We provide tailored, industry-specific legal updates to our clients and other friends of the firm.
As states begin to gradually reopen and networks held virtual upfronts, the entertainment industry is contemplating both when and how production will be able to resume. Studio executives, union representatives and epidemiologists are meeting to develop new protocols that will permit production to restart safely. Read more.
June 1, 2020
On May 15, 2020, the SBA released its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan Forgiveness Application and instructions for its completion. The application must be completed and submitted by PPP borrowers to their lenders at the end of the eight-week covered period in order to obtain forgiveness of their loans. Read more.
June 1, 2020
After weeks of uncertainty regarding commencement of probate petitions and the admission of Wills to probate, the New York State (NYS) Surrogate’s Court system has taken steps toward reopening for both essential and non-essential matters. Read more.
June 1, 2020
The ICC Forum published Maria Nava's article, "Digital Evidence Repositories and Vulnerable Populations: How the Accumulation of Digital Evidence May Interact with the Privacy of Sexual Assault Survivors.” View Article
May 31, 2020
MediaPost quotes Jeremy S. Goldman on President Trump's executive order aimed at social media platforms. View Article
May 29, 2020
The Bookseller mentions Andrew Hurwitz as part of the team who brokered the screen rights deal for “Anatomy of a Scandal” which is being turned into a six-part Netflix series. View Article
May 28, 2020
On May 26, 2020, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio enacted legislation to help certain small businesses and restaurants in New York City that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.
May 27, 2020
As economies across the country begin restarting and the COVID-19 pandemic continues, employers have some important, pandemic-related revisions to consider for their employment policies and handbooks. Frankfurt Kurnit’s employment team has been reviewing the applicable federal, state, and local laws, guidelines and regulations to gather a list of specific policies employers should consider creating or revising. Read more.
May 27, 2020
Interior Design magazine awarded Frankfurt Kurnit an NYCxDesign Award for the best Corporate Office design in NYC. Thanks to Gensler Design for helping design our beautiful new space. View Article
May 22, 2020
The Frankfurt Kurnit Corporate Group continues to track developments in the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”), adopted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). Read more.
May 18, 2020
This week, more shots were fired in the ongoing war over AB5. On May 5, 2020, California’s Attorney General and city attorneys for Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco sued Uber and Lyft for misclassification of hundreds of thousands of California workers. Read more.
May 13, 2020
The Hollywood Reporter mentions Frankfurt Kurnit as counsel to Tyler Mitchell. View Article
May 13, 2020
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by allowing trademark applicants and owners to extend certain deadlines falling between March 27th and May 31, 2020 until June 1, 2020. Read more.
May 12, 2020
Over the last several weeks, many business have applied for and received loans pursuant to the Paycheck Protect Program administered by the Small Business Association. A key feature of the PPP loans is that they are potentially 100% forgivable so long as headcount and salary levels remain constant through an eight week period that begins to run when the loan is funded. Read more.
May 12, 2020
As part of his effort to create an “Expanded Workforce Safety Net”, on May 6, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order creating a rebuttable presumption that an employee's COVID-19 related illness arose out of the course of employment and, as a result, is covered by workers’ compensation. Read more.
May 12, 2020
Shoot Online features Terri Seligman’s blog post “Not-On-The-Subway Series: Celebrity Talk Back.” View Article
May 12, 2020
Law360 mentions Jean Voutsinas as counsel to the Alabama Tourism Department. (Behind paywall) View Article
May 12, 2020
Residential and commercial tenants experiencing pandemic-related financial hardship have been waiting for additional legal relief. On Friday, May 7, 2020, they got it when Governor Cuomo updated the COVID-19 Emergency Executive Orders for residential tenants and commercial tenants. Read more.
May 11, 2020
For the past month, we have been supervising the execution of our clients’ Wills and related estate planning documents through the use of audio-video technology, allowing for the completion of planning projects while maintaining appropriate social distancing. We conduct these signing conferences through the use of various technological platforms, depending on clients’ preferences or limitations – and all coordinated with clients beforehand. Read more.
May 11, 2020
COVID-19 has disrupted business operations and contracts across industries on an unprecedented scale. Some individuals and companies are trying to avoid or delay their contractual obligations by invoking previously overlooked force majeure provisions. Others are aiming to enforce their contracts after receiving force majeure notices. We expect a new wave of litigation. Last month, one of the first force majeure case arising out of COVID-19 was filed in California: Pacific Collective LLC v. ExxonMobil Oil Corp. Read more.
May 11, 2020
Film and television creatives and executives have been closely watching William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC vs. Writers Guild of America, West, Inc., a battle between talent agencies and writers over agency “packaging fees.” Resolution of the dispute will have a large impact on how writers, creators, and agents get paid. Recently, a federal judge issued an important ruling on the WGA and individual writers’ claims -- allowing certain claims to proceed. Read more.
May 11, 2020
Bloomberg Law quotes Ronald C. Minkoff on the California State Bar’s complaint against online lawyer referral service LegalMatch. View Article
May 8, 2020
Deadline mentions Frankfurt Kurnit as counsel to Daphne Rubin-Vega who starred in the podcast that Blumhouse Television is developing at Amazon. View Article
May 8, 2020
Extreme Reach features Brian Murphy’s blog post “Temporary Waiver Regarding the Use of Stock Footage under the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract.” View Article
May 7, 2020
From pitch meetings to development and production, COVID-19 has changed the way creatives and their representatives do business. Read more.
May 4, 2020
We provide tailored, industry-specific legal updates to our clients and other friends of the firm.
