New Laws, New Year Part 2 Illinois small businesses need to get up to speed on a variety of state legislation passed in the previous session that came online on January 1. We covered several new provisions in a post last week [LINK], including a higher state minimum wage and…
Illinois Employers Face New Laws 2025 Guest Author: Kelsey Feucht, Associate Attorney with Bellas & Wachowski Illinois small businesses need to get up to speed on a variety of state legislation – particularly employment laws – which became effective on January 1. Key new laws (or amendments to existing legislation)…
Rarely does something that is forced affect a lasting difference, much less result in an improved circumstance. That said, as I considered another flip of the calendar, I decided to at least partially break my own rule and to offer what I will call a few suggestions that just might…
Corporate Transparency Act Updates WHO’S ON FIRST? ANOTHER UPDATE ON THE CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY ACT New Reporting Deadlines and Ongoing Legal Drama On December 23, 2024, a federal appeals court granted a stay over the nationwide injunction issued by a federal court which flipped the requirements for filing around (again!). The…
Holiday Business Parties With the holiday season in full swing, workplaces often become the site of parties, gift exchanges, and other festive activities. These activities foster camaraderie among coworkers and allow teams to celebrate their accomplishments. Unfortunately, though, they can also sometimes lead to inappropriate behavior, including sexual harassment, which…
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…
AI & Content Creation Businesses using generative AI programs like ChatGPT to create any content—whether for blogs, websites or other marketing materials, and whether text, visuals, sound or video—need to ensure that they’re not inadvertently using copyrighted materials in the process. Clearly, the times they are a changing….and businesses need…
How Can Generative AI Assist Your Business? What is generative artificial intelligence, embedded in applications such as ChatGPT? How could it help your business? What pitfalls should you avoid. What policies should you craft around it? This is no longer science fiction. AI has become a reality and every business…
Corporate Transparency Act While Congress might have had worthwhile purposes in passing the Corporate Transparency Act, a section of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, it’s nonetheless unconstitutional, according to a federal judge’s summary judgment ruling in an Alabama case brought by the National Small Business Association (NSBA). The Act…