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Legal UpdatesIs the Buyer of a Business Liable?One of the primary reasons that the purchase and sale of a business is often structured as an asset purchase rather than a stock purchase is that, as a general rule, in an asset purchase the buyer is not responsible for the obligations of the seller. Read Story Employers Must Use New Form I-9On March 8, 2013, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new revised Form I-9.Read Story Federal COBRA or PA Mini-COBRA? Now is the Time to Review your Obligations.Employers with close to 20 employees should re-evaluate their obligations regarding group health plan continuation coverage.Read Story Protecting Directors of Non-Profit Organizations from Risk.Have you volunteered or served on the board of a non-profit organizations? It can be a real pleasure to volunteer and work with others who support a charitable mission that is important to you. While it is natural to want to dive into these challenges head first, it is a good idea to confirm that the organization has procedures in place to protect you, as a director or other volunteer, from associated risks. Read Story New FMLA Forms and PosterThe U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently published new Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) model forms that have a 2/28/2015 expiration date. Read Story A Win for Municipalities – PUC Must ‘Cease and Desist’ Review of Oil and Gas Zoning OrdinancesOn October 26, 2012, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled in favor of municipalities and ordered the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (“PUC”) to “cease and desist” its review of local zoning ordinances in a hotly contested case concerning recent amendments to Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Act. October 29, 2012 Read Story High court hears gas drilling casePITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had an unusual standing-room-only crowd Wednesday, as lawyers debated a new law that regulates the state’s booming natural gas industry. October 18, 2012 Read Story Answers for Landlords: Disposition of Abandoned Personal PropertyLandlords have always asked “What should I do with personal property left behind by a tenant after they vacate the rental property?” The answer was always broad and cautious because the Pennsylvania Landlord and Tenant Act never addressed this issue. That is until now.Read Story Deal Hurdle – The Dreaded IndemnityIn representing business owners in purchasing and selling businesses, there is one area that seems to be the sticking point in almost every deal…the dreaded indemnity.Read Story Requiring Confidentiality of Workplace Investigations May Be UnlawfulEmployers generally require confidentiality among its employees when conducting workplace investigations. The purpose of such a mandate is to maintain integrity of the investigation.Read Story Court Rejects a Ban on Local Fracking LimitsA Pennsylvania court on Thursday struck down a provision of a state law that forbade municipalities to limit where natural gas drilling can take place within their boundaries. July 27, 2012 Read Story Major parts of Pa.'s natural-gas law ruled unconstitutionalMajor provisions of Pennsylvania's controversial law governing the oil and natural-gas industry were ruled unconstitutional Thursday, allowing communities to keep drilling away from homes, schools, and parks. July 27, 2012 Read Story Researchers say there's gas under Bucks and Montgomery Counties, but don't expect any large-scale drillingGovernment researchers say there's recoverable natural gas beneath Bucks and Montgomery Counties, and a small Western Pennsylvania company is trying to find it. July 9, 2012 Read Story New gas estimates in South Newark Basin prompt drilling moratoriumState legislators stitched a moratorium on gas well permits for much of southeastern Pennsylvania into the new state budget, but its effects are unclear. July 4, 2012 Read Story Nockamixon Gas Drilling Lawsuit Will Likely Advance to PA Supreme CourtNockamixon’s court battle against the state’s natural gas drilling law will likely land in Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court this summer. June 18, 2012 Read Story Social Media WarningIt seems like everyone warns their teenagers about the dangers of posting information on the Internet, but do business people take the same precautions with their LinkedIn accounts? June 13, 2012 Read Story Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Guidance Raises Concerns Regarding Employer’s Use of Criminal Background Checks in Hiring DecisionsOne of the most charged issues an employer faces in making hiring decisions is what weight, if any, to give to the criminal history of potential employees. For some positions, the answer is simple. Pennsylvania law requires criminal background checks for certain employees and prohibits employers from permitting those convicted of certain offenses from working in those jobs. June 10, 2012 Read Story New Changes to Pennsylvania Title Insurance RatesTitle insurance rates in Pennsylvania are about to change. The Pennsylvania Insurance Department has approved a request by the Title Insurance Rating Bureau of Pennsylvania (TIRBOP) for a new title insurance rate structure. The purpose of the new rate structure is to simplify the calculation of title insurance rates, as well as provide an increase in the title insurance rates. June 5, 2012 Read Story Ask A Busy Person – Krista HarperKrista Harper never thought she'd be an attorney. After obtaining her BS in Business Administration at the University of Delaware and spending several years as a commercial lender at a large regional bank, she chose law school over getting her MBA–just as a means to become a better business owner. April 18, 2012 Read Story Nockamixon, Yardley Sue State Over Gas Drilling LawNockamixon, Yardley and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network are part of a lawsuit filed Thursday to stop Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale gas drilling law, claiming it strips away constitutional rights of citizens and local municipalities. March 30, 2012 Read Story Environmentalists Gather Evidence in Case of Gas Drilling Pollution in NockamixonWhile a gas and oil company works to secure a permit to drill in Nockamixon, a small group of local scientists and environmentalists are moving quickly to put a safeguard in place. March 26, 2012 Read Story Nockamixon Gas Drilling Proposal Tests New State LawRapp Creek, shallow and clear, spills down a rock outcropping and burbles through the woods a few yards from Janie and Larry Stangil's back deck in Nockamixon Township, a few hundred feet from the proposed site of a natural gas drilling operation. March 17, 2012 Read Story More Officials Agree Drilling Law Applies to BucksBucks County is not exempt from the state’s new natural gas drilling law, according to both the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s lead attorney and the state House of Representative’s Environmental Resources & Energy Committee chairman. March 2, 2012 Read Story Keep Costs in Mind While Guiding Clients Through LitigationI have struggled as a transactional lawyer and as general counsel to manage litigation for clients. It is easy for me to see the value of transactional work, because at the end of the day, the client buys something, sells something or enters into a new business relationship. March 1, 2012 Read Story Successful Anti-Fracking Organization Damascus Citizens for Sustainability Embarks on New Legal Fight to Save RiversThe citizen group Damascus Citizens for Sustainability (DCS) has filed a public records request to force the Susquehanna River Basin Comission (SRBC), which includes officials from Pennsylvania, New York State, Maryland and the federal government, to show what, if anything, it has been doing to protect regional waters and the general public from the hydrofracking water demands and pollution. March 1, 2012 Read Story Financial Exposure Arising from Signed ContractsIt is not always understood that when companies sign contracts there is potential liability that the company assumes in the contract terms. February 27, 2012 Read Story Tinicum Ditches Its Gas Drilling LawTinicum is moving quickly to follow the state’s lead on gas drilling. On Tuesday, the township’s board of supervisors unanimously voted to repeal its own natural gas drilling ordinance. February 24, 2012 Read Story Lawmakers Clash Over Future of Gas Drilling in Bucks CountyIt seems like Nockamixon is losing its fight against gas drilling on all fronts. Under a new state law, the township’s authority to determine where gas companies are allowed to drill has been eliminated. In addition, a new tax on gas drillers designed to pour extra funding into impacted communities does not appear to apply in Nockamixon, according to township attorney Jordan Yeager February 23, 2012 Read Story Judge’s Ruling Complicates Hydrofracking Issue in New YorkA state judge’s decision this week supporting the rights of individual towns to determine whether to allow hydraulic fracturing has added a new wrinkle to the fight over the natural gas drilling process in New York. February 22, 2012 Read Story Business DivorceOver the last several years, negative economic pressures have led business owners to re-evaluate their businesses. After more obvious cost cutting has taken place, closely held business owners may consider whether their relationships with co-owners continue to be productive. February 21, 2012 Read Story Natural Gas Drilling Debate Returns to Bucks CountyThe divisive debate over natural gas drilling — limited mostly to the Marcellus Shale region in Pennsylvania's northern tier — is moving closer to home. February 14, 2012 Read Story As Gas Drilling Spreads, Towns Stand Ground Over ControlAs energy companies move to drill in densely populated areas from Pennsylvania to Texas, battles are breaking out over who will have the final say in managing the shale gas boom. December 14, 2011 Read Story Employment Tax Amnesty for Workers Misclassified as Independent ContractorsMany businesses, lured by the reduced financial and legal burdens of engaging workers as independent contractors, may have misclassified workers as independent contractors rather than employees. October 18, 2011 Read Story Judge Ends Political Stalemate in SoleburyA Bucks County judge has forced an end to a political stalemate in Solebury. On Wednesday, Common Pleas Court Judge C. Theodore Fritsch ordered Solebury's board of supervisors to fill an empty seat on the board. September 29, 2011 Read Story Who Owns Engineering Plans and the Right to Develop?In this economy probably every engineering firm has a list of projects that have approvals in various stages of completion but are at a standstill. Unfortunately, those projects can represent hundreds of thousands of dollars of unpaid engineering fees. Developers and their single purpose entities have folded as the demand for new development has slowed dramatically. Engineering firms and banks can be left holding the bag for the developer’s risk taking. September 29, 2011 Read Story Residents File Lawsuit to End Political StalemateSolebury’s leaders have failed to play by the rules, according to a lawsuit. Two residents are taking the township’s board of supervisors to court for failure to fill an empty board seat. September 27, 2011 Read Story New NLRB Posting Requirement - Employee Rights Under NLRAMany businesses are not aware that they must comply with a federal labor law, the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). The NLRA applies to both union and non-union employees and states that employers cannot interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in exercising their rights under the NLRA, which protects the employees’ right to discuss their “wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment” for their “mutual aid or protection.” September 25, 2011 Read Story USER BEWARE: Maximizing the Possibilities, Minimizing the Risks of Using Social MediaIn thinking about the potential dangers associated with the use of social media, all one needs to do is think about all the dangers associated with any form of one-on-one communication and then multiply it by a factor of however many people have access to the online communication. Through an understanding of the nature of current social media usage, attorneys can make the most of these possibilities and minimize the associated risks. September 1, 2011 Read Story Court: Nockamixon Quarry Can't ExpandThanks to the state’s top judges, a small mistake a Nockamixon clerk made decades ago won’t cost the township tens of thousands of dollars to gain its authority back. August 2, 2011 Read Story Natural Gas Regulation in the Municipal Government ContextNatural gas drilling is a major social, economic, political and environmental issue affecting Pennsylvania. Currently, Pennsylvania laws supersede or pre-empt local regulation on a broad array of issues related to natural gas drilling and production. As a result, the scope of local governments' ability to regulate natural gas drilling in their communities is relatively narrow. July 26, 2011 Read Story When The Accused Becomes The Accuser: Protecting Your Company Against Gender Discrimination Claims During Sexual Harassment InvestigationsWhen one of your company’s employees brings an allegation of sexual harassment against another employee, your first thought is to go into crisis management mode – begin an investigation, separate the alleged harasser from his or her accuser, and generally make every attempt to make sure you do not make matters worse. But what if the act of managing the crisis can itself become the basis of a gender discrimination claim? June 25, 2011 Read Story Protect your Business with Confidentiality and Non-Compete AgreementsIn today’s business environment, employee turnover is a critical issue. When the departing employee is one in whom an employer has invested time, money and effort in training and nurturing in business practices, the departure of the employee may have a noticeable adverse effect on business opportunities and revenue. June 8, 2011 Read Story DEP Regulators Rush Through Gas-drilling Permit ReviewsPennsylvania environmental regulators testified that they spend 30 minutes or less reviewing permits for natural gas wells. April 14, 2011 Read Story Pennsylvania is Approving Gas Drilling Permits with Scant ReviewPennsylvania environmental regulators say they spend as little as 35 minutes reviewing each of the thousands of applications for natural gas well permits they get each year from drillers who want to tap the state’s vast Marcellus Shale reserves. April 13, 2011 Read Story Business Tax Provision of the 2010 Tax ActThe Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (“the Act”) includes the following provisions affecting businesses, in an apparent effort to get more money circulating in the economy. January 21, 2011 Read Story Preserve Company Name By Filing Decennial ReportSince failure to receive notice from the Department does not exempt an entity from the necessity to file the Decennial Report, it is important for you to check. January 21, 2011 Read Story Key Estate, Gift and GST Tax Law ChangesFrank Stecklair wrote an article about the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. January 1, 2011 Read Story |
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