Blogs

Employment Law

Virginia Adds a “Ban the Box” Law for Pot Possession

Ban-the-box restrictions have increased in popularity among U.S. states and localities during the last decade. “Ban the box” refers to laws that variously prohibit or restrict employers from requiring applicants for employment to divulge their criminal history through a check box on an application for employment. The theory behind “ban the box” statutes is that…

May 26, 2020

Employment Law

Employees in Virginia are Heading Back to the Workplace. What Can Employers Ask or Do?

On May 8, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued an Executive Order implementing Phase One of his plan to ease many of the current COVID-19-related restrictions on businesses and public activities for most jurisdictions in the Commonwealth, effective as of May 15, 2020. But not in Northern Virginia, where the region has yet to achieve…

May 19, 2020

Employment Law

Virginia Enacts Dramatic and Far-Reaching Employment Law Protections, Part 2

This blog post follows Doug Taylor’s April 27, 2020 post about the recent wave of employee-friendly changes to Virginia law. In addition to the changes discussed in Doug’s post related to wage theft, non-competes, workplace discrimination, and whistleblower protections, new Virginia legislation imposes significant consequences on employers for misclassifying employees as independent contractors, substantially increases…

May 7, 2020

Business and Financial Services

4 Tips for Pursuing Principal Forgiveness of a PPP Loan

The Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) has been a highly popular relief program for small businesses passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The PPP allows small businesses to obtain government-backed loans from private lenders which, if spent properly on payroll, rent, utilities and/or mortgage interest, can be all or partially forgiven. Over the last month,…

May 4, 2020

Employment Law

Virginia Enacts Dramatic and Far-Reaching Employment Law Protections

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has signed into law nearly two dozen bills that provide significant new rights for Virginia employees, including legal protections to combat wage theft, prohibit non-compete covenants for low-wage workers, and expand the scope of the ban on workplace discrimination. Also signed into law by Governor Northam were enhanced employee whistleblower protections…

April 27, 2020

Divorce and Family Law

I Want to Get Divorced, but I Can’t Get a Court Date…Now What?

Currently, the courts in Virginia, Maryland, DC, and all around the country have been essentially closed for all but emergencies and are not hearing civil cases on a regular basis (which includes family law cases). Even when the courts open again, there will be a major backlog of cases – everything that was supposed to be heard from mid-March through the end of the shutdown, the full schedule of cases set to be heard before the pandemic, plus a glut of newly filed cases on top of that. The…

April 24, 2020

Business and Financial Services

COVID-19 Economic Relief Investigations: They Will Expose Some Businesses to Civil Liability

The initial rounds of COVID-19 economic relief have largely been depleted. More rounds of relief are expected soon. Further out, there will be investigations and follow-on civil (and criminal) proceedings surrounding this largest-ever economic stimulus package in U.S. history, with almost $350 billion going to small businesses. Federal and state authorities, and even some companies,…

April 22, 2020

Divorce and Family Law

Coronavirus and Custody: Implications of Stay at Home Orders

On March 23, 2020, Governor Northam issued Executive Order 53, and a week later issued Executive Order 55, which together have defined the Commonwealth’s stay at home regulations for individuals and businesses. In our last posting prior to Executive Order 55, we opined that custody orders should still be followed even where there was no direct guidance from the government as to how the stay at home order would impact existing custody orders. Fortunately, Executive Order 55 allows people to…

April 20, 2020

Divorce and Family Law

ER Doctor’s Temporary Loss of Custody and a Possible Path Forward

In a stunning decision in the 11th Judicial Circuit last week, emergency room doctor Theresa Greene lost temporary custody of her 4-year-old daughter solely because of her profession and potential risk of exposure to COVID-19. Judge Bernard Shapiro suspended Dr. Greene’s 50/50 custodial rights based upon the virus outbreak, despite Dr. Greene’s assurances she has repeatedly worn protective equipment and has tested negative for the virus. The Miami Third District Court of Appeals temporarily…

April 20, 2020

Business and Financial Services

Online Board Meetings – What to Know When Social-Distancing Requires Your Meetings to Go Virtual

Many corporations and LLCs that have traditionally held in-person shareholder and board meetings are looking for alternatives during the social distancing required for COVID-19. Fortunately, corporate and LLC governance statutes in most states, including Delaware, Virginia, Maryland and DC allow for meetings to be held remotely, if some special considerations are followed. Corporations are required…

April 16, 2020