Insights

Crime and Employment – Navigating State And Federal Law On Job Applicants And Employees With Criminal Histories
One of the more common issues faced by employers and hiring managers when seeking new employees involves job applicants’ criminal backgrounds and histories. One of the reasons this remains a prevalent issue is due to the commonality of Americans with criminal records, which the ...Read More

Regulations Coming for Overdraft and Other Fees
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) publishes an agenda of its planned rulemaking activities twice a year – typically in the Spring and Fall. These agendas constitute a window into the focuses and priorities of the CFPB. In early January of 2023, the ...Read More

Supreme Court Clarifies Bankruptcy Discharge Rule for Fraudulent Debt; Overturns Eighth Circuit Precedent
In a case decided Wednesday, February 23, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor is precluded from discharging in bankruptcy a debt obtained by fraud, regardless of the debtor’s own personal knowledge of or culpability in the fraud, at ...Read More

Employees Using THC – Legally? Navigating Employee Drug Testing In The Post-Legalization Era
The Road to Legalization?
The road to our current legal field began with the federal 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized the cultivation and sale of hemp at the federal level. Specifically, any hemp containing a maximum of 0.3% THC by weight was now considered “legal” ...Read More

Modernization of Qualified Newspaper Legal Notice Publication Requirements
Earlier this year, the Minnesota Legislature updated the statute pertaining to the publication of legal notices in so-called “qualified newspapers,” reflecting the broad national trend of newspapers moving away from physical copies and emphasizing digital editions.
Effective August 1, 2022, qualified newspapers are now required ...Read More

SMALL-BUSINESS DEBTORS AND A PRIMER ON THE SMALL BUSINESS REORGANIZATION ACT
The American Bankruptcy Institute once observed that “[a] robust, effective, and efficient bankruptcy system rebuilds companies, preserves jobs, and facilitates economic growth with dynamic financial markets and lower costs of capital.” These ideals have not been the reality for many small-business debtors in financial ...Read More

Common Challenges To Testamentary Documents
L ife is full of uncertainties. One essential way to establish a sturdier footing is to maintain an up-to-date estate plan. However, even seemingly-solid testamentary documents (e.g. Wills) that are executed as part of an estate plan may encounter a number of challenges. Some ...Read More

Attention Employers: Frontline Worker Pay Employee Notice Due June 23, 2022
The Frontline Worker Pay application period opens for employees on June 8, 2022 and will run 45 days until July 22, 2022. All eligible workers will have until the closing of the application period to apply for Frontline Worker Pay and applicant support will ...Read More

Employer Obligations Under Minnesota’s New Frontline Worker’s Payment Act
On April 29, 2022, Governor Tim Waltz approved a new bill authorizing pandemic payments to hundreds of thousands of frontline workers, with implications for Minnesota employers.
Senate File 2677 applies to employers and employees in fifteen specified “frontline sectors,” including: (1) long-term care and home ...Read More

Non-Compete Agreements: Growing Hostility and Suspicion
The field of employee non-compete agreements (“NCA”) is changing, broadly reflecting a growing concern about the adverse effects of NCAs on employee labor prospects and market competition. Employers must stay abreast of the legal status of NCAs in Minnesota as well as the general ...Read More