The Dangers of Payroll Tax Deferment As part of a series of executive actions rolled out in early August, President Trump ordered Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to allow the deferral of the 6.2% payroll tax on employees from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31 for workers making less than about $104,000 on an…
The Key to Surviving as a Small Business How can your business – and you – survive the COVID-19 pandemic? It’s a tall order. But small business owners have means of surviving. The corollary shutdowns have impacted 20% of small businesses, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and restrictions…
Entrepreneurial Business Concepts Companies like GE, Disney and HP got their start during the Great Depression, while Airbnb, Uber, Slack and Venmo launched in cyberspace during the Great Recession. Taboola’s analysis of more than 8 billion page views, along with data from the aggregated readership among 1,000 of its publisher…
The Supreme Court decided two years ago in Carpenter v. United States that the Fourth Amendment requires police to obtain a warrant, in most circumstances, to access GPS location information spanning seven days or more from a cell phone user. Prior to that decision, the court had held that voluntarily…
Health and Safety Regulations On June 24, Virginia became the first state in the country to implement workplace health and safety rules to protect workers from coronavirus infections. Could Illinois be next? Whatever happens, these actions should serve as an example of what every business should do. Virginia’s health…
Small Businesses Reopening As of today June 26, Illinois has reached Stage 4 of coronavirus reopening, which allows essentially all types of businesses to reopen provided they observe public health safety guidance and capacity limits, with no more than 50 people allowed in one place. What does this mean for…
How concerned should small businesses be about wrongful discharge lawsuits from plaintiffs terminated after alleging publicly that their employer did not follow health and safety guidelines to combat the spread of COVID-19? The first clues may emerge from one of the first employment lawsuits related to the pandemic, filed in…
CoronaVirus FAQs Business owners are anxious to reopen their doors and revive their sales. But there are concerns that the proper precautions be taken to protect their employees and customers, at a time when no treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 appears imminent. As governors and mayors begin to ease restrictions…
As Chicago area business litigation lawyers this is a question we frequently are asked. Electronic Signatures are Enforceable under Illinois Laws. E-Signatures are permissible and valid in Illinois under the Illinois Electronic Commerce Security Act (the ECSA). Under the ECSA e-signatures can be used for all contracts except for real…
What to do when your business is forced to close due to the CoronaVirus? Does your business insurance policy cover the lost business due to the pandemic? Most businesses carry commercial property insurance, which often includes business income coverage provisions. Recent events have caused our Chicago area business clients to raise…