In September 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary (“OED”) added the word “fuhgeddaboudit”, among others, as part of its quarterly update. The term is defined as: “In representations of regional speech (associated especially with New York and New Jersey): ‘forget about it’, used to indicate that a suggested scenario is unlikely or undesirable.” However, anyone who has seen the movie Donnie Brasco starring Johnny Depp (“Depp”), knows that the OED definition does not account fo

Effective March 1, 2017, all banks and entities providing insurance in New York State will be required to meet new, minimum cyber-security standards, and certify compliance each February 15 after internal risk assessments are performed. While some larger entities may already meet these standards, many will not. Entities which also engage in business in other states, such as California, or overseas in areas such as the EU, are expected to adopt best-industry security practic

The Delaware Online Privacy and Protection Act (“DOPPA”) became effective on January 1, 2016. This new law requires compliance in three major areas: (1) conspicuous posting of a compliant privacy policy; (2) advertising and marketing to children; and (3) enhancing the privacy protections of users of digital books (“e-books”). Why should a business be concerned with a Delaware law if it is not based in Delaware? DOPPA is applicable to all websites and mobile applications (“app

As business lawyers, we frequently get questions from our clients about types of equity incentives and valuing equity: Can an employee have options granted at $0.01? Can we give “free” stock to a new executive? The short answer is that yes, a company can do either of those things. However, because of often-overlooked tax consequences, your new executive or employee is going to end up unhappy and will probably blame you, which is a less than ideal way to (literally and figura

Question Presented: What should LLCs do in preparation of the new IRS partnership tax audit and assessment rules? Short Answer As of December 31, 2017, the IRS will require all entities taxed as partnerships to pay for imputed taxes on partners for prior tax years at the partnership level. Most LLCs elect to be treated as partnerships for tax purposes. These LLCs and other partnerships should: ensure their operating agreement provides that former members are required to indem

The UBER developments highlight an absolutely critical aspect of leadership inmanagement. If you don't clean your own house, someone can very well do it foryou and you may not like the results. Let's face facts people. NO ONE cares more about your business or your careerthan you. Once it gets to the point that someone else weighs in on your judgmentor critical thinking on the workplace environment, you may very well lose controlof your own business or of your place within the

Legislative Status: The California Senate passed SB 790 and it is now before the California Assembly Committee on Health (next hearing is June 27, 2017), having been amended by the Assembly on June 13, 2017. If adopted by the Assembly with amendments from the version passed by the Senate, the Senate will then have to “concur” on such a version before it is passed by the legislature and sent to the Governor for final adoption and incorporation into the California Health and S

Prevalence of executive employment agreements – the competition for attracting talent in rapidly growing IT/SaaS companies is fierce and retention is a key issue for companies in the industry. For C-Suite and key executives (I.e. VP/Exec Manager level) the incidence of employment agreement is very high: +/- 90% have employment agreements with protective provisions in favor of the employee: definition of “cause”, often definition of “good reason” (for the employee to terminat

Many people thinking or reading about startups and crowdfunding come across the phrase “accredited investors,” but it’s not always explained. The Securities Act of 1933 regulated public offerings after the 1929 stock market crash scared, well, everyone. However, the definition of accredited investor appears in Rule 501 of Reg D originally adopted in 1982. It provides a safe harbor exemption from registration. “Safe harbor” means that if an offering complies with the specifie