For a few years now, we have been hearing about the approach of a “silver tsunami.” For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the demographic phenomenon of an aging population, associated mostly with the large wave of retirement that the baby boomer generation is about to go through. With small businesses employing roughly …
Outside General Counsel
The Department of Labor “new” final rule for gig workers
On May 5th, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the withdrawal of the “Independent Contractor Rule” which had been adopted by the Trump administration. The rule was expected to be effective on March 8, 2021, but a presidential memo, dated January 20, 2021, has postponed it for two weeks and is expected to open …
How patronage is really paid out to cooperative members: qualified and nonqualified written notice of allocations (1/2)
Recently, I had a few clients asking about the distinction between qualified and nonqualified written notice of allocation. Tax season being right around the corner, it feels like a good opportunity to talk about those. The USDA has some wonderful material[1] explaining the definition and use of both notices of allocation, this post and the …
SEC Adopts Temporary Rules to Loosen Crowdfunding Regulation in Light of COVID-19
In recognition of the particular effect of COVID-19 on small businesses, the SEC issued temporary rules earlier this month to allow small businesses greater access to interstate crowdfunding. The federal requirements for crowdfunding, called Regulation Crowdfunding or Regulation CF, had slow approval processes and arduous requirements which made it difficult for small businesses to access …
Contract Drafting: More Art than Science
I’ve been practicing law for more than 13-years. By some measurements, I’m still in the adolescent phase of my career. Nevertheless, in that time, I have reviewed and drafted thousands of contracts, ranging from the commonplace – NDAs, LOIs, Purchase and Sale Agreements, Consulting Services Agreements, Contractor Agreements – to the more complex – cooperative …
GDPR is Almost Here – Are you Prepared?
On May 25, 2018, the European Union’s new data protection legislation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), will take effect. This law heralds a new era of rigorous data privacy and security and makes data privacy a fundamental right for EU citizens. Of course, all EU companies and many multinational companies doing business in the …
Giving Employees the Right Vacation Time
Are you following Colorado law when it comes to paying for vacation time when an employee leaves your company? What if you lump together vacation time, sick time and other time off into “Paid Time Off” (PTO)? What follows is a discussion of whether your current employee policies regarding PTO are following Colorado law, especially …
A View from an Outside General Counsel’s Perch
I was an in-house general counsel for more than 5 years at Namaste Solar. While in the role, I learned that rendering traditional legal advice was, as they say, necessary but totally insufficient to being successful or adding value. My colleagues consistently pushed me to add value by offering what I now call “legally informed …
