Although the Elder Justice Act took effect in 2010 and the newness has worn off a bit, health care facilities should periodically look at the Act and its requirements. Compliance with the Act’s requirements is not a one-time event.

The National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") is spending more time considering social media issues under the National Labor Relations Act (the "Act"). The NLRB’s Acting General Counsel just released a second report on recent social media cases. Employers (union and non-union alike) are covered by the Act and should pay attention to the NLRB’s actions in this evolving area of law.

As we mentioned in a previous post, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") created new posting requirements for employers and then delayed implementation of the posting requirement until January 31, 2012. If you already posted the required notice, you not only have complied with the requirement, but you are ahead of the game. If you did not post the notice, however, you just got a reprieve. NLRB has again delayed the posting requirement until April 30, 2012. But, if you continue to delay posting and assume there will be another extension, this time may be different. President Obama’s recent appointment of two new members of the NLRB may now keep the posting requirement on schedule.

Effective January 31, 2012, all employers who are covered by the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") – whether union or non-union – will be required to comply with new National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") notice posting requirements. Most employers will be covered by this requirement, as the NLRA applies to almost all private-sector employers engaged in interstate commerce.

Many businesses are not aware of the new class of .XXX Internet domain extensions; is yours? Beginning September 7, 2011, the first phase of registration begins for .XXX Internet domain names, including the opportunity for trademark owners to block registration of their mark with an .XXX extension. Don’t want to see your trademark used with an .XXX extension by a company in the adult entertainment industry? See our recent client alert by Kristin Herber for more information on the registration process and what you can do about it.

As mentioned in our previous post, the Maryland Court of Appeals asked the Judiciary’s Rules Committee whether the Court has the power to change the negligence standard by rule.  The Court now may now have its answer.

Contrary to popular belief, a limited liability company (LLC) does not offer absolute protection.  As with corporate officers and agents, members and managers of LLCs can be personally liable for wrongful acts they commit, even when acting on behalf of the LLC.  The protection a LLC does offer was further diminished by Maryland’s highest court when it decided that a member of a LLC may be personally liable for lead paint injuries suffered by children who occupied a dwelling that the LLC owned. 

The good news, if there is any in the case, is that the holding appears limited to the specific context:  housing in Baltimore City.  To be liable, the individual must have a duty as an “owner” of the dwelling and personally participate in the action, or inaction, causing the injury, in this case failing to remediate lead paint.

The bad news here is that the LLC, and the manager held liable as an individual, had no intention of allowing people to occupy the dwelling and, in fact, took action to prevent people...

“The Cloud.”  If you don’t know the term, get used to hearing it.  Today’s technology offers extensive opportunities for sharing, storing, and backing up data remotely – data sent to and stored on servers you do not own, control, or, probably, even have the ability to monitor. Where is the data?  It’s in “The Cloud.” 

In July, the Department of Justice ("DOJ") issued wide ranging regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA").  Now, the DOJ will hold public hearings on potential additional rules relating to electronic resources, such as web sites, used by places of public accommodation such as hotels, shopping centers, hospitals, and entertainment venues.

Filing an immigrant or non-immigrant petition for an employee soon?  It is probably going to be a little more expensive.  Facing a large budget shortfall, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) is changing filing fees effective November 23, 2010.  While most fees are increasing (some substantially), USCIS appears to have taken some pity on petitioner employers and actually decreased some categories of fees.

Unlike previous years, employers hiring specialized foreign workers now have it easy in some ways.  For example, the number of petitions received by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for H-1B specialty occupation visas is well below the established cap for fiscal year 2011, allowing for new filings even as the fiscal year starts.  With some good news, however, comes some bad.

Take a look on the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation Website and you’ll notice there are a lot of limited liability companies whose right to do business and name have been forfeited for failing to file personal property tax returns.  It happens.  The returns are among the last things that many LLC members think about.

The countdown is on.  The District of Columbia is in the midst of a Tax Amnesty Program for many categories of taxpayers including individual income, corporate and unincorporated franchise, withholding, sales and use, and personal property taxes for returns that should have been filed prior to December 31, 2009.