Are you concerned that one of your best employees will leave to join a competitor? Your worries may be eased if the employee signs a “covenant not to compete” as part of an employment agreement. The covenant (also called a “non-compete clause” or “non-compete agreement”) is enforceable against a departing employee as long as certain conditions […]
President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) into law on December 27, 2020. The legislation adds a few new tax breaks for businesses and extends a bevy of other business breaks that were set to expire at the end of 2020. Note: The tax changes explained in this article are found in sections of the CAA, […]
The massive COVID-19 relief bill signed by President Trump on December 27, 2020, contains a variety of tax breaks and authorizes direct payments to eligible individuals (see right-hand box). The law is titled the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) but two sections of it are called the COVID-Related Tax Relief Act (COVIDTRA) and the Taxpayer […]
When you’re thinking about legal action, one of the main considerations is: “What can I expect to gain?” The remedies generally depend on: The nature of the claim, How much harm you suffered, The defendant’s conduct, and The court itself. Briefly, there are four types of civil relief available if your rights have been violated:1. […]
Gifts of intellectual property to a qualified charity are generally tax deductible. But can you deduct a charitable donation of a patent if the gift comes with certain built-in restrictions? It depends. A ruling from the IRS answers the question in three different gift-giving scenarios that have strings attached. The recipient of the gift is […]
One significant 2020 development in the area of labor law involves independent contractor status. In September, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed new standards for determining whether someone working on your company’s behalf can be considered an independent contractor or must instead be treated as an employee. Employee status puts greater legal burdens on […]
While the $7.25 federal minimum wage has been in place since 2009, most states, and many municipalities and counties, have upped their minimums since then. Of those, 25 have scheduled increases in 2021, most of which take effect on Jan. 1. Meanwhile, longstanding efforts in Congress to raise the federal minimum, thus far unsuccessful, are expected […]
The limits of product liability are not always easy to define. But in one case, the Nebraska Supreme Court helped identify the limits by ruling that a company isn’t liable for harm caused by the criminal acts of others — even if a product failure led to the harm. The court ruled that Ford Motor Co. […]
Let’s say you executed a will years ago but you would like to make changes to it to reflect your current situation. Perhaps you got married, divorced, became a parent, sold a business or experienced some other major event. Or maybe one of your beneficiaries died or you had a falling out with one of your […]
The Biden/Harris election victory confirmed many Americans” faith in their government’s institutions, despite the increasingly desperate and embarrassing lawsuits and legislative maneuvers mounted to invalidate that result. Although a seasoned President-elect Joe Biden should bring a sense of normalcy and predictability to the White House, the election results suggest no mandate for radical changes in […]
As we have previously informed, on November 12, 2020, the president of the United Mexican States (“Mexico”) presented before Congress a reform bill to the Federal Labor Law with the intention of prohibiting personnel subcontracting operations and, instead, allow only specialized services or specialized works operations with strict limitations, including the incorporation of additional requirements […]
Many people are struggling to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, some individuals qualify for federal-income-tax-free disaster relief and disaster mitigation payments paid by some employers under Internal Revenue Code Section 139. Here are some FAQs and answers about how the rules work. Is COVID-19 Pandemic a Qualified Disaster? The Internal Revenue Code defines […]