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On May 5, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act), which is intended to protect workers from airborne infectious diseases in the workplace. The law will require employers to comply with minimum standards for workplace safety, which are to be developed, implemented and enforced by the NYS Department of Labor (NYSDOL) and the New York Department of Health (NYSDOH). These standards, once implemented, will address testing, PPE, social distancing, hand hygiene, disinfection, and engineering controls.
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By now, you’ve undoubtedly heard from many businesses who have switched to remote operations, cancelled unnecessary in-person meetings and business travel, etc. We’ve been implementing our plan in stages over the last two weeks, and have done the same. The health of our attorneys and staff, as well as our clients, contacts and friends, always comes first.
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The coronavirus pandemic has brought the United States office market to a near halt, and the path to recovery is as uncertain as ever, experts say. “I believe the second theory has gone a lot further than the first theory at the moment,” he said. “That is a function not only of employer considerations — feeling they need less space and would like to spend less when times are tough — but also the employees who prefer operating remotely more often than not. There are people who have cabin fever or would like to be able to function without kids underfoot, but a lot of people are functioning well.” Click below to read the full story.
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With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting families and relationships across the country, now more than ever, working through the realities of divorce can be incredibly challenging. In addition to the multitude of difficult decisions to be made, families are forced to determine how best to proceed when economic and social norms have been turned upside down.
Due to the challenges facing us in these unprecedented times, individuals considering or going through a divorce should keep in mind several factors. In this article, various topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic will be explored from the different perspectives of New Jersey family law attorneys from Phillips Nizer and wealth advisors from Mariner Wealth Adivsors. -
Now, more than ever, dating relationships are formed by electronic communications. A new dating “app” appears every other day and there are seemingly infinite amounts of online dating websites. In the current climate, with the national stay-at-home directives caused by the Coronavirus Crisis, people are even more reliant on technology and electronic communications to form dating relationships. Unfortunately, while methods of communication may have changed, domestic violence has not. This is the Fourth Article in our continuing series of Family Law Issues and the Coronavirus Crisis.
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"Every retailer is facing the same proglem but not all retailers in an equal position," said Alan Behr, chairman of the fashion and luxury goods practice at the law frim Phillips Nizer, noting the company's wekened balance sheet in the face of nationwide store closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. Other retailers like Nike INc. NKE +2.57% are in far better shape and are expected to gain market share in the crisis."
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Working from home presents a challenge to maintaining the protections over confidential data that organizations work hard manage in workplaces. Join us for a comprehensive and entertaining presentation on practical best practices for employees working from home while protecting their communications and sensitive data from unfamiliar threats. Presented by cybersecurity lawyer, Patrick Burke of Phillips Nizer LLP, who advises organization on protecting their data, and previously served as a Deputy Superintendent at the New York State Department of Financial Services where he supervised their dedicated Cybersecurity Examination Team.
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Fashion Practice Chair, Alan Behr is quoted, "Anner wrote: “Many buyers are evoking the force majeure clause in their contracts to justify the breaking of their binding obligation to pay for orders in production. But, for fashion law expert Alan Behr, this appears to be an unjustified use of the force majeure clause since most force majeure clauses do not specify pandemics as a reason for failure to pay. More importantly, according to Article 7.1.1 of the Vienna Convention for International Commercial Contracts, force majeure claims should apply to the party with the most relevant contractual obligation, which in this case would be the Bangladeshi factories producing items, not the buyers that have agreed to pay for them."
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Fashion Practice Chair, Alan Behr is quoted in this Penn State report on the COVID-19 effects on the global garment supply chains.
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"The International Olympic Committee is a powerful organization, and these are major brands," said Edward Schauder, a corporate and sports attorney handling licensing and marketing issues with Phillips Nizer LLP. "They don't want to get into big litigation. So what they are going to do is work it out."
The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and efforts to stop its spread, could also force some sponsors to drop out as they evaluate spending on advertising.
"Clearly, there will be hits currently, and there may be some discounts when you rework these deals," Schauder said. "I think it is reasonable to guess that everyone is going to take a hit."
"Whether they make it up next year, I don't know," he added.
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Aside from the privacy issues flagged in private litigation, Zoom is also facing security concerns over hackers breaking into virtual meetings, a practice known as “Zoom bombing.”
“At this point, there is no evidence that personally identifiable information has been stolen or compromised,” said Phillips Nizer LLP technology practice chair Thomas Jackson. “But that is certainly a concern going forward.” -
We live in exceptionally challenging times now and continuing into the foreseeable future. As we are faced with unpredictable circumstances, now is a good time to assess estate plans.
If you have original documents with Phillips Nizer, we retain special limited access to our office files and vaults. If you require originals of certain documents, please contact us and we will endeavor to send them to you within a reasonable amount of time. In many cases, but not all, copies can be provided to you quickly via email.
But what can you do from your own home to check up on your estate plan? Locate the documents and information you already have in place and check whether they are up to date and match your current circumstances. Have you recently married, divorced, had a new child, or perhaps lost a family member who is named in your documents? Among the things you probably have filed away somewhere are:- Beneficiary designations on 401Ks, IRAs and deferred compensation arrangements. If you can’t locate them, start calling and emailing your account representatives to get the information.
- Beneficiary designations on life insurance including group life policies you hold via employment. If you can’t locate the information, call your broker or human resources department.
- Beneficiary designations for transfer-on-death accounts Review bank and brokerage accounts where you have made a beneficiary designation.
- Do you have a Healthcare proxy and HIPAA waiver? It appoints one person who will make medical decisions for you if you are unable to.
- Do you have a General Durable Power of Attorney? It appoints someone to act for you in legal and financial matters, especially if you cannot do so, but also at other times if desired.
- Do you have a General Durable Power of Attorney for each major bank or broker with whom you hold accounts? Your bank or broker may have the form available online to print and execute with a notary.
- Do you have a Will? Are the people named as executor, trustee or guardian still alive? If not, are successors named who are still alive? Has it been updated in the last 10 years?
Contacts:
Donald Perry
Richard Duffy
Michael Galligan
Neil Kleinhandler
Maura Murphy
Tiberio Schwartz -
In the fashion sector, purchase orders are considered binding contracts, according to Alan Behr, a partner at the Phillips Nizer law firm who specializes in fashion law. That’s true whether the buyer is the retailer or the wholesaler buying materials and inputs necessary for making finished goods.
"The business risk is on the purchaser," Behr added. "That’s true for everyone anywhere along the chain."
While it’s common for P.O.s to contain a "force majeure" clause outlining circumstances when the obligation cannot be met or executed—usually due to an ‘act of God’ like an earthquake or tsunami —"there’s not a lot of law written about diseases" like the coronavirus pandemic, Behr said.
So what to do? Consider the business relationship, he advised, and forge a resolution that offers a win- win for both parties.
"The legal argument should be the last result," Behr said. "This requires a business solution based on ‘You need me and I need you.’"
Working through the crisis together is the best way to come out stronger on the other side, he added.
And while canceled goods are likely to spark a few lawsuits in the months ahead, "95 percent of all litigation filed is for vengeance, except matrimonial where it’s all 100 percent," Behr noted. "Avoid getting into the vengeance mentality.
"This is called the fashion business, not the fashion temper tantrum," he added. "Everyone needs to calm down."
If parties really choose to bicker over damages, the aggrieved party has a duty to mitigate and find "some other place to sell the goods to," Behr said, adding that the reality stands even for unfinished goods and inputs. "Even the button maker will have to find someone else to buy your buttons." That obligation also mitigates how much can be collected in damages, which usually is limited to the difference between the original contracted amount and the total collected when sold to the subsequent second buyer.
Special orders, however, are subject to different rules. A brand that orders proprietary, logoed buttons is "obliged" to collect those goods, for example. "It’s the same rule as you move up the chain. The customer’s purchaser must honor the contract," Behr said.
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There have been unique challenges for retailing since not long after Amazon.com first went live, but a worldwide disruption of supply chains and temporary but extended closures at points of sale is outside of all prior international experience. True, there had been speculation about such things one day happening, but it was almost always voiced in the context of war or terrorism, not disease.
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Alan Behr, an attorney specializing in intellectual property at the law firm Phillips Nizer, said the bill’s enactment would be a significant change in how the online companies run their businesses.
“It would be a material increase in their burden in terms of what they would need to do mechanically. It would be making them do something that physical retailers don’t physically have to do at the same level,” he told the Washington Examiner. -
“What the NBA did was really very responsible,” said Edward Schauder, a sports industry attorney for the law firm Phillips Nizer. He said the NBA and other leagues had been preparing to play games in near-empty stadiums – an unappealing idea but one that might preserve hundreds of millions of dollars in potential sponsorship and advertising dollars, even if team owners gave up ticket sales and merchandise vendor earnings.
The leagues may have been able to hold sponsors near their original rate, since the games would still have been broadcasted, Schauder said. -
Co-authored by Patrick Burke for the NYSBA
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"If a team goes ahead and holds an event despite most major sports shutting down, that shows that a team or league was not acting reasonably in the light of the circumstances," said Edward Schauder, head of Phillips Nizer LLP's sports law practice.
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Alan Behr fashion industry attorney and Partner at Phillips Nizer, told Retail Dive in an email last week that change in behavior will hurt merchandise sales at those events.
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"Luxury retail is still primarily a personal experience," Alan Behr, fashion industry attorney and Partner at Phillips Nizer, wrote in emailed comments. "If your customers are worried about human contact, therefore, your business has a new and unexpected challenge."
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"Physical stores have always risked being held liable for secondary liability if they sell counterfeit goods," said Alan Behr, trademark and intellectual property attorney at Phillips Nizer, a law firm based in New York City.
"Right now online platforms for third-party sellers such as Amazon are, generally speaking, exempt from liability."
COVID-19 Resources