Insights

Last week, in an appeal in which CSG filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Surety & Fidelity Association of America (“SFAA”), New York’s Appellate Division, First Department, reversed a trial court’s award of attorneys’ fees to a payment bond claimant pursuant to New York’s “Little Miller Act”, State Finance Law § 137.  

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has conducted multiple webinars for an overview of the H-1B Electronic Registration Process for registrants and attorneys. The system requires employers to submit online registration to be selected for the H-1B lottery FY 2021. Following is the new timeline:  

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, now is a good time to revisit your office romance policy. Employers often shudder at the thought of workplace romances and the impact they could have on office morale and productivity. In light of the firmly entrenched #MeToo movement, employers remain particularly concerned that, should a workplace romance fizzle, they could also face a potential harassment claim.  

CSG’s Fidelity & Surety Law Group will be well-represented at the American Bar Association’s Fidelity & Surety Law Committee's 2020 Midwinter Conference.  

Patrick Mottola will be a speaker during the New Jersey Water Laws and Regulations seminar on January 23, 2020. Patrick will be featured during the "Development of Water Laws: Quantity, Quality and Usage" panel from 8:30-9:30am.  

Roxanna Hammett will serve as a speaker during the National Business Institute's "Trusts and Taxes from A to Z" course being held on December 9, 2019. Roxy will be presenting during the "What Happens When a Trust Becomes Irrevocable” and "Legal Ethics in Trusts Practice" panels.  

Roxanna E. Hammett was featured on The Grief Coach Podcast discussing end-of-life paperwork for millenials. Over the course of the 38-minute interview, she and podcast host Brooke James cover what millennials need to know about wills; why wills are important to have, even without assets; how millenials can convince their parents to make a will; and what happens when a parent dies without a will in place.   

As with most large law firms, our transactional attorneys have counseled clients on an endless variety of commercial finance and M&A transactions, touching every point of the capital structure of the companies involved. Most of these transactions would not have been consummated absent the availability of debt and equity financing, the pricing, structure and security for which have been as varied as the transactions themselves. The most financeable deals, typically involving a modest degree of leverage and assets that were relatively liquid or whose value did not fluctuate substantially, were rewarded with non-recourse financing. In those instances, lenders assumed risks characteristically associated with equity ownership and did so without demanding outsize returns, due in large part to the quality of the assets that served as collateral. Perhaps the most common type of asset that garners non-recourse financing is non-industrial, commercial real estate with a rental stream that results in a high debt service coverage ratio.  

Francis J. Giantomasi was featured in Real Estate NJ's 2020 Market Forecast sharing his prediction for the State's real estate sector for the year to come.   

Last month, the NJDEP announced $13.5 million in funding available for local projects to improve water quality and to prevent harmful algal blooms ("HABs"). HABs affected numerous fresh water bodies in New Jersey last summer, most notably, Lake Hopatcong and Greenwood Lake. The funding includes $3.5 million in grants for which NJDEP has issued requests for proposals ("RFPs") to local governmental authorities, interstate agencies, academic institutions and non-profit organizations. The program also includes $10 million in Clean Water Revolving Fund money as principal forgiveness funding for local and county government projects. The details of the announcement are here, and the RFPs are here. Responses to an RFP for Grants to Prevent, Mitigate and/or Control of Freshwater HABs are due by Monday, January 13, 2020, while responses to an RFP for Water Quality Restoration Grants for Nonpoint Source Pollution are due by Monday, February 10, 2020.

Warning: the underlying facts and procedural history are cringeworthy. This is the saga of a medical malpractice case which is dismissed, leading to a legal malpractice case, which is wrongfully dismissed, leading to an Appellate Division case which exposes all the flawed decision-making.

On December 12, 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ("NJDEP") held the first meeting of the Interagency Council on Climate Change, a panel created by Executive Order 89 issued by Governor Murphy. At that meeting, NJDEP released a study prepared by Rutgers University and leading climate change experts which found that New Jersey has experienced in the past – and will experience in the future – much greater impacts from sea level rise than on average around the globe. The report also notes the likelihood of increased frequency of tidal flooding and more significant impacts from coastal storms. Because of our location and extensive coast line, New Jersey has been by some likened to "ground zero" for climate change.