Client Alerts

On March 7, 2019, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a proposed rule that would increase the salary threshold for the overtime exemption from $23,660 annually ($455 per week) to $35,308 annually ($679 per week). 

Last month, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer informed Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va) that his agency would not establish an exclusion process for products subject to Section 301 “List 3” tariffs unless and until these tariffs increased from 10% to 25%. Congress begged to differ.

A criminal trial is underway in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where the defendant, Robert O’Rourke, faces thirteen separate counts of trade secret violations. Under the subject federal statute, “trade secret” means any type of technical, engineering, financial, or other business information that derives independent economic value by not being generally known to—or readily ascertainable through proper means by—another person who can derive economic value from having or using the information. However, for any item of information to qualify as a trade secret, its owner, whether a company or an individual, must demonstrate that it took reasonable measures to keep the information secret.

After weeks of rumors that the tariff increase to 25% in the 3rd tranche of section 301 tariffs scheduled for March 2nd might be again postponed, President Donald Trump announced that the US would delay an increase of its tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.

For many years it was debated and disputed whether an attorneys’ fee shifting clause in a non-compete agreement would actually be upheld. 

Back in October, Senator Tim Kaine (D.Va) and 10 other Democratic Senators sent a letter to the USTR urging him to establish a product exclusion process for items covered by List 3 of the Section 301 tariffs similar to the processes already in place for products on Lists 1 and 2.

Today the Michigan Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Board is expected to reopen the Michigan medical marihuana caregiver network, allowing medical marihuana caregivers to continue supplying medical marihuana provisioning centers and temporary facilities not yet approved for licensing by the board.

January is certainly the month for New Year’s resolutions. Anyone who has gone to his or her local gym or fitness center can certainly attest to that!  But January is also a big month for New Year’s RESIGNATIONS.

This month marks the one year anniversary of the beginning of President Trump’s tariffs wars. His announcement of “safeguard” tariffs on washing machines and solar panels that were largely aimed at goods from China, turned out to be only the first round of tariffs intended to address perceived trade imbalances globally. 

On December 12, 2018, Public Act 367 of 2018 was enacted, amending the Michigan Construction Lien Act, MCL 570.1101 et seq. (“CLA”), to provide design professionals (i.e. licensed or registered architects, professional engineers, or professional surveyors) with specific lien rights and procedures for creating and perfecting those lien rights for professional services provided in the event that an owner of a project or a property does not proceed with actual physical construction of a project or actual physical improvement of a property.

If you have a product covered by the 25% Section 301 tariffs imposed on Chinese goods in July of 2018 (List 1), the United States Trade Representative may have a belated holiday present for you. The newly published exclusions are available to any product that meets a description in the notice, whether or not you applied for a product exclusion in the fall of 2018.  

In an unpublished opinion in Forner v Township of Spring Lake, in which the Michigan Air Conditioning Contractors Association submitted an amicus curia brief, the Michigan Court of Appeals clarified apparent confusion over whether the Michigan 2015 Residential Construction Code requires sealing cold air returns. 

The Michigan Legislature approved a ballot initiative on September 5, 2018, called the “Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act,” which increased the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour effective January 1, 2019, and over time, increasing the minimum wage to $12.00 per hour by January 1, 2022. 

Utah has joined a growing list of states to legalize marijuana. With the addition of Utah, thirty-three (33) states plus the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for either medical or recreational purposes.

The United States Trade Representative published a formal notice in the 12/17/2018 Federal Register, “at the direction of the President”, postponing the previously announced increase in List 3 Section 301 tariffs from 10% to 25% until March 2, 2019.

On September 5, 2018, the Michigan legislature enacted the “Earned Sick Time Act,” which generally requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees, starting in March of 2019. 

It started with two California-based entrepreneurs looking to develop a satellite to enhance internet web access in Africa.

On November 29, 2018, the U.S. Tax Court once again ruled that a corporation engaged in the cannabis industry was not entitled to deduct ordinary and necessary business expenses incurred in the operation of its day-to-day business operations.

As competition within the global marketplace continues to intensify, there has never been a time when protecting your company’s trade secrets has been more important. Recent legal developments underscore that point.

Despite the passage of laws in Michigan and 45 other states that have permitted or decriminalized the use of cannabis-related products for medical or recreational use or both, there remains an 800-pound gorilla known as the federal government that makes it a crime to manufacture, sell or possess marijuana.