On February 3, 2015, House Bill 2574 (“HB 2574”) was introduced in the West Virginia Legislature. HB 2574 proposes to remedy the unintended consequences to businesses created by the passage of the Aboveground Storage Tank Act (the “AST Act”) during the 2014 regular session of the Legislature immediately following the contamination of the Elk River from Freedom Industries, Inc ...
By the time you are reading this, the October 1 deadline to register all aboveground storage tanks (“ASTs”) in West Virginia has passed, and the world is still turning. If you have not yet registered your ASTs, it is still a good idea to register any tanks that qualify as ASTs as soon as you can. However, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“WVDEP”) is proceeding with implementation of the Aboveground Storage Tank Act, W. Va ...
A debtor files for bankruptcy protection, and his or her creditors are sent notice of the filing. Despite having received the notice, due to a breakdown in internal procedures one of the creditors, a bank, accidentally takes action to collect on the debt after the filing of the bankruptcy case – thus violating the automatic stay. Since the violation was unintentional, surely the bank cannot be sanctioned, right? Wrong ...
by Eric E. Kinder President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act into law. The ADAAA significantly increases the scope of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as it has been interpreted by federal courts by overturning several United States Supreme Court decisions regarding the Act. According to the Congressional Committees that oversaw the passage of the ADAAA, these amendments will restore the original Congressional intent behind the ADA ...
In a dramatic reversal, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) today ruled that employers may not restrict employees from using the employer’s email to communicate with fellow employees about union matters, or other matters protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”). In doing so, the Board ruled that a 2007 decision that allowed such a restriction was “clearly incorrect ...
Originally published in the West Virginia Law Review ...
As consumer bankruptcy filings remain an all-too-common occurrence, many lenders continue to find themselves in the often murky world of bankruptcy. As a result, on top of ensuring adherence to the numerous confusing regulations applicable to commercial loan transactions, lenders must navigate the federal bankruptcy laws. This article sheds some light on one bankruptcy process lenders are often faced with: reaffirmation agreements ...
Dispute is heating up over IRS’s attempts to get personal information about users of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Last November, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) filed a petition in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. It sought the court’s permission to serve a “John Doe” summons on Coinbase, Inc., a virtual currency exchanger in San Francisco ...
The H-1B visa filing frenzy is upon us once again! Because of the chronic shortage of nonimmigrant visas for foreign workers in the specialty occupation category (H-1B visas), employers seeking to hire new H-1B workers must file their petitions on April 1, 2014 for work beginning October 1, 2014 ...
The Treasury Department has announced further extensions for medium-sized and large-sized employers for compliance with the “employer mandate” of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The employer mandate requires employers with a threshold level of employees to provide affordable health insurance to 95% of their full-time employees. Under the ACA, a full-time employee is defined as any employee who works on average 30 or more hours per week ...
In the latest development relating to West Virginia’s new aboveground storage tank (“AST”) legislation, yesterday afternoon the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“WVDEP”) filed with the West Virginia Secretary of State its finalized Interpretive Rule outlining mechanisms for compliance with the imminent deadlines under the Aboveground Storage Tank Act (the “AST Act”), W. Va. Code §§ 22-30-1 et seq ...
In the latest development relating to West Virginia’s new aboveground storage tank (“AST”) legislation, on December 22, 2014, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“WVDEP”) filed with the West Virginia Secretary of State its proposed legislative rule implementing the Aboveground Storage Tank Act (the “AST Act”), 47 C.S.R. 63 ...
The U.S. General Services Administration recently added Green Globes as an additional third-party green building certification system for federal government construction projects. With this addition, many are now asking about the difference between Green Globes and LEED. Green Globes has emerged, in some parts of the U.S., as a rival building option to the more well-known Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) system ...
In our previous articles (part one, part two and part three), we discussed ways in which trademarks are maintained and protected through filings that are mandatory and which filings would result in abandonment or cancellation if not timely submitted. There are also optional filings a trademark owner can take advantage of to optimize and secure its rights under a U.S. trademark registration. An Affidavit of Incontestability Under Section 15 is one such method ...
In the 21st century, cinema and film play a major role not only in our social activities, but also as a tool for learning about our history, addressing the issues faced in society and imagining what the future of a more innovative world would look like. However, the legal implications of telling a story through film, the cinema and television, go far deeper. Issues of copyright infringement, particularly within the Hollywood and Bollywood context, have found their way to the court room ...
The 2017 edition of the annual Brand Finance Global 500 report on the world’s most valuable brands was recently released. It’s fairly predictable, yet still makes for interesting reading. According to the report, the most valuable brand in the world is Google, which has a value of roughly USD109-billion. Google has leapfrogged Apple, which held the top spot for some five years ...
In terms of the Companies Act, 2002 (Cap RE 212) (the “Act”), every company incorporated or registered in Tanzania as a branch of a foreign company has an annual filing obligation with the Registrar of Companies, also called the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (“BRELA”) ...
The background can be summarised simply: South Africa’s state broadcaster, the SABC, commissioned a filmmaker to make an investigative documentary for its factual genre TV channel. The filmmaker made the documentary and the SABC paid the fee (thus making it the owner of the copyright in the documentary under South African law). However, the SABC decided against airing the documentary ...
In addition to registering your trade mark with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (“CIPC”), brand owners should also ensure that their trade marks are protected online. One way of doing so, is by registering a domain name. What is a domain name? A domain name allows a party to establish its identity on the internet. It assists internet users to easily identify you on the internet and to access your site on the web ...
Government has proposed that companies and individuals no longer need the South African Reserve Bank’s approval for “standard intellectual property transactions” and that the “loop structure restriction for all intellectual property transactions” be lifted, provided that such transactions are arm's length and at a fair market price ...
On March 2, 2017, the California Supreme Court issued its much anticipated decision in the City of San Jose v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County case. In short, the Court determined that when a public official or employee uses a personal account to communicate about the conduct of public business, the writings are subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act, if those writings are not otherwise exempt from the disclosure requirements ...
The February 14 decision in a closely watched Fourth Circuit False Claims Act (FCA) case did not, as initially anticipated, address the issue of the validity of statistical sampling to establish FCA liability. However, it did address another question that has split the circuits—whether the U.S. Department of Justice has the unreviewable right to veto FCA settlements in cases in which it has declined to intervene. See United States ex rel. Michaels v. Agape Senior Community, et al ...
On March 2, 2017, the California Supreme Court determined that when a public employee uses a personal account to communicate about the conduct of public business, the communications are subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (CPRA), if those communications are not otherwise exempt from disclosure. In a unanimous opinion, the Court in City of San Jose v ...
On February 23, 2017, Law N°21,000 (the “Law”) was published in the Official Gazette of Chile, creating the Commission for the Financial Market (the “Commission”), a professional body and technical entity that will replace the current Superintendency of Securities and Insurance (“ SVS “). The Law will enter into force in August 2018, or at an earlier date if the Commission becomes operational sooner ...
The Trump Administration has signaled its intent to roll back the scope of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act in an Executive Order issued on February 28. The Executive Order directs U.S. EPA and the Corps of Engineers to consider rescinding or revising the "Clean Water Rule," which defines when the Clean Water Act applies to wetlands, ponds, intermittent streams, and other water bodies that have a "significant nexus" to "navigable waters ...
