Ensuring the Enforceability of Electronic Arbitration Agreements in Virtual Admission Packets
Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC, October 2020

With the continued risk of the spread of COVID-19 in assisted care facilities, more and more facilities are implementing a virtual admissions process. This process includes providing all of the admissions documents, including an arbitration agreement, to potential residents and/or their legal representatives electronically. While it is preferable from a legal standpoint that the arbitration agreement be presented and executed in person, in today's world that is not always possible. Below is a discussion of the risks associated with the use of electronic arbitration agreements and ways that your facility can ensure the enforceability of an electronic arbitration agreement...

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COVID-19 and Unprecedented: Litigation Insights, Issue 28
Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC, October 2020

This 28th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, includes a number of updates on the mounting number of business interruption coverage disputes -- including a claim against a broker whose alleged failure to obtain infectious disease coverage left the insured without coverage for COVID-19-induced losses. Other topics include continued litigation over government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, state-specific liability protection legislation, nursing home wrongful death claims, Paycheck Protection Program fraud, and securities litigation over allegedly false public statements on COVID-19 business impacts.  We hope you enjoy reading...

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Governor Wolf’s COVID-19 Orders Fall Under Constitutional Challenge
Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC, September 2020

Since March, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and his administration have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by imposing some of the strictest limitations in the country on the Commonwealth’s residents and businesses. Now, a federal district court judge has upended some of the most controversial limitations, focusing on mass-gathering restrictions and business operations, holding that they violate guarantees to freedom of association, substantive due process, and equal protection under the United States Constitution. Here are the key takeaways from the district court’s opinion...

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DOL Reacts to Court Decision Regarding FFCRA Rules; Revises Parts of Their Old Rule, but Reaffirms Other Parts
Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC, September 2020

Last month, we discussed a decision out of the Southern District of New York ("SDNY") that invalidated parts of the DOL’s temporary rule that interpreted provisions of the FFCRA, the federal law that created both paid sick leave for certain COVID-related absences and a new category of paid FMLA leave for workers with COVID-related child care issues. Our prior summaries of the law can be found here. The DOL has responded to that ruling by revising its temporary rule in several ways. Sometimes it revised its rule along the lines of the court’s ruling, but other times it offered a more in-depth explanation for its original rule and reaffirmed its position...

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Three Important Ways the COVID-19 Pandemic is Changing the Delivery of Consumer Financial Services
Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC, September 2020

  The world continues to come to grips with the daily changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools contemplate opening. Some do, while others do not. Some professional and college sports teams play games to empty stadiums. Some businesses are open, with restrictions, while others are not. Lawsuits are being filed by businesses that think they should be permitted to reopen like their neighbors who already have. It comes as no surprise that the pandemic also is changing the way consumer financial services are offered...

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