Articles & Publications

It seems that every week there are new and salacious reports of sexual misconduct, which have sparked the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. A common thread in the news reports has been that the misconduct occurred in the workplace, with higher-ups demanding sexual favors of employees and creating a hostile work environment. 
Sexual harassment not only subjects the wrongdoer to potential criminal or civil liability, it also poses risks for employers who may have looked the other way and tolerated unlawful behavior. NBC is a good case in point; it has come under fire for its handling of the multiple sexual harassment claims brought against news anchor Matt Lauer.
Companies can, and should, take steps to prevent their workplaces from becoming the type of environment where sexual harassment festers.

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Electronic signatures, also called e-signatures, are becoming commonplace. According to P&S Market Research, the global digital signature market is expected to reach $2.9 billion by 2022.  E-signatures can help to close deals quickly and efficiently, but if you think that all e-signatures are alike and have the same enforceability in the event of a contract dispute, think again.  It is essential that businesses choosing to forgo paper signatures understand the ins and outs of collecting e-signatures.

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On October 5, Fred Press and Jamie Hamelburg appeared on Executive Leaders Radio, the #1 business weekly radio show in the Mid-Atlantic States. 

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Fred Press will appear as a guest on Executive Leaders Radio, the #1 business weekly radio show in the Mid-Atlantic States and broadcast nationally on over 100 terrestrial and internet radio stations reaching 7-million listeners weekly.

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Montgomery County is imposing a new requirement on all employers regardless of their size.  Starting October 1, 2016, employers must give paid “sick and safe” leave to almost all of their employees.

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While the Golden Globes may not have honored the genius of Stephen Spielberg's direction of the movie Lincoln, I hope and believe the Oscar voters will. As anyone who has a feel for history will, I think, agree, Lincoln is a uniquely moving portrait of Abraham Lincoln and the late part of the Civil War.
Much of Spielberg's movie is based on Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, the wonderfully researched and written book by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

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Even though sick leave is a customary benefit, no law requires Maryland businesses to offer sick leave -- paid or unpaid--to their employees. However, employers that do in fact offer paid sick leave (or any other form of paid leave) have certain obligations under Maryland law. [We intend to address the law in Virginia and Maryland in a forthcoming blog.]

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Since Maryland is an "employment at will" state, many employers think they can terminate employees at any time and for any reason at all. While this is true generally, there are two important exceptions.

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If you're an employer, you may be required by the Affordable Care Act (the "ACA") to notify your employees by October 1, 2013, about the new Health Insurance Marketplace established under the ACA. The new notification requirement applies to you if you are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act, meaning that you employ one or more employees who are engaged in, or produce goods for, interstate commerce with generally over $500,000 in annual business.

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Do you need a lawyer to draft a lease? My answer might surprise you. In Montgomery County, Maryland, you might be able to adopt a do-it-yourself approach - at least for drafting a residential lease.

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