In the News
THE FAMILY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP: PROTECTING FOR THE “2026 SNAPBACK”
Not to mention the estate planning benefits along the way! THE PERFECT TIME TO IMPLEMENT YOUR STRATEGY IS NOW! For those unfamiliar with family limited partnerships (“FLP”), in short, it is an entity in which typically the older generation funds with cash, investments, brokerage accounts, publicly-traded stocks, real estate assets, and just about any other property to implement, principally, two strategies: first, to take full advantage of the sunsetting provision of the estate tax th...
Docu-“don’t”-sign: Don’t rely on Docusign!
Are you relying on Docusign as proof of a signature? You shouldn’t be. When the World Wide Web launched in 1993, it changed the world. An entirely new domain was opened to the public and we began to see a shift from commerce to “e-commerce,” mail to “e-mail,” book to “e-book,” and sports to “e-sports.” Then, about ten years after the emergence of the internet, Docusign, a company that wanted to “centralize and simplify agreement processes” ushered in an era that saw ...
Website Compliance Under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Recently, there have been a plethora of “professional plaintiffs” filing lawsuits against clients under the ADA based upon “website compliance;” this is a follow-up by the same professional plaintiffs who filed dozens of ADA lawsuits last winter against some of our clients. The purpose of this article is to advise you to ensure that you ask your web designer if your website is compliant with the ADA. Note: This article does not reflect compliance standards under local laws. For example,...
REDEMPTION FOR THE BROKERAGE COMMUNITY: DC CIRCUIT REVERSES DENIAL OF $780,000.00+ COMMISSION
(JLL was Denied Commissions by Trial Court – Appellate Court Reverses) Over the last decade, a single broker representing both parties in a transaction has become increasingly common for the sake of efficiency; that is what Jones Lang LaSalle Brokerage (“JLL”) had in mind when it signed up 1441 L Associates L.L.C. to lease its building at 1441 L Street, NW. Earlier this year, US District Court Judge Florence Pan (District of Columbia.) ruled in Jones Lang LaSalle Brokerage Inc v. 14...
BUSINESS WITHOUT A “NON-COMPETITION” AGREEMENT?
NON-COMPETES LIKELY TO BE GONE WITH THE WIND? THIS CAN ROCK YOUR BUSINESS WORLD! Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed a new federal rule which would ban the use of non-compete clauses by employers and would apply to not only employees but also independent contractors. So what exactly would the rule cover? According to the FTC, the proposed rule would make it specifically illegal for an employer to: Enter into or attempt to enter into a non-compete...
D.C. Wage Payment: Pay the Right Amount and Stay Out of Trouble
If you are an employer in the District of Columbia, your employees are owed certain compensation. To avoid wage disputes and substantial fines, make sure your employees have been properly paid for their work. How much and when do you need to pay your employees? Under the District of Columbia Minimum Wage Act, most employees within the District of Columbia are protected and must be paid the minimum wage. The minimum wage in the District increased to $16.10 per hour on June 1, 2022. Ti...
Secure Act 2.0: Changes To Retirement Plans Are Coming Your Way
If you are a business owner or an employee, your retirement plans may have changed following Congress’s bipartisan $1.7 trillion spending bill, Secure Act 2.0. Inside the bill, which is headed to the President for signing, are provisions directed toward increasing retirement savings and access to 401(k) and other individual retirement accounts for low- and middle-income workers. Some of the key retirement provisions of the legislation include: Starting in 2025, many businesses must enr...
WHO IS THE OWNER? CONTRACTORS, BROKERS AND AGENTS BEWARE!
IF YOU AREN’T CAREFUL, YOU WILL NOT COLLECT. Here is the scenario … you spend months working on a project and you are a bit behind in billing or collecting from the owner. The owner is “ghosting you” and you pull your team off the job. You now want to file a mechanics lien or file suit against the owner when your attorney tells you that the owner is not the property management company or project manager but a limited liability company or partnership which is not the party that signed...
ATTENTION DC PROPERTY OWNERS — IS YOUR PROPERTY VACANT?
BE CAREFUL, YOU MAY BE IN STORE FOR A BIG AND UNFORTUNATE SURPRISE FROM DC TAX AND REVENUE! Many laws start off as well-intended … but end up both taking on a life of their own. Another example where, because of government implementation, the good laws get out of control. This is often the case with the District’s implementation of its vacant and blighted nuisance laws. These laws are quite old – over 100 years – but have been changed in the last decade to permit the District t...
Contract Disputes and Liquidated Damages Provisions – Be Careful – The Safeguard You Expect to Protect You Can Backfire!
Are you party to a commercial construction contract or … for that matter, any contract with a liquidated damages provision? If so, a recent court decision gathers attention in other courts and can lead you to unknown surprises – making you regret how you viewed the standard “liquidated damages provision.” Well, what are “liquidated damages anyway”? The purpose of a liquidated damages provision in a contract is to establish – ahead of time – the compensation that would be owed...