and efforts in growing and cultivating their employers’ businesses and, in many instances, generating revenue. Typically, incentive pay is tied to performance—whether individual or company-wide—and is earned as of a certain date (which may be at the end of each year, each quarter, each month, or any other regular, set intervals), upon successful completion of certain tasks (such as the closing of a sale), or upon achieving certain measurable performance metrics or benchmarks. Often times commissions are paid on a monthly basis and bonuses are paid annually, either at the end of the year or beginning of the following year. But it does not have to be that way, and employers generally enjoy broad discretion in how they wish to construct and implement their incentive compensation plans and policies—and whether to even have one at all.
After the release of the hit animated motion picture Inside Out, Denise Daniels and The Moodsters Company sued the Walt Disney Company for copyright infringement and alleged that the Inside Out characters impermissibly resembled Daniels’ Moodsters characters. See Daniels v. Walt Disney Co., No. 17-CV-4527 PSG (SKx), 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117569 (C.D. Cal. May 9, 2018). After the district court granted Disney’s motion to dismiss based upon its finding that The Moodsters characters were not protectable by copyright, Daniels appealed. On March 16, 2020, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s dismissal agreeing The Moodsters did not qualify for copyright protection. See Daniels v. Walt Disney Co., 952 F.3d 1149 (9th Cir. 2020).
The past year has been difficult for many, and with deaths surpassing 400,000 in the United States due to COVID-19, many people in the midst of a divorce want to know what happens in the event their spouse becomes incapacitated, or worse, dies while a divorce is proceeding.
Continue Reading What Happens to My Divorce if My Spouse Passes Away or Is Incapacitated?
The federal Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206, was enacted in 1963 to protect against wage discrimination based on a person’s sex. The purpose of the Act is simple: men and women in the same workplace should be given equal pay for equal work. All forms of employment compensation are covered by the Act, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, incentive compensation, vacation, etc. Under the Act, if there is any inequality in wages between men and women who perform substantially equal jobs, the employer must make it right by raising wages to equalize and normalize pay. In addition, an employer who violates the Act is liable to its aggrieved employee in the amount of her (or his) unpaid compensation and an additional, equal amount as a liquidated damage, plus reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs.
Continue Reading Landmark Pinterest Settlement Reflects Continued Gender Gap in the Workplace
As COVID-19 cases continue to mount and the virus continues to push public health systems to their breaking points, perhaps no community has been hit harder than our elders residing in long-term care facilities. As of January 13, 2021, Neshaminy Manor—the largest nursing home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania—has seen 218 residents test positive, 85 of whom have died from the virus. Through contact tracing, administrators believe the virus was brought into the home by infected employees despite the nursing home’s best efforts to minimize risk.
Continue Reading Nursing Home to Employees: COVID-19 Vaccination or Job Termination
They say that the devil is in the details, and one of those details in a divorce is life insurance. Once all terms of an agreement are reached, the issue of life insurance has to be addressed. When cases do not settle, and a judge has to decide the issues of alimony and child support, the law governing support allows the judge to order life insurance to secure the obligation.
Continue Reading Life Insurance in a Divorce, Why You Need It and How Much You Need
The purpose of this blog is to discuss the first steps an executor should consider if a Will contest is filed either immediately before or after they are appointed an executor an Estate. When a Will contest is filed it is usually commenced by the filing of a verified complaint, which will set forth the rationale by which the party challenging the Will seeks to invalidate it. As discussed in some of my previous blogs, the two main challenges will either be lack of testamentary capacity of the decedent, or undue influence asserted by a person over the decedent who is a beneficiary under the Will.
Pursuant to the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act (the “Economic Aid Act”), on January 11, 2021 the latest round of Paycheck Protection Program Loans rolled out, with priority being given by the Small Business Administration via Community Development Financial Institutions, Minority Depository Institutions, Certified Development Companies and Microloan Intermediaries (“Priority Lenders”), to their customers that did not receive a funding under the original Paycheck Protection Program. On January 13, 2021, the program will expand to the Priority Lenders and the customers seeking a second loan under the Economic Aid Act. The programs will be opened to all participating lenders shortly thereafter. The Paycheck Protection Program, which was originally established under the CARES Act, provides loans to eligible borrowers to pay payroll costs, including benefits during the covered period as set forth in the regulations. Funds may also be used to pay other certain specified expenses of the business.
On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to the rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 relating to advertisements. A copy of the adopting release is available here. This alert is to provide you with a high-level overview of the amendments and the new rule. Firms will have roughly 18 months to get into compliance with the new rules and we will be available to assist them with (i) updating their policies and procedures to comply with the new marketing rules, (ii) reviewing any collateral advertisements, (iii) assisting them with reviewing their solicitation arrangements, and (iv) addressing any questions they may have relating to testimonials, endorsements, third-party ratings, recordkeeping, or their Form ADV.
