FMG’s BlogLine features an array of articles written by our attorneys who cover recent legal trends and developments both locally and nationally. Explore our blogs on a multitude of legal and industry topics.
Russia-Ukraine conflict raises cyber risks for U.S. enterprises
3/1/22
Cybersecurity—which is under constant attack from an unsavory mix of international state actors, paramilitaries, and organized crime—is never that far removed from geopolitics. So when a nation-state like Russia—hardly an unknown in the annals of cybercrime—physically invades another country, there is little doubt the conflict will spill into the cyber world. And while the fighting…
California’s view of arbitration agreements just got more complicated for employers
2/23/22
By: Matthew Jones The California Court of Appeal in De Leon v. Pinnacle Property Management Services, LLC reviewed the issue of whether an employer’s arbitration agreement was unconscionable. The employee initially filed a lawsuit against the employer under certain wage and hour causes of action. In response, the employer moved to compel arbitration pursuant to…
2/23/22
By: Michael Freed The Supreme Court of Georgia heard oral argument last week in General Motors LLC v. Buchanan. This highly watched appeal arose from a trial court’s denial of General Motors’s motion for protective order seeking to prevent its CEO from being deposed in a product liability case. The Court of Appeals of Georgia…
2/23/22
By: William H. Buechner, Jr. The Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, David E. Nahmias, submitted a letter to Governor Kemp on February 11 announcing that he would be resigning from his position at the conclusion of the Court’s term on July 17. Justice Michael Boggs will become the Court’s next chief justice. Justice…
$3.6 billion in cryptocurrency has been recovered… so what now?
2/22/22
By: Julia Bover On February 8, 2022, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) successfully seized over $3.6B in stolen cryptocurrency linked to a 2016 hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange platform. The Bitfinex hack was one of the biggest digital currency compromises since cryptocurrency’s inception in 2009. Hackers were able to capitalize on a vulnerability…
Accounting for the COVID-19 employee retention credit limitation in your federal tax return
2/22/22
By: Ryan Giggi As we embark on another tax season, Americans from coast to coast will once again need to navigate a complex and ever-changing web of COVID-19 related law on their federal tax returns. One important change particularly impacting employers and their accountants is the recent limitation of the Employee Retention Tax Credit (“the…
Know when to fold ’em: spotting the first sign of troubled credit
2/16/22
By: Travis Knobbe All too often, we get recovery files months, sometimes years, after the tipping point when assets begin depleting faster than they can be preserved to maximize lender recovery. To be fair, there are times when credit monitoring would not have revealed the issue any sooner. That said, there are plenty of instances…
The preservation of appellate rights is critical to any trial
2/15/22
By: Patrick Cosgrove, Esq. In a rare trade secret appeal involving two competitors in the alcohol sale software business, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit provided a not-so-subtle reminder to all attorneys that correctly preserving appellate rights is a critical component of any trial. In the case, Financial Information Technologies, LLC…
Congress passes bill barring arbitration agreements for sexual harassment claims
2/11/22
By: Courtney Mazzio Yesterday, a bill passed with overwhelming support in Congress that will significantly impact the ability of employers to enforce mandatory arbitration contracts when faced with sexual harassment claims. Specifically, the proposed Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 amends the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to give employees…