Business and Legal Insights

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act (“FCA”), also known as the new federal “Ban the Box” law, became effective on December 20, 2021, and prohibits certain federal employers and contractors from requiring a job applicant to disclose his or her criminal background on a job application or during an interview prior to a...Read More

A hearing on payment into the registry may result in a preliminary ruling as to some of the ultimate issues in an eviction, but it is not the same as a final hearing.Read More

Practitioners who litigate frequently in federal court already know the Herculean task of trying to appeal a remand order sending a removed case back to state court.  Typically, by express rule, a defendant has no appellate recourse if a district court remands a case.  Subject to extremely limited and specific exceptions...Read More

The District of Columbia recently passed a new expansive law which bans most noncompetition agreements for employees in the District.Read More

Last month, both bodies of Congress approved the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (H.R. 4445), and President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law in the near future. This new piece of legislation makes a fundamental change to the arbitration of employment law claims because it...Read More

In a recent case, the Florida Supreme Court held that an arbitration covenant contained in a developer’s original deed also bound the second owner. The case serves as a good reminder that, although a subsequent owner of residential property might not think to even review the original deed, such a review is necessary because...Read More

Intellectual property rights can get muddled in the “real world” and with the advent of virtual worlds, such as the Metaverse, this will only further complicate matters for brand owners who will now have to monitor and enforce their rights in the boundless virtual world. Indeed, legal disputes are already surfacing in the...Read More

More than one business owner this week has wondered aloud: “Why is my lawyer spending so much time (and, therefore, money) on the minutiae of the Operating Agreement? Does any of that matter, anyway?”  In response to that question, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal (Third DCA) reminds us that the rights granted by an...Read More

In a recent case, Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal (“Second DCA”) held that a commission-splitting agreement—even a very lopsided one—should not be analyzed under Florida’s restrictive covenant statute because such an agreement is not a “restraint of trade” under Florida law.Read More

The Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) was signed into law December 27, 2020. Importantly, the burden shifting provision for trademark owners in litigation seeking preliminary or permanent injunctive relief was made effective immediately.Read More