Posted By: Joseph Cleves | email: jcleves@dbllaw.com
Controlling the risks inherent in a commercial construction project can be daunting, even for experienced owners. And the challenges are greater in today’s economic environment. Experience shows that the risk of contractor failure does not go away, and may briefly intensify, as economic recovery begins.
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Posted By: Richard Meyer | email: rmeyer@dbllaw.com
The problems experienced by car accident victims trying to recover for medical bills, lost wages, and other harm are real. One of the most frequent problems we encounter as lawyers is a lack of sufficient insurance to cover a victim’s damages. This problem has increased in severity in difficult economic times as many drivers elect the minimum insurance coverage or none at all. The rising costs of health care exacerbate the problem. Without sufficient insurance, innocent victims of drunk or careless driving struggle to pay medical bills and suffer financial hardship from lost time at work, permanent disability, or both.
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Posted By: DBL Law | email: news@dbllaw.com
As a result of changes made by the Affordable Care Act (the “Act”), if a parent’s employer-sponsored health plan covers children, medical expenses incurred by a child under age 27 can be paid or reimbursed as a tax-free fringe benefit even if the child is not the parent’s dependent for tax purposes. The expanded benefit, effective March 30, 2010, applies to both workplace and retiree health plans, as well as to self-employed individuals who qualify for the self-employed health insurance deduction on their federal income tax return. A child includes a son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child, or eligible foster child.
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Posted By: Stephen Burke | email: sburke@dbllaw.com
It can start as a simple arm strain or neck strain. The strain becomes chronic. The strain aggravates a pre-existing condition, such as a Type II acromion in the shoulder or degenerative disc disease in the spine. The employee remains off work, then has surgery. Sometimes the surgery does not resolve the physical issue, and the worker remains off for a year or more. Before long, the worker is asking the employer to pay for anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medicine.
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Posted By: Katie Koch | email: kkoch@dbllaw.com
The advent of e-mail as a primary medium of communication has forced many businesses to change the way they advertise and communicate with current and prospective customers. President George W. Bush signed the CAN-SPAM Act into law in 2003 in an attempt to regulate the use of unsolicited e-mails sent for commercial purposes. While it is no surprise to anyone, the Act did not prohibit the transmission of commercial e-mails to individuals without their permission. Rather, the Act set certain guidelines for businesses to follow when they send commercial e-mails.
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Posted By: Todd McMurtry | email: tmcmurtry@dbllaw.com
Plaintiffs recently filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that L.E.E.D. green building certification is a scam. The Complaint was filed against the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and others on behalf of those “who paid for L.E.E.D.-certification for property they owned in reliance on Defendants’ deceptive marketing claims that L.E.E.D. certified properties use 25% less energy and achieve CO2 emissions reductions over non-L.E.E.D. certified properties as well as improved air quality and improved water efficiency.”
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Posted By: DBL Law | email: news@dbllaw.com
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of Health and Human Services (HHS) is warning of a new fraudulent scheme that is hitting the public. In this scheme, someone pretending to be from a government agency such as HHS contacts you via phone, email, or letter.
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Posted By: Ellen Houston | email: ehouston@dbllaw.com
Employers may want to reexamine how they label their workers, as Federal and State officials have vowed to crack down on the misclassification of employees as independent contractors.
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