Publications

Effective December 31, 2018, employers in New York State will face a higher salary threshold for exempt executive and administrative employees as well as an elevated minimum hourly wage. The increases are part of the amendments to the minimum wage orders put in place in 2016. Salary basis thresholds specifically for workers fitting within the […]

Wiggin and Dana attorneys, David Ring, Jared Clark and Matthew Cvercko have authored, Departments of State and Commerce Issue Proposed Revisions to Rules on the Export of Firearms and Ammunition, which appeared in the July 2018 issue of WorldECR, the journal of export controls and sanctions.

Wiggin and Dana Partner, Najia Khalid, has again contributed to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) Immigration Practice Toolbox.  In its 6th edition, AILA's Immigration Practice Toolbox is “a key resource for every immigration law practitioner. It serves to supplement treatises and substantive reference materials with essential checklist and sample documents to help new attorneys, […]

Greetings, Court Fans! And apologies! We’ve been having some difficulties with our email program (and still are; hence the “tdooley” in the “from” line). Fortunately, there hasn’t been too much activity since our last Update, so we should be able to get you caught up to speed below, with summaries of the second and third […]

Wiggin and Dana Partner, David Hall, has authored, The US government is trying to figure it out. You should, too., which appeared in the December 2018 special report World of Change issue of WorldECR, the international journal of export controls and sanctions.  Hall discusses the growing relationship between technological advances and changes in U.S. international trade law. 

This past year was filled with noteworthy changes to our tax landscape. In this Advisory, we summarize major changes enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and outline a number of recommended estate planning opportunities before the end of the year. 2019 Estate, Gift and GST Tax Exemption For tax year 2019, the estate, gift, […]

Wiggin and Dana Partner, Michael Menapace, and Sidley Austin LLP Partner, Thomas Cunningham, have co-authored, Increase Your Tech IQ, which appeared in the 4th Quarter 2018 issue of ARIAS•U.S. Quarterly.  In this article, Menapace and Cunningham provide definitions for technology related terms and jargon to help increase the reader's technology IQ and understanding. To read the full article, please

Greetings, Court Fans! The Nine returned to the bench this week (well, eight of them did, while Justice Ginsburg, recovering from cancer surgery, missed oral arguments for the first time in her quarter-century tenure) and handed down two unanimous opinions, two per curiam summary reversals, and six new cert grants. All in all, a busy […]

Wiggin and Dana Partners, Robert Benjamin and Helen Heintz, have authored an article in the New York Law Journal regarding their victory in the matter of the Estate of Evelyn Seiden, resulting in the refund of approximately half a million dollars of New York Estate taxes imposed on the QTIP trust that was established by […]

Greetings, Court Fans! Two more decisions to report this week, including the first 5-4 split of the term, along with a whopping eight cert grants. Last week, we estimated that the Court’s opinion in Schein v. Archer & White Sales (2019) was about its one billionth decision addressing the scope of arbitration agreements under the […]

Greetings, Court Fans! The Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” was at the forefront this week, as it issued a consequential stay of the order enjoining the Trump Administration’s transgender service ban (over the dissents of the four more liberal justices), but did not issue any order on the Government’s cert petition the DACA appeal, meaning that […]

We are pleased to share this latest issue of the Wiggin and Dana Insurance Practice Group Update. We circulate this newsletter by e-mail periodically to bring to the attention of our colleagues in the insurance industry reports on recent developments, cases and legislative/regulatory actions of interest, and happenings at Wiggin and Dana. We welcome your […]

The Silicon Valley motto, Move fast and break things is alive and well in the era of Big Data, artificial intelligence and machine learning.  But moving fast can also lead to stubbed toes and worse, as recent privacy troubles at major tech leaders such as Facebook and Uber demonstrate.[1] While certain economic sectors may be […]

Wiggin and Dana Partner Michael Kasdan has authored the chapter on Intellectual Property in The Oxford Handbook of Intellectual Property Law. To learn more about this publication, please click here.

As the use of telehealth continues to grow, it has predictably attracted attention from the OIG. Whereas in 2001, Medicare paid $61,302 for telehealth claims, by 2015, that number jumped to $17.6 million. As federal legislation continues to authorize the expansion of permissible telehealth applications, Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services is expected to increase exponentially […]

On February 9, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act of 2017, landmark legislation that significantly expands Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services. Passed as part of the larger Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the CHRONIC Care Act attempts to improve outcomes for chronically ill patients. Much […]

Wiggin and Dana Partner Michael Menapace has authored, Going Beyond the Four Corners to Deny a Defense: A Critique of Section 13(3) of the Restatement of Liability Insurance, which appeared in the Spring/Summer edition of the American Bar Association's Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal. To learn more about this publication, please click

Who Should Read This?U.S. or foreign companies exporting or re-exporting U.S. goods to India, including aerospace, defense and other high-tech goods. What Happened?On August 3, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule (83 FR 38018) (the Rule) amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by: Moving India from […]

On June 1, 2018, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) granted summary judgment in favor of the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), sustaining $4.3 million in penalties against The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson), for its alleged failure to comply with the Health Insurance […]

Recently, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a defendant’s motion to dismiss a nearly $2 million lawsuit, arising from an indemnity in a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA).[1] In this case, the plaintiff’s contractor caused a HIPAA breach involving the data of the plaintiff’s customer. As a result, […]

Introduction Many emerging companies begin their corporate life without a firm grasp on critical issues related to wage and hour laws.  With limited financial and human capital at the outset, emerging companies have a tendency to take a reactive approach to HR, often with devastating near term effects.   With its initial core group of employees, […]

For years, Connecticut’s trial courts have debated an important question: whether individuals, who have not been hired and disclosed as expert witnesses, may still be compelled to express their opinions under oath. Any person who possesses particular training and expertise could find herself in this quandary. Although treating physicians, nurses, and other health care providers are […]

Litigation doesn't have to be catastrophic for a growing company, but it can quickly spiral out of control if not handled properly.  This article will explore issues to consider when your company is faced with a lawsuit. Stop All Communications Most lawsuits don't come out of the blue.  They usually are preceded by a back-and-forth […]

The model Family and Medical and Leave Act (FMLA) notices and medical certification forms published by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) were set to expire as of August 31, 2018. However, the DOL recently announced that the forms' expiration dates would be extended three years, until August 31, 2021. The forms have not been […]

As any entrepreneur is well aware, the early stages of a new business venture are an incredibly busy time. Entrepreneurs must focus on building the core team, structuring the company, attracting investors, developing the product/service, and developing key partnerships, sales channels and marketing plans. These tasks are typically all-consuming for the founders, taxing both their […]

The primary focus of estate planning is often on tax-saving strategies; however, since the newly-enacted federal estate tax laws have doubled the federal, estate, gift and GST tax exemptions to $10,000,000 per person, indexed for inflation, it is important to point out that there are many other valuable reasons why estate planning should be a […]

The Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Rights Division, announced on August 29, 2018, its civil settlement with the international law firm, Clifford Chance US LLP, for violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1324b, attributable to Clifford Chance’s overly restrictive interpretation of who can work on projects involving data controlled by the […]

Greetings, Court Fans! We’re two weeks into October Term 2018 and it’s about time we touched base. It was a rather eventful off-season, with Justice Kennedy’s retirement and Justice Kavanaugh’s elevation, and we’ll have precisely nothing more to say about that. We do, however, have a retirement of our own to announce. After fourteen years […]

Founders and entrepreneurs face many pressure points while building their company into their vision. Important decisions must be made relating to the choice of a business entity, how to fund the business, what sort of regulations impact the business, how to protect intellectual property, how to manage employees, and what to do if sued. Most […]

Greetings, Court Fans! It’s not every day that a Supreme Court decision gets covered not only in the pages of The New York Times, but also ESPN.com and Sports Illustrated. But Murphy v. NCAA (No. 16-476), which struck down the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) and opened the door (for now) to […]