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The new Paycheck Protection Program loans are meant to encourage small businesses to keep their workers employed through the COVID-19 crisis. Here’s some new guidance on loan forgiveness. The new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) makes available low-interest and potentially forgivable loans typically to businesses that employ fewer than 500 people. Borrowers and their advisers have struggled to understand the forgiveness aspect of the PPP since the program was enacted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Patrick J. Maxwell, Melissa McCord, Liz E. Peebles address two new interim final rules on loan forgiveness issued…
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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides some credit protections for consumers, according to a recent blog post from Ray Dall’Osto and Chris Hayden of GRGB Law in Milwaukee. In addition, amidst an uptick in fraud and scams, the authors note that “the Federal Trade Commission announced in May 2020 that an agreement has been reached with the nationwide credit reporting companies to allow for free, weekly credit reports, not just one free report per year.” Read the full blog post. See more articles and notices on the table of contents page for the Coronavirus & …
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Coronavirus ＆ the Law Blog What About Evictions After the Supreme Court’s Decision to Block Safer at Home? It’s a question attorneys and their landlord clients have been asking, recently. Jennifer Hayden of Petrie + Petrie S.C. in Milwaukee provides an answer in a recent blog post. Short answer: The Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to block a statewide safer at home extension was “narrowly tailored” to that specific order and did not lift enforceability of an emergency order that blocked evictions until May 27. Read the full blog post. See more articles and notices on the table of contents…
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Coronavirus ＆ the Law Blog Silver Linings in a Dark Cloud Gregg M. Herman Court appearances via Zoom, live U.S. Supreme Court hearings, and improvements in court procedures. Gregg Herman discusses a few of the good things to come out of the coronavirus pandemic. While they certainly don’t outweigh the tremendous harm this awful virus is causing to our legal system and society, a few good things may come out of the coronavirus pandemic. Gregg Herman of Loeb & Herman S.C., Milwaukee, says that, given all the bad things, the legal system should take advantage of any good thing, no…
On Friday, the SBA published its Paycheck Protection Program Loan Forgiveness Application, which includes instructions for completing the application.  The application can be found here.  Of note, the application contains further information with respect to the timing of paying and incurring payroll costs as that relates to calculating the amount eligible for forgiveness.  Additionally, the application provides certain borrowers (those with biweekly or more frequent payroll periods) flexibility in terms of when the eight-week “covered period” begins. O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing remains open and ready to help you. For questions or further information relating to the Paycheck…
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Author: Attorney David E. SapersteinPhone: 608-257-0945Email: dsaperstein@hurleyburish.com This practical series, “Nuts and Bolts,” is intended to demystify the process of being charged with a crime in Wisconsin state (circuit) courts. The court process can be overwhelming. Knowing what to expect from the process may make it less confusing and unpredictable, and hopefully less stressful. Will I Be in Jail During My Case? — Bail and Pretrial Release Most accused persons are released from custody during the pendency of their cases, either by posting cash and/or by signing a court order promising to abide by certain conditions while the case is…
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May 14, 2020 – Working from home is not new, but working from home during a global pandemic is not normal. Managing employees to meet or exceed standards under these conditions is equally difficult, but there are tools to help stay the course. The first step is to define what success looks like now.  For me, success involves healthy employees, ensuring business continuity, and meeting goals. In order to reach those goals in this moment, managers must adapt to changing operational conditions.  Determine which standards are flexible. Look at your employee’s office hours, projects, and deadlines. Speak with your employees…
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On March 26, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a memorandum announcing that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it would exercise enforcement discretion if regulated entities violated certain environmental obligations due to the pandemic. The press cast this temporary policy in dramatic headlines, such as The Hill’s article, “EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus.” The coverage was consistent with the broader narrative of the Trump administration’s ongoing work to limit the reach of certain environmental regulations, and the progressive weakening of EPA’s enforcement efforts. The temporary policy is less dramatic than the initial headlines…
This morning, the SBA issued much anticipated additional guidance with respect to the Paycheck Protection Program’s repayment safe harbor.  The new guidance provides significant clarity with respect to how the SBA will evaluate whether a borrower made the following certification in good faith when submitting its loan application: “Current economic uncertainty makes this loan request necessary to support the ongoing operations of the Applicant.” With the new guidance, the SBA makes clear that all borrowers receiving a loan of less than $2 million will be deemed to have made the certification in good faith.  Loans to borrowers and their affiliates…
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Author: Attorney Marcus BerghahnPhone: 608-257-0945Email: mberghahn@hurleyburish.com We advise our clients to not speak with law enforcement without first seeking the advice of counsel.  Because when speaking with law enforcement you have two choices:  tell the truth or say nothing at all.  Anything short of the truth—even when law enforcement knows the statement to not be true—is a crime.  But telling the truth may not be preferable, because the truth may implicate you in a crime, whether you know it or not.  And, more important:  law enforcement, when speaking with you, can lie to you.  Silence, or the invoking of your…
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Five Steps to Create a Safer Workplace for Returning Employees Policymakers are focusing attention on restarting the U.S. economy. In an article from Aaron McCann, Christine Liu McLaughlin, and Sara Schenck at Godfrey & Kahn S.C., the authors provide a basic roadmap to help employers navigate workplace safety. For instance, employers should identify key authorities and formalize a schedule to regularly review applicable guidance and assess COVID-19 related risks facing each employee. “Your risk analysis will dictate the degree to which you must implement various workplace controls to mitigate COVID-19 threats,” the authors write in “Five Steps to Create …
            I previously wrote about the NBA 2K copyright lawsuit that involved reproducing the tattoos of famous athletes in video games a few years ago. Recently, the district court issued its opinion in the case, and it was in favor of the video game company.             In 2016, Solid Oak Sketches, LLC sued the makers of the NBA 2K video game series. Solid Oak had acquired the exclusive license to a number of tattoo designs that were tattooed on famous basketball players, notably among them Lebron James, and it alleged the NBA 2K games infringed…
The Small Business Administration has given borrowers another week to decide whether to repay loans under the Paycheck Protection Program without the risk of penalties. On Tuesday night, the SBA extended the safe harbor for repaying PPP loans from May 7 to May 14. In addition, the SBA indicated that it would provide before May 14 more guidance for the certification question that has caused much consternation for some PPP borrowers. Applicants for PPP loans certified that, given current economic uncertainty, the loan was necessary to support the ongoing operations of the applicant. The CARES Act waived for PPP loans…
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Author: Attorney Marcus J. BerghahnPhone: 608-257-0945Email: mberghahn@hurleyburish.com Given that parking tickets are probably one of the most common and annoying types of police contacts that a citizen may have, it’s not surprising that a smart attorney found the right case to challenge the manner in which parking restrictions were enforced:  by chalking tires.  In Madison, a number of parking enforcement vehicles employ tire chalking and a virtual counterpart: automated license plate reading technology. Within the last year two different courts addressed these technologies in legal challenges to the question of whether the technology violated the Fourth Amendment’s proscription against unreasonable…
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Coronavirus ＆ the Law Blog April 30 2020 The Value of Updating Workplace Testing Policies in Advance of the COVID-19 Reboot Is COVID-19 return-to-work testing of employees lawful? Bryan Symes of Weld Riley S.C. in Eau Claire explores the topic.       The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has updated its guidance document concerning employee/applicant testing, signaling to the regulated community the COVID-19 return-to-work testing of employees is lawful under certain circumstances, according to Bryan Symes of Weld Riley S.C. in Eau Claire. In his latest blog post, Symes rapid antibody/serology testing may, like other methods of employee testing,…
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Law students all over the country are asking for something that is an anomaly everywhere but Wisconsin: admission to the bar upon graduation without taking the bar exam. Wisconsin’s “diploma privilege” – or automatic admission – allows for law students to be sworn in to the bar almost immediately upon graduation from one of its two law schools, after meeting other requirements, such as the character and fitness review. As someone who went to law school in Massachusetts, I had to sit for the Wisconsin bar exam when preparing to move there in 2012. It wasn’t until later that I…