News & Insights

Finra Gains Support Against Claim It Is Unconstitutional

The North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) and the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (“PIABA”) have announced their support for FINRA as it challenges Alpine Securities Corporation’s (“Alpine”) arguments that it is unconstitutional. NASAA, the membership organization for state regulators, filed an amicus brief with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals citing its support…
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Epa Announces Plan To Modify Lithium Ion Batteries Treatment As Universal Waste And Extend Definition Of Universal Waste To Include Photovoltaic Solar Panels

The vast expansion of the renewable energy sector has prompted the EPA to modify existing universal waste requirements regarding the disposal of lithium-ion batteries and expand the universal waste rule to cover photovoltaic solar panels. The universal waste program was implemented in May 1995, as a subsection of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), to…
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Alabama Workers’ Compensation Rate Change

Effective July 1, 2023, the maximum workers’ compensation rate payable increased to $1,084.00 per week and the minimum rate increased to $298.00 per week.

John Webb Speaks At Awco 2023 Annual Conference

John Webb, Chair of LGWM’s Workers’ Compensation Practice Group, spoke at the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Organization (AWCO) 2023 Annual Conference.  The Conference took place November 2-3 in Birmingham, Alabama.  John teamed up with Dana Mattiace (Senior Claims Adjuster) with CCMSI to provide new adjuster training for approximately 30 workers’ compensation adjusters from across the United…
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Epa Investigates Alabama’s Management Of Sewer Infrastructure Funds

On October 3, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced it was accepting for investigation an Administrative Complaint filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Natural Resources Council against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (“ADEM”). The Complaint alleges that ADEM engages in racially discriminatory practices against residents in the Black Belt region…
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Enhancements To The Expungement Process

Effective October 16, 2023, FINRA adopted amendments to its Codes of Arbitration Procedure (Codes) to modify the process relating to requests to expunge customer dispute information in the FINRA Dispute Resolution Services (DRS) arbitration forum. FINRA operates the Central Registration Depository (CRD), and customer dispute information maintained in CRD is reported through Forms U4 and…
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EEOC Issues Proposed Guidance On Workplace Harassment

On September 29, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released its revised “Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace”. If successful, the proposed guidance would be EEOC’s first update on workplace harassment since the previous update in 1999.  The new proposal considers recent changes in the law on issues of workplace discrimination and…
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