The buzz phrase "Internet of Things" is seemingly everywhere. What is it, what can it do for us, and what concerns does it present? More specifically, while the Internet of Things (IoT) presents tremendous opportunities for businesses, are there corresponding risks, or elements of the IoT that businesses should consider staying away from?
In 2015, the FCC issued its Open Internet Order, applying Section 222 of the federal Communications Act to broadband Internet access services (BIAS), and in doing so took jurisdiction over privacy and data security matters for Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
President Barack Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 into law on May 11, giving companies the ability for the first time to use federal law to sue those who misappropriate their confidential information.
Under the Affordable Care Act, employers with 50 or more full-time, or full-time equivalent, employees are required to offer qualified health care coverage. These employers are referred to as applicable large employers (ALEs). If these ALEs fail to comply with this "employer mandate," then the employer may be faced with significant penalties. As such, employee counts and categorizations in employer organizations are critical under the ACA, and whether the employer mandate is satisfied.
A strong, powerful and constructive culture has a significant impact on a business's ability to differentiate, to offer top-shelf client service, to attract and retain talent at all levels and to reach new levels of profitability. Regardless of how technology continues to help the legal industry reinvent itself from a mature industry to a young and thriving industry, culture and people will remain a key driver of any firm's long-term success.
Chief Justice John Roberts recently said that the new amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure should "achieve the goal of Rule 1 ' 'the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding' ' only if the entire legal community, including the bench, bar, and legal academy, step up to the challenge of making real change."
At the end of 2015, Congress passed, as part of a large tax extender bill, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act (PATH), an extension of '181 of the Internal Revenue Code. Section 181 has been available since 2004 to permit expedited deduction of the costs of a film or TV production. Since inception, this has had several sunset provisions, each of which was extended as part of year-end extender bills. The latest for the first time has extended the availability of '181 treatment to live stage productions.
Recent NLRB decisions have rewritten the labor law map in a variety of ways, but nowhere more significantly than in the areas of franchising and outsourcing. With the decision in Browning-Ferris and decision by the NLRB's general counsel involving McDonald's, the definition of a "joint employer" has grown exponentially broader.
If you follow the legal technology headlines you might have noticed that we've come full circle on cloud security. Rewind seven or so years, and mainstream cloud computing adoption was being thwarted by grave concerns about data security, data governance and data access. As the cloud became more pervasive in many industries globally, the legal market took note and slowly but surely more law firms went to the cloud.
Coming off the heels of the EU Article 29 Working Party Opinion on the Privacy Shield, the EU Parliament passed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on April 15, which overhauls the union's Data Protection Directive rules set forth in 1995. This regulation applies to all business and organizations targeting EU consumers, regardless of their geographic location.
