On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), issued a final rule designed to promote competition and new business formation that, when effective, will impose a nationwide ban on non-compete agreements across all industries.

Existing non-compete agreements for employees will become unenforceable. Existing non-competes for senior executives can remain in force, but employers

Michael Heller’s, Matthew Spero’s and Lawrence Han’s Winter issue of the Title Reporter was published in the Real Estate Finance Journal.

This article discusses the following court rulings and other title insurance-related developments, among others:

• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, affirming a decision by the U.S. District Court for the

Recent bankruptcy rulings upended the notion that bankruptcy protections are only for insolvent debtors.

In two different cases, two U.S. bankruptcy judges from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina reached the same conclusion: Lack of financial distress is not a requirement for bankruptcy protection, and the court has constitutional subject

What Happens:

Kate Holbrook discovers that her chances of becoming pregnant are drastically reduced. Kate considers adoption, but a misguided social worker convinces her that her chances of being approved as an adoptive parent are limited because she is not married.

Kate learns of the Chaffee Bicknell surrogacy center and is connected with Angie Ostrowski,

Our April 2024 Insurance Update is now available.

Dominance was the theme of this year’s NCAA basketball tournament, with the UConn men’s team winning back-to-back championships and the South Carolina women’s team reclaiming the title with a perfect record. But let’s not forget about the NC State Wolfpack’s magical March run. Led by Miracle Mike and the two DJs,

New York has an “estate tax cliff,” which can result in heirs paying New York estate tax at a rate exceeding 100%.

The current per-person NYS estate tax exemption is $6.94 million, which is the amount you can leave to your heirs at your death without paying NYS estate tax. If your taxable estate, however,

In the current age of social media, employers have begun to increasingly rely on digital platforms to screen prospective employees.

In an effort to address the growing concerns over privacy and the use of social media in employment decisions, New York has recently implemented a new law to protect employees’ and job applicants’ social media

Marc S. Ullman, of counsel to Rivkin Radler, recently authored “FDA sends a message with two warning letters to Amazon” in Natural Products Insider.

In the article, Marc explains the importance of the FDA warning letters on homeopathic “supplements” and products that contain active pharmaceutical ingredients. Ullman writes, “During the last quarter of 2023,

Frank Izzo and Jeffrey Ehrhardt authored the USLAW article, “New York Joins List of States Prohibiting Geofencing Near Healthcare Facilities.”

The article discusses geofencing laws, enacted partly in response to the Supreme Court Dobbs decision, in depth by state.

Kenneth Novikoff’s issue of the Employment Law Reporter was published in the Employee Relations Law Journal Summer 2024.

The column discusses a number of recent employment discrimination cases and cases involving complaints stemming from non-competition agreements.

Read the full column here.

Third Department Upholds Summary Judgment to Insurer Based on Material Misrepresentation by Insured in Insurance Application

Plaintiff loaned money to his employee to purchase a home, and the loan was secured by a mortgage. When the employee failed to pay the loan and to insure the home, Plaintiff obtained a landlord package policy from

Our March 2024 Insurance Update is now available.

We begin with three state supreme court decisions answering these questions:

• A year before an insured bought its claims-made policy it received an attorney’s letter threatening mass tort litigation. The first suits were filed when the claims-made policy was in effect. Is the claims-made policy triggered? The Delaware Supreme Court decides

In 1992, New York became the first state in the nation to enact a decanting statute, namely, New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) 10-6.6. The statute subsequently was modified several times. The 2011 amendment was notable because it greatly liberalized the statute’s application. Today, New York’s decanting statute is a tool frequently used

On Jan. 16, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the final two defendants in United States v. Pierre, Dkt. No. 1:22-cr-00019 (S.D.N.Y.), Arthur Bogoraz and William Weiner, D.O., pled guilty to charges stemming from their involvement in a massive insurance fraud scheme, where the government alleged that the defendants

New York’s Highest Court Holds That Restaurants’ Business Losses from Coronavirus Not Covered

The insured, Consolidated Restaurant Operations, a company that owns and operates dozens of restaurants, obtained a commercial property policy from Westport Insurance Company. Subject to certain exclusions, the policy covered “all risks of direct physical loss or damage to insured property” and