No industry is immune from data privacy and cybersecurity threats, and that includes the construction industry. Here are five data privacy and cybersecurity tips construction firms should consider putting to use to protect themselves against these looming threats. READ MORE
ILN Today Post
September 27, 2019
Sole discretion and your franchise agreement
Many, if not all, franchise agreements have provisions giving the franchisor sole and absolute discretion to take or approve some action. On its face, an agreement in which the parties agree in advance to give sole discretion in decision making would appear to be virtually bullet proof from attack. However, there are exceptions. READ MORE
September 27, 2019
Brexit implications a key theme at the ‘Professional Negligence Lawyers Association’ Annual Conference Sponsored by Holmes O’Malley Sexton
The annual Professional Negligence Lawyers Association (PNLA) conference took place on September 26th at Stephens Green, Hibernian Club, Dublin City Centre. The one-day conference was aimed at lawyers and professionals such as accountants, engineers and architects, seeking an update on professional negligence and liability law and practice. The conference addressed topics such as the legal implications of Brexit for businesses, the claims culture in Ireland and the resurgence of the construction industry.
September 27, 2019
Time Is Money: A Quick Wage-Hour Tip on… Navigating Travel Time Pay
What is considered compensable travel time pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) is not always clear or intuitive to employers, even for those who usually have a good handle on wage and hour laws. This blog post hopefully will simplify the requirements set forth in the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) regulations and interpretive guidance to help clarify when employees must be paid for travel time.
September 26, 2019
Lawyers: Four Weeks to Revitalize your Business Development
We are already facing down the last three months of 2019, and for many of us, that leaves us wondering where the year has gone, and how we can possibly meet the goals we’ve set.
But rather than throwing out these last three months and deciding to start “fresh” in 2020, let’s kickstart our business development efforts over the next four weeks with some goals and deadlines, and see what progress we can make.
September 26, 2019
U.S. Department of Labor Issues Long-Awaited Final Rule Updating the Compensation Requirements for the FLSA’s Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions Continue Reading…
For the past four-plus years, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has actively pursued revisions to the compensation requirements for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirement. On September 24, 2019, DOL issued its Final Rule implementing the following changes, effective January 1, 2020:
- The new general minimum salary for these exemptions increases from the current level of $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to $684 per week ($35,568 per year).
- The new minimum annual compensation threshold for the highly compensated employee version of these exemptions increases from $100,000 to $107,432.
- Employers may use commissions, nondiscretionary bonuses, and other incentive compensation to satisfy up to 10% of the salary requirement, provided that these payments occur no less frequently than annually, and subject to a single “catch-up” payment within one pay period of the close of the year.
September 25, 2019
Federal Legislators Express Continued Concerns with Oversight of Medicare Advantage Plans
Based on findings of the Payment Accuracy Report recently issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), six Democratic United States Senators questioned the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) oversight and enforcement of Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. In a letter dated September 13, 2019, the Senators highlighted their belief that MA plans have been overbilling the federal government for years, specifically in excess of $30 billion dollars over the last three years.
The Senators requested that CMS provide a response on how the Agency intends to hold MA plans responsible for failing to meet purported contractual obligations, including the accuracy of risk adjustment submissions.
September 25, 2019
Can Design Patents Be Limiting in Enforcement?
Suppose that you have an invention disclosure for a design of an article that you want to protect? When you review the invention disclosure, you notice that the design is ornamental, for example a pattern, on an article such as a chair. You draft and file a design patent application on the pattern described as applied to a chair, but you do not include any drawings showing the pattern applied to the chair. Subsequently, you obtain the design patent and later find out that a third party is making baskets including the pattern. Can you enforce your design patent against the alleged infringer? The answer is NO because your design patent is limited in scope to a chair.
ILN Today Post
September 25, 2019
Who’s Who Legal: Trade and Customs 2019 Recognizes Torres Law Founder
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Once again, Torres Law, an International Trade & National Security law firm, is delighted to announce that the firm’s Founder and Managing Member, Olga Torres, has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal: Trade and Customs 2019, a guide to the world’s leading trade and customs lawyers, economists, and anti-dumping consultants.
Who’s Who Legal publications identifies the prominent legal practitioners in more than 150 national jurisdictions, covering 34 areas in multiple global areas of business law. The services of Who’s Who Legal are intended to serve as reference sources for companies seeking to corroborate the reputations of lawyers recommended by another party. Only lawyers who have met independent international research criteria from peers and clients are listed, and it is not possible to buy entry into any Who’s Who Legal publications. Read more…
ILN Today Post
September 25, 2019
Small Business Reorganization Act provides a new tool to restructure small franchisees
In an effort to make Chapter 11 relevant again, the president recently signed into law the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, which adds a new subchapter to Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code intended to streamline the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process for companies that might not otherwise be able to afford the Chapter 11. READ MORE
Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network. For our latest interview, we chose ILN member, Arthur Li of our member firm Lee and Li in Taiwan, China. In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?...… 
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