Legal Blog And Client Alerts

Though Ontario is less than a mile from our downtown Buffalo office, employment rules related to COVID-19 vary greatly between our two countries. These variances continue to change as our understanding of the virus evolves.

Last week, the New York State Assembly passed a long overdue update to the laws governing the right to sue following a wrongful death.

Under current law, which dates back to centuries-old English common law, the family of a loved one who dies is limited in the scope of damages they can recover to simply economic damages.

One of the core philosophies of our law firm is that we are here and ready to vigorously fight for our clients when trouble arises, but we work equally hard to help them avoid trouble before it starts.

Many issues, especially in the area of employment law, arise simply because the rules are complex and ever-changing, and employers may inadvertently run afoul of any number of regulations. 

A report released this week by the Highway Traffic Safety Administration offered a grim look at driver safety. According to the agency, 42,915 people were killed in traffic crashes in 2021, compared to 38,824 in 2020.

Beginning July 1, millions of consumers saddled with medical debt impacting their credit scores will get some much-needed relief.

It might seem common sense that an employer has the right to monitor/review communications sent and received by its employees on work-owned electronic devices, but as the saying goes, ‘common sense isn’t so common.’

With that in mind, New York State implemented a new law that took effect May 7, 2022 related to employees’ right of privacy.

It is estimated that as many as two out of three Americans will pass away without a valid will. There are a variety of reasons for this, ranging from a fear of discussing one’s own death, to an assumption a person has plenty of time left to plan, to those who think they simply don’t need one.

On April 1, 2022 legislation known as the "Sleep Act" became effective which will send reverberations through the motorcycle industry while purporting to quiet the reverberations from motorcycles and automobiles (Senate Bill 784B).

Later this month, licensed real estate brokers in New York will be required to adhere to new rules aimed at improving transparency for individuals seeking to hire an agent.

As we enter our third April under the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Mask mandates have been lifted in schools and public buildings, and it is expected that the mask mandate for public transit will soon end. 

Next month, the U.S. Department of Labor is expected to propose a revision of the Fair Labor Standards Act regulations regarding the overtime salary threshold. The threshold is one of the factors used to determine whether a salaried employee is exempt from overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. 

The border restrictions are easing, but that doesn't measn there aren't plenty of obstacles faced by Canadian busines owners seeking to hire employees based south of the border 

Backlog of tax filings may leave taxpayers asking, ‘Where is my refund?’

One positive to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an explosion in the number of entrepreneurs starting their own small businesses. Many did it out of necessity after losing their job, but many others saw the pandemic as a wake-up call to follow their dreams. Whatever the motivation, a record 5.4 million new business applications were filed in the United States in 2021.

Franklin v. Whole Foods Market Group Inc. et al (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 20-04935) involves a man who served 23 years in prison following a conviction for second degree murder. Upon his release, he applied for a grocery delivery job at Cornucopia Logistics, which serves Amazon and Whole Foods. Upon discovering that the job applicant, Henry Franklin, had misled the company by answering “no” when asked if he had a criminal record, the company denied him employment, citing the applicant’s untruthful answer as the reason for not hiring him.

As the Bills Mafia heads home in disappointment from Kansas City, Buffalo Bills LLC itself is in a position to complete the U.S. Trademark application process for the "Bills Mafia" trademark in standard characters (SN 90248260) and in a design format (SN 90248264).

With a minor modification to the description of medical mask products in International Class 10, both marks have now been  "allowed" by the USPTO for a wide variety of clothing ranging from aprons and baseball caps to wool hats and wrist bands. 

On January 6, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law that expands the admissibility of statements made by a party’s agent or employee. The goal of the update to the law is to expand the “speaking agent” exception to the rule against hearsay. If this sounds like a lot of legal speak, hang in there because it is actually a very important evolution in the law that will benefit injured workers.

As we approach year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, a dramatic change has occurred for renters and landlords in New York State.

The state legislature declined to further extend the eviction moratorium that has been in place since 2020. Under the moratorium, outside of a few exceptions, landlords were unable to evict tenants if the tenant claimed a COVID-19 hardship. 

On January 13, 2022 the United States Supreme Court ruled on two watershed cases related to the mandatory vaccination of workers in America against the COVID-19 virus. Already the questions have been coming in from employers wondering, ‘what impact does this have on my business operations?’

A State Supreme Court Judge dismissed a lawsuit last month brought by a group of landlords challenging the eviction moratorium that remains in place in New York.

The Buffalo Music Hall of Fame inducted Gross Shuman P.C. Attorney Les Greenbaum as part of its Class of 2021. Mr.  Greenbaum was enshrined as part of the Rick James Stone City Family.