Late last year, the Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”) contradicted long-standing Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) precedent on the acceptability of photocopied signatures on bid bonds finding that the Government’s...more
It’s Christmas come early in Virginia this year. As of July 1, 2024, attorneys in Virginia can officially (and permanently!) use electronic signatures to sign pleadings in Virginia’s state courts. It only took twenty-plus...more
A federal court in Texas has denied an individual owner’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction despite the fact that he had not signed the relevant franchise agreement or corporate guaranty in his individual...more
Everyone knows what a contract means. But what does a “non-binding contract” mean? Does it encompass, for example, a memorandum, meeting minutes, a document containing nonspecific points of consent in principle? A recent...more
Frontier Drilling, LLC v. XTO Energy, Inc. has the indicia of an inequitable result, but as I remind my wife every time she objects to what she deems to be an outrageous jury verdict, we don’t know all the facts and the...more
Mietverträge einfach, schnell und rechtssicher elektronisch abschließen? Bislang eine eher seltene Ausnahme. Wir stellen die gesetzlich vorgesehenen Möglichkeiten vor – sowohl für den Abschluss von Mietverträgen als auch für...more
Given the ever-changing landscape and increasing popularity of remote work, the use of electronic signatures (“e-signatures”) is on the rise. Business in general is going virtual, causing electronic transactions and online...more
As the restaurant industry continues to grapple with challenges against employee-arbitration clauses, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has found that an arbitration agreement signed only by an employee is valid...more
Two recent English cases illustrate a strict and a more flexible approach by the courts when considering whether the signing of a legal document has complied with, or is rendered ineffective by non-compliance with, prescribed...more
How many times a day on average do you think you sign something? Do you sign your full name, your initials, a version of your name, an “X” or some other identifier? Do you “wet sign” with a pen? Do you use an “s” signature,...more
Thank you for reading the October 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the Federal Circuit’s recent case considering the scope of the USPTO’s authority to cancel registrations...more
A few weeks ago, a Canadian farmer sent a text message to a company he worked with that included a thumbs-up emoji, which symbolizes approval or agreement. To his surprise, the Canadian court treated this emoji as the...more
In a recent case involving the Steelworkers Pension Trust (the “SPT”) versus Republic Steel, a federal magistrate judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania ordered Republic Steel to pay the SPT nearly $1.4 million for...more
Judge Frederick E. Clement of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California recently held that affidavits with a computer-generated signature are insufficient and hold no evidentiary value pursuant...more
If you use non-competes, make sure you complete all the steps to make them enforceable. It may be your practice to ask the employee to sign it and then not sign it yourself. While we seldom see challenges to this practice,...more
The renewable energy industry is growing rapidly but it faces several challenges, including ever-increasing competition amongst developers for rights to the same land. This creates a race between developers to encumber...more
On March 28, 2023, in a published decision in Gold Tree Spa, Inc, v. PD Nail Corp., the New Jersey Appellate Division extended the New Jersey Supreme Court’s seminal decision in Willingboro Mall, Ltd. v. 240/242 Franklin...more
This article discusses seals on legal documents, including a brief discussion of their history and what people should know about seals when signing legal documents today. Legal documents filed with a court “under seal” to...more
On March 1, 2023, the Department of Education (“DOE”) released guidance related to the instances in which it will require assumption of personal liability for an institution’s continued participation in Title IV programs....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) again extended certain COVID-19-related flexibilities, this time through March 23, 2023. However, USCIS anticipates that this will be the final extension for these...more
On January 19, 2023, the California Court of Appeal, First District, Division 4, issued a troubling decision regarding the evidentiary value of electronic signatures in Iyere v. Wise Auto Group. First, a caveat. The...more
On December 30, the Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released a notice of proposed rules relating to the use of an electronic medium for retirement plan participant elections and...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to extend certain COVID-19-related flexibilities through Jan. 24, 2023. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR EMPLOYERS AND FOREIGN NATIONALS - Under this policy, petitioners...more
California‘s FAST Recovery Act will likely be placed on hold until November 2024. The Save Local Restaurants coalition, a group composed of restaurant industry advocates, filed a voter referendum on September 7, 2022 to...more
We are all familiar with commercials and ads warning real estate owners (“Owners”) of title theft. What is described as title theft occurs when a fraudster forges an Owner’s name on a deed transferring real estate to...more