Federal law requires decedents to pay an estate and gift tax for property passed to individuals or trusts after a decedent’s death. The tax, however, does not kick in unless and until the total value of the estate exceeds a certain threshold dollar value, valued at the death of the... Read More »
Non-Disparagement Clauses Conflict with Public Policy in the Digital AgeIn August 2017, Illinois passed SB 1898, amending the state’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to prohibit the use of non-disparagement clauses in contracts for consumer goods and services. The law “provides that a contract or proposed contract for... Read More »
A recent opinion issued by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals serves as a reminder of a particular quirk of Texas criminal law: For sexual assault offenses, married defendants are subject to more severe criminal penalties than those who are unmarried. In Estes v. Texas, the defendant, a married adult,... Read More »
A Pennsylvania law that recently went into effect provides a possible alternative for first-time Driving Under the Influence (DUI) offenders who might otherwise lose their driver’s license. The aternative? Install an ignition interlock system.Pennsylvania law provides for different penalties for DUI convictions depending on the blood-alcohol content (BAC) of the... Read More »
Statistics Show the Number of Cellphone-related Car Accidents Nationwide Continues to Rise, Despite Laws to the Contrary Last year and late to the game, Texas became the 47th state in the country to ban texting while driving. (Now, only Arizona and Montana have no ban, while Missouri prohibits text messaging... Read More »
In a case decided on May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States held that provisions of a federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports gambling violate the “anticommandeering” doctrine of the U.S. Constitution. The case is Murphy v. NCAA, and it has huge implications for Atlantic City,... Read More »
Company Initiates Recall of Certain Products Due to Safety Concerns The United States Consumer Products Safety Commission is reporting a recall by Honeywell of certain hard hat models. This is a firm-initiated voluntary recall instituted under the CPSC's Fast Track Recall process. The products subject to the April 24 CPSC... Read More »
Millions of workers have signed on to employment agreements containing arbitration clauses. These clauses require employees to resolve any complaints against their employer through private arbitration, rather than through the courts. On May 21st, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the validity of such agreements in the... Read More »
California has had a storied relationship with arbitration. One of the U.S. Supreme Court’s most significant recent opinions on arbitration, AT & T Mobility v. Concepcion, stemmed from a lawsuit filed in California. The state’s attempts to limit the power of mandatory arbitration agreements in both employment and consumer contracts... Read More »
New York Aims to Save Employers Money While Also Enhancing Protections for Injured WorkersIn 2018, significant reforms to New York workers’ compensation law—the most important and impactful changes in a decade—are predicted to generate considerable cost savings within the workers’ compensation system, thus enabling a rate reduction for both public... Read More »
After several years of troublingly-high rates of fatal injury on New York City construction sites, the city enacted a law in October of 2017 aimed at improving safety through worker education. Local Law 196, which entered into effect on March 1, now requires that all workers on large construction projects... Read More »
Is it a travel ban? Is it a Muslim ban? Is it a valid exercise of presidential authority? The Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in Trump v. Hawaii, the case challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s Executive Order halting immigration from six predominately Muslim countries. The order is in... Read More »
A woman who was fired from her new job almost as soon as she got it claims she was the victim of unlawful employment discrimination based on her race and is asking the US Supreme Court to hear her case. If the justices decide to take the case, they will... Read More »
They say a camel is a horse drawn in committee. They also say that laws are like sausage: you don't want to see how either gets made. These adages proved their worth in Florida's new beach bill, which was signed by the Governor on March 23rd and has been making... Read More »
With the recent passage of SB140, minors under the age of 18 will no longer be able to legally marry in the state of Florida, with a narrow exception for certain 17-year-olds. The new law is effective July 1, 2018, when Florida joins only a handful of other states with... Read More »
