COVID-19 Viewpoints
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Massachusetts’ Reopening Plan: What Businesses in Phase 1 Need to Know
May 22, 2020 | Blog | By Chelsea Wood-Brown
On May 18, 2020, the Baker-Polito Administration revealed its four-phased approach to reopening the Massachusetts economy and getting people back into the workplace in a safe manner, all while gradually easing social restrictions in order to minimize the negative health impacts of COVID-19.
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UPDATED: New York State Stays Evictions and Foreclosures Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
May 22, 2020 | Blog | By Therese Doherty, Alexandra Gallo-Cook
Recent Executive Orders by New York Governor Cuomo and Administrative Orders by the New York State courts effectively have stayed the enforcement of residential and commercial evictions and foreclosures in New York through June 20, 2020, and barred the commencement of any such new proceedings until further order of the courts.
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Republican Senators Request “Start of Construction” Relief Under Sections 45 and 48 for COVID-Related Delays, Including “Continuous Efforts” Rule for Physical Work Projects
May 22, 2020 | Blog
In a May 21 letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, three Republican senators—Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Susan M. Collins (R-ME), and Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC)—have requested that Treasury modify existing Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) guidance on “start of construction” to provide production tax credit (“PTC”) and investment tax credit (“ITC”) relief to wind and solar projects affected by COVID-19 related disruptions.
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Massachusetts’ Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo Delivers Remote Chamber Address on Vision for the Remainder of Legislative Session
May 21, 2020 | Blog | By Steven Baddour, Daniel Connelly, Caitlin Beresin, Kaitlyn Sprague, Taylor Shepherd
IRS Provides Tax Relief Relating to Travel Disruptions Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
May 20, 2020 | Advisory | By David Salamon
This article outlines Treasury Department and IRS tax relief available to individuals and businesses affected by travel disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Part Ten of the COVID-19 Roadmap Series: Workplace Communications and Trainings
May 20, 2020 | Blog | By Danielle Bereznay
In the final part of our Roadmap Series, as employers prepare to transition to on-site operations for segments of their staff, we discuss considerations for COVID-19 related communications to the workforce. We also address the importance of conducting workplace trainings for managers and staff that address new regulatory considerations for workplace safety, telecommuting arrangements, health screenings, and leave and accommodation requests to prepare for the “new normal.”
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NYSE Temporarily Eases Certain Shareholder Approval Requirements as a Result of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
May 19, 2020 | Advisory | By Daniel T. Kajunski
On May 14, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved changes to the NYSE Listed Company Manual to provide a temporary exception to the shareholder approval rules for certain capital raising transactions as a result of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic.
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Federal Circuit Appeals Continue as Scheduled Without In-Person Arguments
May 19, 2020 | Blog | By Brad M Scheller, Jessica Perry
Yesterday the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit released modifications to court procedures, indicating that all in-person oral arguments are suspended until further notice.
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Part Nine of the COVID-19 Roadmap Series: Ensuring Compliance – Leave Management
May 18, 2020 | Blog | By Corbin Carter, Natalie C. Groot, Michael Arnold, Andrew Matzkin
As management and human resources professionals are well aware, COVID-19 has drastically and rapidly impacted the workplace. Among other things, employees require more flexibility, employers are increasingly reliant upon remote work arrangements, and legislative and administrative responses to the pandemic from various levels of government have created new requirements for businesses, including new leave entitlements for employees. In Part Nine of our Roadmap Series, we explore key considerations surrounding leave management and compliance as employees and businesses navigate this new terrain.
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Massive House Bill Proposes Mandatory Coverage of COVID-19 Vaccines and Therapies
May 18, 2020 | Blog | By Theresa Carnegie
As the COVID-19 public health crisis continues, it is sometimes easy to forget what issues were at the forefront of our national conversation before the pandemic. It was mere months ago when Congress appeared to be edging closer to a deal on legislation addressing drug pricing. While the focus on drug pricing issues may have shifted of late, the American public’s access to drugs—and, more recently, vaccines—remains a critical public health issue, perhaps now more than ever. As Congress works feverishly to pass legislation to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis, it remains to be seen what will come of the various drug pricing proposals that were being debated earlier this session. For now, it looks like any legislative action to enhance patients’ access to drug therapies will likely come through a coronavirus-related stimulus bill, such as the one introduced by the House of Representatives last week.
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Massachusetts’ Reopening Advisory Board Releases Reopening Report
May 18, 2020 | Blog | By Steven Baddour, Daniel Connelly, Kaitlyn Sprague, Caitlin Beresin, Taylor Shepherd
Today, the Baker-Polito Administration’s Reopening Advisory Board published their report outlining a 4-phase schedule for reopening the Commonwealth since the closure of non-essential businesses on March 23.
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COVID-19: Prioritized Patent Application Examination and Patents 4 Partnerships
May 15, 2020 | Blog | By Peter Corless
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently launched two new initiatives to support COVID-19 innovations: 1) a COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, and 2) Patents 4 Partnerships that provides a searchable forum to list COVID-19 related published applications and patents available for licensing.
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Court Puts COVID-19 Emergency Debt Collection Regulations on Ice
May 15, 2020 | Blog | By Pete Michaels, Michael Pastore
CMS Allows Pharmacies and Other Suppliers to Bill Medicare for COVID-19 Testing
May 15, 2020 | Blog | By Karen Lovitch, Jane Haviland
In an effort to address the need to increase the availability of COVID-19 testing, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued guidance notifying pharmacies and other Medicare-enrolled suppliers that they may temporarily enroll as independent clinical diagnostic laboratories during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) so that they may bill Medicare for COVID-19 testing.
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Part Two: To Pay, or Not to Pay (Rent) – California Landlord-Tenant Regulations During COVID-19
May 15, 2020 | Blog | By Antony Nash, Michael Godwin
COVID-19 has flipped the landlord-tenant relationship on its head. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the relationship between landlords and tenants—and the payment of rent—was governed by the terms of the lease.
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Part Eight of the COVID-19 Roadmap Series: Avoiding COVID-19 Wage & Hour and Labor Law Pitfalls
May 15, 2020 | Blog | By Delaney Busch, Brendan Lowd
In Part Eight of our Roadmap Series, we take a closer look at wage and hour compliance concerns that may arise during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what employers can do to minimize these pitfalls.
Remember that wage and hour concerns, and how to properly address them, will often depend on whether a company is dealing with exempt employees (i.e., employees not entitled to overtime pay regardless of the number of hours worked in a day or week) or non-exempt employees (i.e., employees entitled to overtime pay if the employee works more than eight hours a day or forty hours in a week, depending on the state). This critical distinction will largely govern how employers should consider and plan for the issues described below.
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Remember that wage and hour concerns, and how to properly address them, will often depend on whether a company is dealing with exempt employees (i.e., employees not entitled to overtime pay regardless of the number of hours worked in a day or week) or non-exempt employees (i.e., employees entitled to overtime pay if the employee works more than eight hours a day or forty hours in a week, depending on the state). This critical distinction will largely govern how employers should consider and plan for the issues described below.
ML Strategies COVID-19 Insights Week In Review — May 15, 2020
May 15, 2020 | Article
This update covers federal and Massachusetts responses to the pandemic, including the House Democrats’ phase 4 economic stimulus proposal, the SBA’s report on PPP implementation plus criticism of how it manages EIDL, and Massachusetts’s reopening plan and its proposed $1B supplemental budget to cover Covid-19 spending.
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Part One: To Pay, or Not to Pay (Rent) – California Landlord-Tenant Regulations During COVID-19
May 14, 2020 | Blog | By Antony Nash, Michael Godwin
COVID-19 has flipped the landlord-tenant relationship on its head. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the relationship between landlords and tenants—and the payment of rent—was governed by the terms of the lease.
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COVID-19 and Down-Round Financings
May 14, 2020 | Alert | By Jeremy Glaser, Sebastian E. Lucier
This alert reviews the risks of a down round financing and lists steps that a company considering this option during the COVID-19 pandemic can take to reduce those risks.
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SBA Issues Additional Guidance Regarding “Necessity” Certification Required under the CARES Act
May 13, 2020 | Blog | By Hope Foster, Karen Lovitch, Joseph Price, Sahir Surmeli
Today the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued additional guidance with respect to the “necessity” certification required under the CARES Act in connection with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The relevant guidance appears in FAQ 46, and it is very good news for borrowers who received PPP loans under $2 million (together with PPP loans to affiliates, if any). The SBA, in consultation with the U.S. Department of Treasury, has determined that a safe harbor will apply with respect to SBA’s review of the certification of necessity in connection with respect to such loans. Specifically, “[a]ny borrower that, together with its affiliates, received PPP loans with an original principal amount of less than $2 million will be deemed to have made the required certification concerning the necessity of the loan request in good faith.”
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