Every state has a consumer protection law that prohibits deceptive business practices, with many prohibiting unfair or unconscionable practices as well. These statutes, commonly known as Unfair and Deceptive Act and Practice (“UDAP”) statutes, are intended to provide specific protections and remedies for consumers in the marketplace. UDAP laws have very broad language and cover…
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The importance of establishing a Last Will and Testament (“Will”) or other testamentary substitute(s) (such as a revocable trust) for all competent adults to dispose of their assets at death cannot be overstated. Without a formal plan for distributing assets to a client’s beneficiaries provided in a Will or trust, the intestacy laws of the…
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Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (“Phase I”) are a commonly utilized assessment tool for environmental due diligence in most commercial real estate transactions in the United States. These site assessments and environmental reports provide purchasers and lenders with a summary of environmental concerns for the subject property and abutting properties, specifically as to the existence…
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On March 21, 2022, the IRS issued a fact sheet on the tax treatment of money received through crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is a method of raising money through the Internet by soliciting contributions from many people. In many cases, people establish crowdfunding campaigns to raise money for personal or social causes for themselves or others. In…
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New consumer-style disclosure laws for certain commercial finance providers are springing up throughout the United States. States such as Connecticut, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Maryland, Utah, and Virginia have introduced commercial finance disclosure bills which are in the various stages of legislation. Most notably, California and New York, have signed these bills into law,…
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced on February 9, 2022, proposed rules and amendments (“Proposed Rules”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 that would impose significant new requirements and prohibitions on investment advisers to hedge funds, private equity funds and other Investment Company Act Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) private funds, as well as…
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The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “District Court”) recently overturned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York’s confirmation of drugmaker Purdue Pharma’s controversial Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Plan (the “Plan”). At issue was Purdue Pharma’s use of non-consensual releases of third parties in this case, a…
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The appointment of a trustee is one of the more important decisions that clients establishing trusts face because the trustee controls the client/creator’s trust assets. According to law, the trustee serves as the trust’s fiduciary, holding and investing the assets for the benefit of the trust beneficiaries. This means that the trustee has both a…
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Beach ownership can change with the tides, or in certain cases, with the Court. On November 12, 2021, in Deckelbaum et al. v. Carew, et al. 16MISC000014, the Massachusetts Land Court stayed its prior ruling that held a property owner’s land included the beach seaward of the home to the historic low-water tide mark.[1] The…
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On December 11, 2021, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) released a statement regarding a cyber security vulnerability found in Java software libraries. The CISA categorized this “Log4j” or ‘Log4shell” vulnerability as a “severe risk” that could be “widely exploited” by actors with ill-intent.[1] While this vulnerability is a risk to business software generally,…
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