Conditional Gifts? A recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has sparked interest across legal circles. In a case centered around a $70,000 engagement ring, the court ruled that an engagement ring must be returned to the purchaser if the marriage does not take place, regardless of who may…
Neural Data: What Illinois Business Owners Need to Know California enacted an Amendment to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that adds neural data to the list of protected personal sensitive information. For Illinois business owners—especially those conducting business in California or utilizing neurotechnology—this development is worth understanding, as it…
Insurance Coverage for BIPA violations. Businesses across Illinois are facing serious challenges in securing insurance coverage for lawsuits brought under the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). And a recent decision by the federal court in Chicago – Westfield Insurance Company v. UCAL Systems, Inc. – dealt yet another blow to…
Non-Competes Now a Nonstarter This is really big news! Businesses that have entered into non-compete agreements with current or recently departed employees will need to come up with other ways of achieving the investment-protecting goals those non-competes were designed to accomplish. That’s because the Federal Trade Commission has issued a…
Aret Smart Contracts Smart? Imagine if the paper on which your business’ contracts are written could somehow come to life and automatically send payments to your collectors—and receive payments from your debtors—at the appropriate times, as different provisions of said contract are triggered. That’s more or less how electronic smart…
Are Non-Competes Really Enforceable? Most non-compete agreements between employers and employees violate the National Labor Relations Act, according to a May 30 memo from Jennifer A. Abruzzo, general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board. Such agreements, which bar employees from taking certain types of positions or running certain types…
Independent Contractors A recent Illinois Court of Appeals decision in an Illinois Wage Claim Act case puts a magnifying glass on the sticky wicket employers can find themselves when they are unable to pay an outside contractor, at least under certain circumstances. The decision in O’Malley v. Udo, 2022 IL…
Illinois Freedom to Work Act Illinois Employers who want to protect their business and trade secrets by using restrictive employment contracts will find new hoops to jump through. The enforcement of non-compete and non-solicit agreements, designed to erect roadblocks to prevent former employees from gaining an unfair advantage due to…
For the first time to our knowledge a judge has ordered rent relief for a Chicago restaurant. The bankruptcy judge ruled that the “Act of God” clause in the lease gives the restaurant rent relief when it was forced to closed during the the COVID-19 mandatory closings. CoronaVirus FAQs The…
Cyber Security Issues while working remotely. Does your cyber liability insurance cover data breaches that occur while employees are working at home, using their personal devices such as tablets and laptops? There’s no time like the present to look into this issue, with most employees telecommuting and hackers perhaps sensing…