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New York Allows Same-Sex Marriage, While National Case Law Evolves
New York's legislature's decision to permit same-sex partners to marry within the State came June 24, after a nail-biting lead-up. For weeks, many questioned whether the measure would come to a vote at all, and whether enough Republican senators could be persuaded to vote in favor, along with the majority of Democrats (only one Democrat, the Bronx's Ruben Diaz, voted against it). The bill passed after provisions were made to protect religious institutions from being sued or penalized by the State for declining to perform same-sex weddings or permit them to take place in their facilities. The legislation also contains a non-severability clause, which says that if any portion of the law is judicially declared invalid, the entire law will become invalid. This will prevent courts from declaring the religious institution exemptions unlawful while upholding the right of same-sex couples to marry in New York.
The law went into effect 30 days after passage, on July 24, and at press time, wedding plans were being made statewide and beyond (the law allows out-of-state same-sex couples to wed in New York). New York is now the Sixth and largest state to allow same-sex partners to marry; the others are Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Same-sex marriages may also be entered into in the District of Columbia.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits
In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.