Commercial Law

Features

Legislatures and courts alike in several jurisdictions have extended existing anti-discrimination laws to transgender people, and some employers have followed suit with changes to their non-discrimination policies. Employers are thus advised not only to familiarize themselves with the current legal landscape for transgender rights, but also to consider the practical implications of such laws on their own efforts to provide an inclusive and non-discriminatory workplace environment for transgender employees. This two-part article will explore the legal landscape and its implications.

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The first part of this article discussed the current state of the law with regard to the legal standing of unions to represent and litigate on behalf of retirees. The conclusion herein addresses cases involving the presumption of vesting, and offers tips for managing changes in retirement plans and negotiating future plans.

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The IRS recently issued Notice 2007-78, which provides additional guidance and limited transition relief on Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code. There are still actions required by the end of 2007.

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There have been numerous cases involving various challenges to employer 'tip-pooling' policies, particularly in Massachusetts and California, with wait staff and other restaurant employees claiming that such policies violate state wage and hour laws. This article describes this recent line of cases, which are of particular interest to employers and employees in the restaurant or hospitality industries, but which have extended to other industries as well. The article also suggests guidelines for employers in the restaurant and hospitality industries to adopt so that their tip-pooling policies do not run afoul of state wage and hour laws.

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Faced with ever-increasing litigation costs, in-house lawyers are searching for effective and legally defensible means of limiting the costs of electronic discovery. Legal teams can effectively incorporate search techniques into their best practices by considering critical issues before they review a single page. Doing so will only eliminate a major nightmare: excessive costs associated with over-collection and technical challenges that will require teams of project specialists to resolve.

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In 2007, Mergermarket was commissioned by Nixon Peabody LLP to conduct 'IPO Executive Insights 2007,' a survey of senior corporate executives (CEOs and CFOs) of 100 companies that had undertaken an IPO in the past three years (the 'Survey'). The Survey was designed to provide insights into key IPO market trends and issues related to the process of going public in the current regulatory environment that emerged after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ('SOX').

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The use of bankruptcy to protect an individual's home from foreclosure is sufficiently commonplace that practitioners would be well advised to understand the foreclosure process in their state and, in particular, when that process will be deemed completed for purposes of section 1322. This article explains why.

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Troubled businesses also may have turned to the distressed debt market instead of filing for bankruptcy protection due to recent changes to the Bankruptcy Code, which made bankruptcy a more complicated, expensive and uncertain alternative. As a result, when the next wave of Chapter 11 filings comes, hedge funds and other distressed debt investors will act to protect their unique interests and strategies, which will bring new dynamics to bankruptcy cases.