News & Insights

SHIFTING LANDSCAPE OF NON-COMPETE AGREEMENTS

Historically, non-compete agreements were utilized to safeguard a company’s trade secrets, proprietary information, and customer relationships. Non-compete agreements served as critical tools for protecting business interests. However, over the past few years, there has been a recent legislative priority to limit or ban the use of restrictive covenants. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed an…
Read More

EPA PROPOSES NEW RULE TO LIST SPECIFIC PFAS COMPOUNDS AS HAZARDOUS CONSTITUENTS UNDER RCRA

On February 8, 2024, the EPA proposed changes to regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to add nine PFAS compounds, “their salts, and their structural isomers . . .” to RCRA’s hazardous constituents list. The EPA promulgates a list of hazardous constituents under RCRA “comprised of chemicals that have toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic,…
Read More

FORMER BOARD MEMBER OF TALLGRASS ENERGY AND FOUR OTHERS CHARGED WITH INSIDER TRADING

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Roy Cook, a former board member of Tallgrass Energy LP, and four of his friends with insider trading for trading on material nonpublic information in advance of a public announcement that Blackstone Infrastructure Partners had offered to acquire Tallgrass and take it private. The five defendants agreed to…
Read More

EEOC LAUNCHES NEW REACH INITIATIVE FOR 2024

In January 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) launched its REACH initiative designed to “enhance outreach to vulnerable workers and underserved communities.” The initiative was implemented by Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal for the purpose of ensuring EEOC’s outreach and education efforts reach workers who are less likely to seek the agency’s assistance.  Through the…
Read More

SIXTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS AFFIRMS SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THIRD-PARTY INDEMNITY CLAIM FINDING TENNESSEE STATUTE OF REPOSE FOR DEFECTS IN IMPROVEMENTS TO REAL ESTATE APPLICABLE TO CONTRACTUAL INDEMNITY CLAIMS

In Hinman v. ValleyCrest Landscaping Dev., Inc., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the United States District Court, for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division’s grant of summary judgment to a Third-Party Defendant based on the statute of repose. 89 F.4th 572, 573 (6th Cir. 2024). The underlying claim stemmed from alleged faulty…
Read More

SUPREME COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS IN CHALLENGE TO CHEVRON DOCTRINE

On January 17, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) heard oral arguments in the case of Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce. The case involves a challenge by plaintiff Relentless to a rule issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) requiring the herring fishing industry to bear the cost of overcatch…
Read More

FINRA’S 2024 REGULATORY OVERSIGHT REPORT

FINRA has published its 2024 Regulatory Oversight Report (“Report”), which provides member firms with information from FINRA’s recent regulatory operations to strengthen their complaince departments. FINRA highlighted six key sections of the Report in its news release pertaining to the same: (1) Crypto Asset Developments; (2) Advertised Volume; (3) Cybersecurity; (4) Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”), Fraud…
Read More

FLORIDA DISTRICT COURT RULES DESIGN PROFESSIONALS ARE SUBJECT TO FOUR YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION BASED MALPRACTICE CLAIMS

In American Automobile Insurance Company v. FDH Infrastructure Services., LLC, 364 So.3d 1082 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023), The Court of Appeals of Florida, Third District (“Court of Appeals”) held all construction-based claims against design professionals are subject to a four-year statute of limitations, not the two-year statute of limitations. Tower King II was contracted to…
Read More

GEORGIA RULE OF EVIDENCE PRECLUDES ENGINEERING MALPRACTICE CLAIM

Expert testimony is an essential element of any claim of professional engineering malpractice. However, Munro v. Dep’t of Transportation, 890 S.E.2d 349 (Ga. App. 2023) demonstrates that a Georgia Rule of Evidence regarding expert testimony in professional malpractice cases can make proving design malpractice very difficult in some circumstances. On November 10, 2017, twenty-four-year-old Ashley…
Read More

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ANNOUNCES NEW INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR RULE

On January 9, 2024, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its final rule that revises the DOL’s determination of whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The final rule goes into effect on March 11, 2024. The new rule replaces the Trump Administration’s Independent…
Read More