You may have missed it, but the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, turned 20 years old last month. Although the purpose of the FMLA may be a noble one — providing employees unpaid leave from work for treatment of their own serious health condition, or to care for and comfort family members who...Read More

On Wednesday, February 27, 2013, the Evansville City Council unanimously passed Evansville City Ordinance No. G-2013-3 (the “Ordinance”) requiring an owner of “Residential Rental Buildings” to register with the Evansville City Clerk. The registration requires an individual owner to provide certain personal and contact information, and if the owner is an entity, to provide additional...Read More

Mediation as a confidential means of dispute resolution was recently called into question by an Indiana Court of Appeals case which held that statements one party had made in mediation could be used in Court as evidence to explain and challenge an alleged mistake in the parties’ final settlement agreement. The Indiana Supreme Court has...Read More

A three-member panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals has ruled that President Obama’s three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were unconstitutional. On January 4, 2012, the President appointed the three members, purportedly pursuant to the Recess Appointments Clause of the Constitution, which allows the President to make such appointments...Read More

Washington has avoided the Fiscal Cliff for the time being with the passing of the American Taxpayer Relief Act (“Act”).  While this Act addresses various tax issues, the below focuses on several key issues of the Act: The top marginal income tax rate will increase from 35% to 39.6% for individuals with taxable income above...Read More

Washington has avoided the fiscal cliff for the time being with the passing of the American Taxpayer Relief Act (“Act”).  The Act addresses several key estate planning issues.  With the passage of the Act, the unified federal estate and gift tax exemption will remain at $5,000,000 per person.  The Act also permanently increased the top...Read More

Even if an employer has done everything correctly – given ample warnings, progressive discipline – a terminated employee sometimes still files suit.  A recent case illustrates the point.  A grocery clerk was terminated after receiving over a dozen warnings about rudeness to customers, including a “last chance” agreement.  Nevertheless, the terminated clerk sued.  The clerk...Read More

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently held that a contractor who proposes a goodwill gesture to resolve a dispute with an unsatisfied customer may be bound by such offer and is liable for breach of contract if it fails to follow through to the customer’s satisfaction. In David Vance v. Francisco Lozano, et al., 02A03-1203-SC-142,...Read More

Trade secrets are important and valuable assets of a business operation. In Indiana, trade secrets are protected by the Uniform Trade Secrets Act pursuant to Indiana Code § 24-2-3-2, et seq. Trade secrets are generally defined as information that derives its independent economic value from being generally not known or readily ascertainable, and reasonable efforts...Read More

Earlier this year, the Indiana Legislature amended and added Section 4 to Indiana Code 32-29-8.  The addition of Section 4 is important to many groups, including banking institutions, purchasers at sheriff sale, and junior lienholders.  It provides these parties a statutory remedy to clear title when a purchaser at sheriff sale and/or plaintiff mortgagee learns...Read More