August 18, 2022 By: Peter McGaw and John Epperson By now, readers likely are familiar with the series of “retail hazardous waste” enforcement actions being brought across the state of California. For several years, various retailers have been targeted for coordinated, state-wide enforcement by local District Attorneys based on undisclosed, behind-the-scenes “dumpster audits.” These businesses are then accused of disposing of hazardous waste in their trash ...
On June 14, 2022, HB 140 (134th General Assembly; Amended House Bill 140), also known as the “Ballot Uniformity and Transparency Act” (the “Act”), was signed into law, providing dramatic changes to Ohio’s ballot language and election notices for property tax levies and bond issues affecting Ohio political subdivisions (Click Here for Summary) ...
As all court cases do, the Supreme Court's landmark decision in West Virginia v. EPA last month addressed a specific question: whether the Environmental Protection Agency had the statutory authority to shut down power plants and reshape significant parts of the energy sector in its effort to reduce emissions. The answer was a plain and simple no. Equally clear was the court's argument, which has implications for administrative actions well beyond this case ...
August 17, 2022 By: Gwenneth O’Hara, Nora Sheriff and Christopher Parker President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (HR 5376) (the Act) into law on August 16, 2022. This update provides a high level overview of the Act’s incentives for the energy sector. We have published a separate update regarding the Act’s energy storage incentives. The Act provides $750 billion for a range of issues, including $400 billion for energy and climate ...
August 16, 2022 By: Gwenneth O’Hara and Samir Hafez President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (HR 5376) (the Act) into law on August 16, 2022, after the Senate-passed bill sailed through the House of Representatives last week on August 12. The Act includes a range of incentives and tax credits aimed towards accelerating the production of emissions-free energy, and is largely seen as a win for the energy storage sector ...
Hologic, Inc. v. Minerva Surgical, Inc., Appeal Nos. 2019-2054, -2081 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 11, 2022) Our Case of the Week follows the Hologic saga as it returns to the Federal Circuit on remand from the Supreme Court’s decision vacating the prior Federal Circuit opinion in 2021. We covered that decision here. The case concerns the doctrine of assignor estoppel. In this decision on remand, the Federal Circuit concluded that assignor estoppel applied ...
August 15, 2022 By: Michael Flynn* Continuing a trend it has been pursuing, the CFPB on Thursday used a non-rulemaking circular (Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-04) to state that its UDAAP authority extends its enforcement authority to situations where financial institutions have insufficient data protection or information security. The circular may be found here ...
At the end of July, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a roofing contractor’s complaint against another roofing contractor for allegedly interfering with its contract with a condominium association for roof repairs relating to Hurricane Irma. The case illustrates the importance of timing and advancing work related to insurance claims and should serve as a warning to those that regularly wait on insurance payments before beginning work ...
As a result of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the federal government’s FAST-41 permitting project can now be used by Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations to potentially expedite and improve the permitting process for infrastructure projects that are either being performed by Tribes or Alaska Native Corporations, or are being performed on land owned by Tribes or Alaska Native Corporations ...
Historically, small contractors in the construction business have found it difficult to break into the federal market not because of a lack of skill or knowledge, but because they could not demonstrate the past performance required by many federal solicitations. On July 22, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released a final rule that will hopefully provide greater opportunity for contractors to compete for federal construction procurements ...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") recently updated its guidance in July of 2022. According to the new guidance, the COVID-19 pandemic no longer automatically meets the business necessity requirement for medical examinations i.e. COVID-19 testing. This means that employers are now required to conduct an individualized assessment to determine whether COVID testing is warranted based on "evolving pandemic circumstances ...
Tax treatment under Section 83 Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 83(a) states that if property is transferred to a person in connection with the performance of services, the fair market value of the property less the amount (if any) paid for such property is included in the taxpayer's gross income when the property becomes transferable or vests (i.e., no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture) ...
PATENT CASE OF THE WEEK Thaler v. Vidal, Appeal No. 2021-2347 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 5, 2022) In its only precedential patent decision this week, the Federal Circuit answered a question that had long occupied the musings of law professors, students, and legal theorists everywhere: whether artificial intelligence software can be listed as an inventor on a patent application. It cannot ...
There is increasing interest in integrating renewable energy sources into the power grid in the United States. In particular, interest in offshore wind development is growing rapidly. Shortly after taking office, President Biden issued an executive order stating his goal to double offshore wind production by 2030.[1] With leases for offshore wind projects on the East Coast currently being issued, and the construction of two projects already approved, several others are likely to follow soon ...
The overturning of Roe v. Wade, combined with a largely unknown workers' compensation case presented to the U.S. Supreme Court — for which certiorari was recently denied — reveal the Biden administration's position on cannabis: The Biden administration doesn't care about cannabis issues ...
This seminar included panel discussions with Labor attorneys covering federal and state case updates and new laws since January 2022. The introduction and "housekeeping" for the seminar can be viewed here. Download the full PowerPoint presentation for all sessions » Eyes Wide Shut: Seeing Past Unconscious Bias » Most people think that if they are smart or aware, they can avoid unconscious bias entirely—but this is the wrong approach ...
BUSINESS TODAY LOOKS NOTHING LIKE it did prepandemic. Every industry has experienced a shakeup in how organizations are managed, operated and shaped. COVID-19-driven pivots, the groundswell of demand for social change and continuous uncertainty has led to a long-overdue shift in business priorities. Chief among those is the need to drive innovation, which has never been more essential to success ...
As we reported earlier, the Canadian government published proposed amendments to the Patent Rules in July 2021, to further streamline Canadian patent examination to pave the way for a future patent term adjustment (PTA) system in Canada as per the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), as well as to bring Canadian practice in line with the new Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) ST.26 sequence listing standard ...
Ohio’s “Heartbeat” Bill became law in Ohio when the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio lifted its long pending injunction after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade ...
On July 19, 2022, the Court of Claims ordered that the current Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act (minimum wage) and Michigan Paid Medical Leave Act (paid leave) are void and reinstated the original ballot initiatives. However, employers do not need to overhaul their policies just yet because the ruling is stayed until February 19, 2023. Pending the outcome of appeal, these changes may not go into effect at all ...
