Manager Notes

Paul Peter Nicolai

6 days ago
2 min

Does Coronavirus Excuse Contract Performance?

The answer depends on the force majeure clause in the contract – if it has one. If it does, start with its language. It may contain a list of specific events...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Mar 20
2 min

Coronavirus Thoughts For Business

Not pretty but coronavirus business survival means preserving cash.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Feb 4
1 min

Title VII & Arbitration Agreements

The EEOC has revoked a 1997 Policy Statement in which it had said arbitration of employment-related disputes was inconsistent with Title VII and other federa...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Dec 4, 2019
2 min

New Mass Distracted-Driving Law

The Governor has signed An Act Requiring the Hands-Free Use of Mobile Telephones While Driving. The law takes effect 90 days from November 25. The law focuse...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Nov 10, 2019
1 min

Connecticut Bans Asking About Salary History

Connecticut has forbidden hiring employers from asking about salary history. Whether these laws are constitutional is an open question.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Oct 14, 2019
4 min

WHY EVERY COMPANY SHOULD KNOW MORE ABOUT ITS INFORMATION

Information is a company asset. Mismanaging it is like mismanaging inventory. That needs to change.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Oct 12, 2019
1 min

U.S. Licensed Attorney Required for Foreign Trademark Applicants/Registrants

The United States Patent and Trademark Office effected a new rule requiring that foreign applicants and registrants have US counsel.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Sep 10, 2019
2 min

DOL Guidance adds Flexibility for Free Internships

Recent US DOL guidance opens the door to more flexible internship arrangements.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jul 9, 2019
2 min

Avoiding Employee Misclassification

Agreeing to classify workers as 1099 means nothing, legally and is an expensive mistake.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jul 3, 2019
2 min

Retiree Medical Benefits Litigation

Lawsuits over retiree medical benefits are increasing. So far, employers seem to have the upper hand.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jun 28, 2019
2 min

Protecting Employee Health Information

Employers constantly get employee health information. Most know it is confidential but many do not know what that exactly means.

Paul Peter Nicolai

May 31, 2019
3 min

Normalizing Hemp, CBD & Marijuana Business

State, national and international law changes are moving to normalize hemp, CBD and marijuana businesses.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Apr 22, 2019
2 min

PRIVACY COMES TO THE U.S. CALIFORNIA’S NEW DATA PRIVACY LAW.

This past November, Californians were going to vote on a sweeping data privacy ballot initiative. It never made it to the ballot. Instead, the legislature pa...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Apr 18, 2019
1 min

ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT SIGNING COMPLIANCE

Face it. Printing, signing and scanning documents into PDFs is tedious and passé. Because physical closings are now rare, getting documents signed and compil...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Apr 18, 2019
1 min

ELIMINATING LIABILITY FOR LOST PROFITS

Many contracts try to eliminate liability for lost profits if something goes wrong. Saying it is one thing, doing it successfully is another. The problem is ...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Oct 1, 2017
7 min

Trademark in Commerce Requirement

Being able to register and maintain a trademark with the United States Patent & Trademark Office generally means that you must be able to show that the trade...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Sep 1, 2017
10 min

Brand Protection on the Internet

Today, trademarks and domain names are interconnected. A web presence is a natural extension of brick-and-mortar business branding. A web presence means havi...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Aug 1, 2017
6 min

Understanding the Benefit Corporation

Under prevailing corporate law, the corporation has only one legitimate purpose—maximizing stockholder welfare. This prevailing law is the de facto law in mo...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jul 7, 2017
13 min

IP in Project Financing

Power plants, manufacturing and logistics facilities, and other infrastructure projects are not typically seen as operations in which intellectual property (...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Apr 1, 2017
4 min

Merger Due Diligence for Cyber Risks

Those who have lived through mergers understand they are an intensive period of highly focused and compressed effort for both the acquiring and the acquired ...