Civil Law

Department of Transportation (DOT) consumer protections – new rules to watch

As we begin the new year, the aviation industry is closely following certain Department of Transportation (DOT) Notices of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRM) published in 2022. These proposed rulemakings relate to consumer protections, including ancillary fees and airline ticket refunds. In contrast to the NPRM relating to ancillary fees, the NPRM relating to ticket refunds arguably codifies existing DOT enforcement practices.

Ancillary fees 

In this alert, we focus on the NPRM relating to ancillary fees, a term used to describe charges … Read the rest

Civil Law

Federal Appeals Court Delivers Coup De Grace in Berkeley Attempt to Ban Natural Gas

On January 2, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit delivered a death blow to the City of Berkeley, California law attempting to ban natural gas, which the Court had last year found was preempted by federal law, with the action last week denying a petition to rehear the case.

While the procedural complexities of this case are more than a little daunting, and instead of reading the more than 60 page amended opinion, nearly everything important … Read the rest

Civil Law

Happy New Year.  Here’s a GLAM on Implicit Support.

“Implicit support” comes charging out of the gates as an early candidate for Word or Phrase of the Year for 2024. 

Before year’s end, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel dropped a new generic legal advice memorandum (“GLAM”), AM 2023-008, titled “Effect of Group Membership on Financial Transactions under Section 482 and Treas. Reg. § 1.482-2(a).” The GLAM visits some familiar territory, including the “realistic alternatives” principle, this time in the intracompany lending context.  

Tax authorities and taxpayers, of course, … Read the rest

Civil Law

I will get a living trust as part of my new years resolution!

I have blogged about this many new years in the past and, here I am again, reminding you. Yes, I have my living trust in place but DO YOU? To me it seems very normal for people to say “I will get a living trust as part of my new years resolution!” The problem, like with many new year’s resolutions, is they don’t do it. Or maybe they meet with the estate planning attorney but don’t finish it. If you … Read the rest

Civil Law

Closing Out 2023 with Utah’s Privacy Law

This year has been active on the state “comprehensive” privacy law front. Seven states passed new laws in 2023 (Delaware, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, Montana, Florida, and Oregon). These states joined California, Connecticut, Colorado, and Virginia with laws already in effect. Soon, Utah will join the “active” law list when its privacy law comes into effect on December 31.

For companies complying with the laws already in effect, little additional steps need be taken for Utah. That said, with each new … Read the rest

Civil Law

Huntley High School E. coli Outbreak – what you need to know

I have been doing this kind of work for over 30 years and I seldom have seen such a detailed report as this done in any outbreak. Kudos to the folks at McHenry County and others involved in the investigation. Below are the bullet points – full report can be found HERE.

We do represent several of the kids impacted and will determine next steps after a few more reads of the report.

  • The most likely mode of transmission of
… Read the rest
Civil Law

ACNC Secrecy Reforms Project

Authors: Belinda Marsh, Partner and Merisa Raic, Special Counsel.

The ACNC has published its first decision summary which is part of the new ACNC Secrecy Reforms Project (the Project).

The ACNC received funding in the 2023-24 Budget for the project with the aim of improving transparency and providing more information to the charity sector relating to the ACNC’s regulatory and compliance activities.

The first published de-identified decision from the Project relates to an application for registration as a charity of an organisation … Read the rest