Resources

USCIS has implemented a revised Form I-9 effective July 17, 2017. Employers have until Sept. 17, 2017, to discontinue use of the Nov. 14, 2016, edition of the Form I-9 but employers are urged to use the new version of the form as soon as possible. The new form has been updated to allow employers to accept Form FS-240, Consular Report of Birth Abroad as an acceptable List C document. The I-9 employer handbook has also been updated to reflect this change.

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 United States Supreme Court has allowed portions of President Trump’s travel ban to take effect; citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen may be denied admission to the United States if they lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States. On the other hand, the opinion stated that the travel ban may not be enforced against foreign nationals who have a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.

Brownfield redevelopment authorities and developers and owners of transformational brownfield redevelopment projects are eligible for substantial tax incentives under legislation signed by Governor Snyder on June 8, 2017.

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.

On Thursday, May 25, 2017, Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill to extend the deadline for filing Personal Property Tax (PPT) statements to claim the exemption for manufacturing personal property until tomorrow, Wednesday, May 31, 2017.  

[This is Part I of a four-part series discussing the new AIA 2017 forms. Part II will discuss the general conditions to the construction contract (A201-2017); Part III will discuss the Owner—Architect forms (B101-2017, B102-2017 and B103-2017); Part IV will discuss miscellaneous new forms, including the new insurance exhibits and consultant forms]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2017-13 (Rev. Proc. 2017-13) on Jan. 17, 2017. The procedure provides more flexible, modern rules for structuring management contracts involving tax-exempt financed facilities. Twenty years after the IRS released Revenue Procedure 97-13 (Rev. Proc. 97-13), which helped to establish the previous safe harbor framework for management contracts, Rev. Proc. 2017-13 modifies, amplifies and supersedes Rev. Proc. 97-13, Notice 2014-67, and the most recent safe harbor published in Notice 2016-44.

The U.S. Supreme Court just shook up the patent world with its decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC. For nearly 30 years, companies accused of patent infringement could be sued in nearly any place they sold accused products. This led to a concentration of patent cases in geographically inconvenient and arguably plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions. TC Heartland, however, will limit such forum shopping by requiring patent cases to be filed in one of two places: where companies are incorporated or where they both have a regular, established place of business, and are committing infringement. The days of patent cases in uncertain and out-of-the-way jurisdictions are over.