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2015 Articles

Cloud computing: An answer to cybersecurity? A feedback on the 20th European Intellectual Property Forum By Camille Conquer May 2015 An overview of this two-day conference held in Paris earlier this year.
Eight common employee benefit plan failures discovered during mergers and acquisitions By William H. Mayer February 2015 In addition to identifying areas of concern, this article will address potential liabilities associated with the failures and provide a summary of corrective measures that may be available to alleviate the potential liabilities.
How to counsel your client so that you both survive a regulatory inspection By Lisa A. Funderburg September 2015 Some practical tips for helping your client prepare for a regulatory inspection, survive an inspection, and manage any follow-up that may come from an inspection.
Illinois amends Equal Pay Act By Michael R. Lied September 2015 Effective January 1, 2016, the Act is amended to cover all Illinois employers, rather than only employers of four or more employees.
IRS retirement plan limitations for 2016 By Bernard G. Peter December 2015 A look at the new limitations and a table of previous years' limitations for comparison purposes.
JPMorgan’s unfortunate loss of $1.5 billion: Security interests versus a bankruptcy discharge By Christine M. Kieta December 2015 Secured transactions are about exciting as a piece of paper. But they touch almost every person and every business that has debt. Sometimes it is secured. Sometimes it is discharged. So what happened to JPMorgan?
Mortgagees beware: Rents and profits rule By R. Stephen Scott December 2015 With defaults continuing on commercial property mortgage notes in many sectors of the United States, it is worth reminding mortgagees and loan servicers that the “Rents and Profits Rule” continues in effect in Illinois.
NLRB ambush election rules and e-mail communications—Labor Board ushers in fundamental changes favoring big labor By Mark A. Spognardi September 2015 The decision in Purple Communications and the quickie election rules are designed to reinvigorate the union movement with a new generation of young, millennial employees, without which the union movement will wither away.
Protecting your employee handbooks and policies from attacks by the NLRB By Mark A. Spognardi December 2015 For almost a decade, the NLRB has devoted increasing attention to invalidating employer work rules which they deem to interfere with employees’ rights to organize.
Recent H-2B program changes require careful planning by employers By Tejas Shah September 2015 Given the flux and uncertainty within the H-2B program and the impact of the new IFR on recruitment timelines, employers with temporary worker needs during 2015 and the first half of 2016 are well-advised to begin planning now.
The right to be forgotten online: Trending from Europe to the U.S.? By Amanda E. Bacoyanis & Camille Conquer February 2015 The “Right to Be Forgotten” is a (newly recognized) right of individuals to have personal information removed from the Internet that they find embarrassing, harmful, or potentially stigmatizing. Whether it is, or should be, an actual right is a hotly contested subject throughout the world.
Two laws all employers must be aware of in 2015 By Laura D. Mruk February 2015 As of January 1, 2015, Illinois has enacted two new laws that impact most employers. 
Workplace wellness programs draw scrutiny from the EEOC By Michael K. Chropowicz & Ronald J. Passarelli May 2015 While the purported benefits to employers of maintaining wellness programs may be clear, uncertainty regarding the legality of such programs appears to be increasing.