Williams Mullen's COVID-19 Comeback Plan: Preparing Today for Tomorrow's PPP Audit
On April 25, 2024, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that trial courts considering violations of Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (“UTPCPL”) may not limit damages because of separate...more
Effective March 20, employees in New York City can bring private actions against their employers for violations of the city’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act, NYC Admin. Code § 20-911 et seq. ...more
Employers with Massachusetts-based employees know that the Massachusetts Wage Act (the “Wage Act”), with its strict liability and automatic treble damages and attorneys’ fees, is a powerful and exacting statute with which...more
The Massachusetts Wage Act is one of the most punitive wage payment laws in the country. Employers who run afoul of its provisions, even unintentionally, are liable for treble damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs. ...more
On October 10, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) No. 933. The new law provides further protection to individuals who are victims of sexual offenses and are sued under state defamation law....more
What is the difference between a traditional trademark and trade dress protection? Traditional Trademarks - According to the USPTO - A trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things...more
The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Yegiazaryan v. Smagin opens the door for foreign plaintiffs to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) as an additional tool for collecting on international...more
The US Supreme Court has opened the door for foreign plaintiffs to sue under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), which provides treble damages and attorneys’ fees, to assist enforcement of an...more
Launching a product, even a simple one, can be lucrative, but also presents risks, not the least of which is patent infringement. Before selling a product, it is wise to invest in patent clearance advice, which includes an...more
The California Supreme Court last week issued a decision in Siry Investments vs. Saeed Farkhondehpour that could dramatically expand the remedies available to partners or others in a commercial dispute who are victims of...more
In a long-awaited opinion — Siry Investment, L.P. v. Farkhondehpour — the California Supreme Court held that California Penal Code section 496 can apply to a business dispute. The opinion resolves a split of authority among...more
Section 496(a) of the California Penal Code criminalizes the receipt of stolen property. Section 496(c) provides that a person injured by a violation of Section 496(a) may "bring an action for three times the amount of...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) – Massachusetts’ highest court – recently held in Devaney v. Zucchini Gold that employees who prove only a violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) are not...more
On April 4, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held, in Reuter v. City of Methuen, that employers are strictly liable for treble wages as liquidated damages if they fail to make timely payments upon an employee’s...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) – Massachusetts’ highest court – recently held that under the Massachusetts Wage Act (“Wage Act”) employees are entitled to automatic treble wage damages – that is, three times...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) on April 4, 2022, handed down a decision with major implications for Massachusetts employers accused of wage-and-hour law violations or late payment of wages. In Reuter v. City...more
On April 4, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) issued its decision in Reuter v. City of Methuen, holding that an employer must pay treble (triple) damages if the organization is late in paying the wages of...more
In yet another gift to plaintiffs’ attorneys, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court just held yesterday that employees are entitled to automatic triple damages for late final wage payments even where the employer pays the...more
Since the passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), trade secret owners have been able to use allegations of trade secret misappropriation under the DTSA to support civil claims under the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt...more
Massachusetts is seeing an increase in Tips Act claims, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) just reinforced that a lack of clarity in fee- and tip-related documentation may result in employer liability,...more
On April 9, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that an employee may be liable to his or her employer under the Commonwealth’s unfair and deceptive trade practices statute - which authorizes an award of...more
Insurance coverage often turns on strange questions. The Eleventh Circuit’s decision this summer in AEGIS Electric & Gas International Services Limited v. ECI Management LLC, 967 F.3d 1216 (11th Cir. 2020), is one of those...more
Can the sledgehammer remedies of California Penal Code section 496 — treble (triple) damages and attorney fees — apply for misappropriation of an LLC’s property? The California Supreme Court is set to answer that question...more
Highlighted by a decision this past week in the 11th Circuit, a small divide may be beginning to emerge in the treatment of coverage for underlying plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees under professional liability policies, a split...more
In April 2019, with the introduction of House Bill 904, a bi-partisan effort was made to strengthen cyber security in North Carolina. H.B. 904 seeks to make North Carolina's Identity Theft Protection Act one of the strongest...more