Publications

On April 30, 2020, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) released an Interim Final Rule (the “IFR”) that, among other things, limits the amount of Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans that any single “corporate group” may receive to an aggregate of $20,000,000. The IFR applies to any PPP loans that have not been fully disbursed […]

In the wake of the closed economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court has issued three decisions covering aspects of patent, trademark and copyright law that you should know about. Lost Profits Available in Trademark Cases Without Willful Infringement Resolving a split in the U.S. appellate courts, on April 23, the United States […]

Background On March 27, 2020, the President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (the “Cares Act”) into law. The Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”), one of the CARES Act’s featured relief programs, is a loan guarantee program administered by the United States Treasury (the “Treasury”) and Small Business Administration (the […]

Wiggin and Dana Partner Jody Erdfarb has contributed to the newly published Health Information Technology Contracting Toolkit for the American Health Law Association (AHLA), which was released on April 29, 2020. According to AHLA, the toolkit “provides many useful resources, including sample agreements and checklists, government guidance, and other publicly available resources, to help HIT […]

On April 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule (85 FR 23459), effective June 29, 2020, that significantly expands the existing restrictions on exporting, reexporting, and retransferring items to China, Russia, and Venezuela for military end users or military end use, without a license.  Specifically, […]

On Monday, April 27, 2020, the U.S. Treasury and SBA released the Interim Final Rule on Additional Criterion for Seasonal Employers (the “April 27 Guidance”). The April 27 Guidance expands the time period at which seasonal employers can look in order to (i) calculate average monthly payroll expenses and (ii) determine whether a seasonal employer […]

Greetings, Court Fans! We’re back with the three lagging decisions from last week. But first, we’ve got three more decisions to pass on, which were handed down today. In New York State Rifle and Pistol Assn. v. City of New York (No. 18-280), the first Second Amendment case to reach the Court in a decade, […]

Greetings, Court Fans! It was a busy week at the Court this week, as The Nine released opinions on two separate days, something it usually doesn’t do until June. Unfortunately, given their length and complexity, we’re only able to bring you full summaries of Monday’s cases today: Ramos v. Louisiana (No. 18-5924), holding that the […]

On April 24, 2020, the President signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (the “Enhancement Act”) into law, providing, among other things, more than $250 billion in additional unrestricted funds for the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”) and an additional $60 billion for smaller lending institutions, with $30 million earmarked for lenders […]

A Wiggin and Dana COVID-19 client alert titled “Immigration and Compliance Briefing: Presidential Proclamation to Temporarily Suspend Entry into the U.S. of Certain Immigrant Applicants” was published by The National Law Review on April 23, 2020. The original alert was co-written by Partner Najia Khalid and Associate Ashley Moore. To read the article on The […]

Kenley Stark co-authored an article titled, ‘Art Market Enforcement During the Pandemic,’ published by Wealth Management. The article examines how COVID-19 temporarily reduced government oversight of the art market by slowing courts and investigations, while cautioning collectors, dealers, and other market participants to remain compliant with legal and regulatory requirements despite the decline in enforcement […]

Presidential Proclamation – Effective Thursday, April 23 at 11:59 p.m. ET. A Presidential Proclamation was issued on April 22 to suspend for 60 days “the entry into the United States of aliens as immigrants” (meaning applicants at the final stage for green cards who are outside of the U.S. and seek to become permanent U.S. […]

Private equity- and venture capital- backed businesses who are sorting through Paycheck Protection Plan eligibility requirements should be sure to check if any of their lenders or investors is a Small Business Investment Company (an “SBIC”). Companies who have received debt or equity capital from an SBIC may be able to ignore the troublesome Small Business […]

On April 17, 2020, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development materially revised its previously issued “Safe Workplace Rules for Essential Employers.” Now, all employees working at every workplace that remains open during the COVID-19 pandemic must wear a face mask or face cloth covering at all times. Employers are required to provide masks […]

On April 14, 2020, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) released an Interim Final Rule regarding, among other things, the eligibility of individuals with self-employment income to receive SBA-backed forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, which was enacted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (the “CARES Act”). This […]

Wiggin and Dana Partner Paul Tuchmann‘s article titled, “INSIGHT: Senator’s Insider Trading Allegations Can Be Proved”, was published on April 16, 2020 by Bloomberg Law. To read the entire article, click here.

In March 2020, Wiggin and Dana Partner Carolyn Reers was published in the Trust Quarterly Review, Volume 18, Issue 1 (pages 17-22). Her article – entitled, “In with the New” – touches on Connecticut’s new Public Act No. 19-137, which came into effect in January 2020 and adopted the Connecticut Uniform Trust Code. To read […]

Last month, OSHA published guidance concluding that work-related, confirmed cases of COVID-19 are recordable illnesses. Now, however, recognizing the difficulty of tracing COVID-19 exposure to the workplace, OSHA has updated its guidance to relieve many employers of the duty to record these cases. Subject to some exceptions, OSHA is exercising enforcement discretion and declining to enforce the […]

Property/Business Interruption Insurance Litigation in the U.S involving business interruption losses (principally involving whether such losses have arisen in connection with physical loss to property, and whether various exclusions for virus and pandemic apply) is proliferating. Some of the recently-filed cases are noted below. Five cases v. Travelers and CA Governor (CA) – Mark Geragos, […]

In the last nine quarters alone, since January 2018, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which administers most U.S. economic sanctions programs, has imposed $1.28 billion in civil penalties on foreign companies, or on U.S. companies based on the conduct of their foreign holdings/subsidiaries.[1]  The U.S.’s aggressive assertion of authority to […]

Greetings, Court Fans! Two more decisions in argued cases this week, both 8-1 opinions on narrow grounds, though in widely different contexts. But it was the Court’s sharply divided 5-4 decision granting an emergency stay application that garnered the most attention. In Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee (No. 19A1016), the Court stayed a […]

Paul Tuchmann’s op-ed article, “Insider Trading, the STOCK Act, and Senator Burr’s Trades: Material Non-Public Information,” was published in The National Law Review on April 10. To read the piece on The National Law Review‘s website, click here.

Wiggin and Dana Clients, Consistent with its prior notices, the IRS has now extended the due date for the second 2020 quarterly estimated federal income tax payment, otherwise due on June 15, 2020, until July 15, 2020. Thus, both the first and second quarterly estimated federal income tax payments will now be due on July 15, […]

On April 9, 2020, the United States Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury Department”) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”) announced new details of their joint “Main Street Lending Program” that is intended to provide additional financing for small- and medium-sized businesses impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. […]

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama recently issued a decision criticizing the University of Alabama at Huntsville’s (“UAH”) handling of a 2013 sexual assault. The case is a good warning that schools that become too focused on the due process rights of the accused may fail to adequately protect the […]

On April 5, 2020 Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont issued Executive Order No. 7U, providing certain financial protections to hospital patients during the COVID-19 crisis. Hospitals and insurance carriers should familiarize themselves with these new hospital billing and insurance coverage requirements and take steps to ensure compliance.  The Executive Order provides the following effective immediately and […]

Partners Tahlia Townsend and David Hall have authored, “Navigating the new CFIUS landscape for foreign investment in the US,” which appears in Issue 87 of WorldECR. A subscription is required to read the full article.

On March 17, 2020, the federal government published a Declaration in the Federal Register providing immunity from liability under state and federal law to certain individuals and entities using medical countermeasures in the fight against COVID-19. However, as we explained in our earlier alert, the scope of the Declaration was ambiguous. Several individual states, especially […]

On Monday April 6th, the Department of Labor again updated the series of Questions and Answers it has released to provide guidance regarding the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (“FFCRA”). The updated guidance includes 20 new questions and […]

Today, the Court issued a press release postponing oral arguments currently set for April (the last scheduled sitting of OT19). Though the Court left open the door to rescheduling some cases from the March and April sessions before the end of the Term, it seems more likely that most of them will either be rescheduled […]