Insights

CSG's Jenny Chung will join a panel of past, present and future bar leaders on Monday, March 1, from 4:30 – 6:00 PM. This New Jersey Women Lawyers Association program entitled, "Pathways to Leadership," will feature over a dozen women bar leaders who will share their paths to leadership, barriers overcome, and the importance of representation as the leaders of specialty bar organizations.  

Join CSG’s Laurence M. Smith and Olamide (Lami) Ajibesin and Ray Baggeri of Anchin Accountants & Advisors on Wednesday, February 24, from 12:00 – 1:30 PM as they discuss how financial due diligence and quality of earnings play a crucial part in M&A transactions. This program will provide an introduction to financial due diligence in addition to a deep dive into the following topics:  

CSG's Shirley U. Emehelu and NaSheena Porter of the Union County Prosecutor's Office will co-chair a virtual summit and roundtable entitled, "Paying More Than Just Lip Service: Actualizing Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace," on Wednesday, February 24, from 4:30 – 6:30 PM. The program – co-sponsored by the Garden State Bar Association and CSG's Diversity & Inclusion Committee – will feature a powerhouse roster of diversity leaders, including Paulette Brown, Hester Agudosi, Lloyd Freeman, Robert Johnson and Mikeisha Anderson Jones.  

Lee Vartan was featured in a Law360 story examining the current status of stalled legislative efforts to legalize recreational adult-use cannabis in New Jersey and the potential cooling effect these delayed negotiations could have on the State's burgeoning sector. He notes, "already some of the starting and stopping has hurt the willingness of operators to come into New Jersey."  

Michelle A. Schaap was featured in an NJBIZ article recapping the publication's February 16, 2021 Cybersecurity Panel Discussion, in which she was a participant. The story hones in on a foremost driving force in the recent uptick of phishing and cybersecurity attacks on businesses – especially those operating in a remote environment: human error.   

Michelle A. Schaap was featured in an NJBIZ story examining the technical, regulatory and reputational implications of a data breach, as well as actionable measures business leaders should consider to effectively rebound from such a compromise. In the article, she highlights the importance of cyber-insurance and notification protocols aligned with jurisdiction-specific requirements, and sheds light on a recent Pennsylvania court ruling – Dittman v. UPMC – establishing that employers must exercise "reasonable care" towards protecting employee personal data.  

Companies are becoming increasingly aware of the reach of biometric privacy laws, which are designed to protect an individual‘s biometric identifiers or biometric information ("biometric data"), such as fingerprints, voiceprints, hand scans, and face geometry. Since the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act ("BIPA") became effective in 2008, a number of states have passed or are considering similar laws protecting such biometric data.

The State of New Jersey continues its support of revitalizing brownfields with the enactment of the New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020, P.L. 2020, c. 156, which was signed into law by Governor Murphy on January 7, 2021 (the "Act"). The Act includes new programs, including a tax credit program entitled the Brownfields Redevelopment Incentive Program Act . On January 12, 2021, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority ("NJEDA") Board of Directors approved the implementation of the NJEDA Brownfield Loan Program, which is part of the broader NJEDA Community Revitalization initiative. Both programs will cover many types of remediation costs but will entail a demonstration of a project financing gap, as well as compliance with Prevailing Wage and Affirmative Action requirements. Although the Brownfield Redevelopment Incentive Tax Credit program is still being developed, NJEDA is currently accepting loan applications from January 14 through April 13, 2021.

On January 6, 2021, the proposed Biometric Privacy Act (the "Act") was introduced to the New York State legislature. If adopted as drafted, the Act will require any private entity that "possesses"¹ any biometric identifiers and/or information² (or "biometric data") must have a written policy, publicly available³, establishing its retention and destruction schedule, as well as a secure means of destroying the data on the sooner of (i) when no longer needed for its original purpose of collection or (ii) after three years from the private entity's interaction with the person providing the data.