The higher salary requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) white collar exemptions that were set to take effect December 1, 2016, have been ruled invalid by a U.S. District Court in Texas. The same court preliminarily enjoined the implementation of these regulations on November 22, 2016. That decision is presently on appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Although the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) requested that the district court delay its final decision on the merits of the case until after the court of appeals rules on the preliminary injunction, the district court declined to do so and issued its final decision on August 31, 2017.

Each year, U.S. News & World Report releases its Best Lawyers in America list, which recognizes lawyers across the nation for their excellence, based entirely on peer review. The firm was very pleased to see that once again, Miller Canfield lawyers comprised an impressive portion of the latest list, which was released last week. 

We are all especially happy to see that four of our colleagues have been named to the Best Lawyers list for the first time or have been named in new practice areas. 

Recently Ohio negotiated with Sidecat LLC, which is planning a $750 million investment in a location near Columbus. The company has been promised $37 million in state tax incentives. The deal has drawn the attention of transparency advocates who say that taxpayers don't have enough information to discuss projects like this with their local officials. 

Steve Arwood, who served as the CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, has been named CEO of Miller Canfield Consulting LLC, a subsidiary of Miller Canfield, a global law firm headquartered in Detroit.

Luke Polcyn is joining Miller Canfield's Real Estate Group. He previously worked as an attorney for the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

Michigan’s tourism industry may get a little relief as the result of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security move to raise the cap on the number of H-2B visas this year.

Miller Canfield immigration attorney Rebecca Mancini spoke with Michigan Radio’s Tracy Samilton about how employers are reacting to the news. Read Michigan Radio’s coverage of the state’s tourism industry here.

As previously reported, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is currently reviewing a challenge to the recent Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") overtime changes. Previously, a Texas district court entered an injunction preventing the Department of Labor ("DOL") from implementing new regulations regarding the determination of who is exempt for overtime purposes. On June 30, the DOL filed its reply brief with the Court of Appeals, stating that although it was no longer defending the overtime rule set to become effective on Dec. 1, 2016, it believed the district court erred in concluding that the DOL had no authority to set white-collar salary limitations. Therefore, the DOL requested that the court rule in its favor on that issue and reject the district court’s issuance of the injunction, which, it argued, “would call into question any salary-level test adopted by the [DOL].”  

The U.S. Department of Labor has indicated that the department will move in a new, more employer-friendly direction, leaving many businesses feeling hopeful.

On June 7, 2017, the United States Department of Labor issued a press release rescinding the Department’s 2015 administrator’s interpretation memorandum regarding Independent Contractor classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and its 2016 administrator’s interpretation memorandum regarding joint employer status under the FLSA and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Protection Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court continues to limit the timeframe in which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“S.E.C.”) can seek to levy monetary penalties in enforcement actions it brings against violators of the federal securities laws. Most recently, the Court limited to five years the window of time in which the S.E.C. can bring a claim to “disgorge,” or take away, ill-gotten gains from a defendant’s securities fraud. These rulings may result in quicker or more aggressive enforcement actions by the S.E.C. against companies or individuals accused of securities fraud, even perhaps before investigations are complete. The holdings may also affect the willingness of corporate or individual defendants to enter into “tolling agreements” with the S.E.C. that would toll (or stop) the limitations period while the parties discuss a potential resolution or settlement.

A ransomware attack beginning on Friday evening has locked up Windows computers around the globe, and while experts are saying that the initial fire has been put out, victims are still digging out from under the damage and concerns remain that a second attack could be launched at any moment.

The attack utilized tools allegedly taken from the NSA and was made possible by the exploitation of known vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, vulnerabilities for which Microsoft released patches months ago.