Law360 Coronavirus: Wed June 17 Briefing
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TOP NEWS
Hiring From The Top: Firms Target Rainmakers Amid Virus
With the legal industry hit hard economically by the coronavirus, law firms have pivoted their hiring strategy from making “investment” hires to focusing on high-profile partners who can increase their revenues, recruiters said.
Counsel Who Care: How Attys Are Helping During A Crisis
As coronavirus cases have spread, law firms across the nation have been stepping up to help, from providing pro bono legal assistance to fundraisers and donations. Here, Law360 rounds up some of the latest charity efforts from the legal community in response to the pandemic.
Coronavirus: How Law Firms Are Handling The Downturn
UPDATED June 17, 2020, 11:29 AM EDT | The spreading coronavirus pandemic has upended the legal industry, forcing firms to cut salaries, lay off attorneys and make changes to summer associate programs. Here is a roundup of how law firms are responding.
Del. Bankruptcy Hearings To Resume With Heavy Restrictions
The chief judge of the Delaware bankruptcy bench told local lawyers Tuesday evening that in-person hearings in the First State will be allowed to resume beginning Wednesday, but stringent COVID-19 mitigation rules will be in place limiting the number of attorneys in the courtroom and requiring face coverings for all attendees.
Coronavirus Regulations: A State-By-State Week In Review
As a civil rights reckoning unfolded across the nation in the form of protests and calls for reform this past week, the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact wove itself into the fray. Massachusetts is offering testing for those who attended large gatherings, while a California jobs recovery task force declared the coronavirus crisis an opportunity to reimagine society.
CLOSINGS AND RESTRICTIONS
Coronavirus: The Latest Court Closures And Restrictions
UPDATED June 17, 2020, 2:04 PM EDT | As courts across the country take measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, some are restricting access and altering their procedures. Here is a roundup of changes.
Coronavirus: The Latest EU Court Closures And Restrictions
UPDATED June 17, 2020, 11:48 AM GMT | As courts across the region take measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, some are restricting access and altering their procedures. Here is a roundup of changes.
Central NY Courts To Resume In-Person Proceedings
State courthouses in central New York, including in Binghamton, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica, are set to reopen Wednesday for in-person business including arraignments and sentencings, officials said Tuesday, as the Empire State continues a gradual reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR ATTORNEYS
Apple, Google Urged To Ax COVID-19 Apps With No Gov’t Ties
Attorneys general from nearly 40 U.S. states and territories are pressing Google and Apple to ensure that their app stores are only offering mechanisms to track the spread of COVID-19 that are affiliated with public health authorities and that all contact tracing apps are taken down once the public health crisis has ended.
SEC Allows Towns To Sell Securities To Banks Amid COVID-19
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will temporarily allow registered municipal advisers to sell municipal securities to qualified banks and credit unions through 2020, an effort to free up cash in small cities and towns amid COVID-19, the regulator said in an order issued Tuesday.
IRS Could Emerge From Virus Talks With Even More Funding
Negotiations over the next pandemic response bill and another round of potential relief payments carry big stakes for the IRS, as lawmakers could grant the agency additional funding while tasking it with overseeing another delay of the tax filing deadline.
Housing Tax Credit Tenants Brace For Evictions Due To Virus
Thousands of cash-strapped apartment dwellers are bracing for a wave of evictions next month that could worsen the national affordable housing shortage, placing pressure on owners of housing tax credit properties seeking to maintain financial solvency during the COVID-19 pandemic.
7th Circ. Backs Ill. COVID-19 Order Limiting Religious Events
The Seventh Circuit Tuesday backed an Illinois executive order limiting the size of religious gatherings to help slow the spread of COVID-19, ruling that churches are closer to concert halls and movie theaters, which are shuttered under the order, than to warehouses and grocery stores, which are less limited than religious institutions.
Ill. McDonald’s Managers Say Virus Safety A ‘Constant’ Talk
Managers for Chicago McDonald’s restaurants being sued over allegedly insufficient workplace COVID-19 protections testified Tuesday that they give their employees adequate virus protection gear, and that training them how to use it is a “constant” conversation.
McDonald’s Franchise Hit With Suit Over COVID-19 Outbreak
A COVID-19 outbreak at a McDonald’s in Oakland, California, spawned a public nuisance lawsuit Tuesday alleging the franchise’s owners forced highly contagious workers who had contracted the virus to keep working and gave workers face masks made from dog diapers.
Treasury Can’t Hold Back $679M For COVID-19 From Tribes
A D.C. federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of the Treasury to pay out virtually all that’s left of $8 billion in COVID-19 relief funds to tribal governments, saying the department’s intention to hold back $679 million as a hedge against losing a suit over the funds “simply cannot be justified.”
Cruise Co. Seeks Quick Win In ‘Unprecedented’ COVID-19 Suit
Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. has asked a California federal court to toss a negligence suit by passengers including a woman whose husband allegedly got COVID-19 while aboard ship and later died, saying U.S. Supreme Court rulings in maritime cases limit punitive damages even if the claims go forward.
EXPERT ANALYSIS
Employer Best Practices From EEOC’s New Virus Q&A
Following the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recent COVID-19 Q&A, there are several steps employers should take to address harassment, and age- and pregnancy-related accommodation and alternative arrangement requests, say Sharon Masling and former EEOC commissioner Chai Feldblum at Morgan Lewis.
The Compliance Risks Facing Companies That Use Chat Apps
With expanded remote work practices, it is now more important than ever for companies to implement data retention policies that address ephemeral messaging platforms such as Snapchat and WhatsApp, as this technology may be used to facilitate unlawful conduct and spoliation of evidence, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
How COVID-19 Will Transform Real Estate Loan Docs: Part 2
Borrowers and lenders will need to revisit construction loans and other loans with future funding components, as well as nonrecourse carveouts, due to circumstances caused by COVID-19, say Frederick Klein and Skyler Anderson at DLA Piper.
