United States Supreme Court Eases Path for Job Transfer Discrimination Lawsuits
In a recent ruling, the US Supreme Court made it easier for employees to bring lawsuits against their employers alleging discrimination in job reassignments. In Muldrow v. St. Louis, the ...
RECENT ARTICLES
Minnesota: Corporate Compliance – Simple Steps to Protecting Assets
Minnesota law requires all businesses to maintain proper corporate formalities. Every business owner knows that one must set up some ...
Concurrent Causation: What to Do When an Insurance Company Denies Your Claim
Last month, the National Hurricane Center issued its first-ever tropical storm watch for Southern California. A watch turned into a ...
Directors and Officers: Helpful Reminders for When Removal Becomes Necessary
While the roles of Directors and Officers are often filled by the same people, there is a technical distinction between ...
Wage and Benefit Liability for Minnesota Construction Contractors
A recent addition to Minnesota wage protection laws impacts construction contractors and their relationship with subcontractors. Contractors are now responsible ...
Department of Labor Announces Potential Change to Overtime Eligibility
On August 30, 2023 the U.S. Department of Labor announced a proposed regulatory change that would significantly impact which employees ...
Additional Changes to Labor and Employment Laws in Minnesota
In addition to a ban on new noncompete agreements, Minnesota has enacted a number of new laws that affect employees ...
Colorado – Marshall Fires: Insurance Claims for Impacted Businesses
Businesses must be aware of several key steps as they begin the process of recovery with their insurance carriers in ...
Colorado – Marshall Fires: Insurance Claims in Community Associations
In late December 2021, a wildfire ripped through Marshall, Colorado, an area located in Boulder County between Boulder and Denver. ...
U.S. Court of Appeals Rules that Minnesota Appraisal Panels Must Determine the Cause of Loss
SJJ attorneys Tim Johnson and Brad Hammond recently obtained a victory with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in a decision ...
SJJ’s Tim Johnson and Marcus Zelzer Win Again for Policyholders in Iowa
Smith Jadin Johnson attorneys Tim Johnson and Marcus Zelzer recently won a motion to compel appraisal in Iowa ordering an insurance company ...
Why Matching Coverage Matters in Minnesota
The purpose of a property insurance policy is usually to restore the property to its “pre-loss” condition. In the event ...
SJJ Forces a Colorado Insurance Company to Participate in Appraisal
In the case of Pallarito vs. American Family, Smith Jadin Johnson attorneys Christopher Drake, Jared McLuskey, and Zac Morgan successfully compelled ...
Who’s Going to Pay for This? Common Expenses and Limited Assessments in Minnesota HOAs
Two common topics of discussion in condominium and townhome associations are: (1) who is responsible for the maintenance, repair, and ...
Colorado: Covid-19 Safety Measures in Common Areas for Common Interest Communities
Community associations, like all other entities in the United States, have had to learn to navigate a new landscape of COVID-19 restrictions in the past year. Associations have had to adapt to the ever-changing situation on the fly, filling in the gaps left by government guidelines and legal requirements in order to fulfill their obligation to, among others, safely maintain…
Additional Minnesota Statutes Concerning Homeowners Associations
Many Boards and property managers are familiar with the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act, Minn. Stat. § 515B (“MCIOA”). MCIOA is the main statute that governs and regulates most, but not all, common-interest-communities (“CICs”) in Minnesota. While MCIOA is important, there are a handful of other statutes which Boards and managers will likely run across. The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”)…
Why MCIOA? The Advantages of Opting into the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act
The Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act, Minn. Stat. § 515B et seq. (“MCIOA”, pronounced “em-kai-wah”) was passed by the Minnesota legislature in 1994 in order to provide a more uniform administration of common interest communities. Subject to a few exceptions, MCIOA applies to all condominium communities in Minnesota, as well as all townhome communities formed on or after June 1,…
Dial Back, Minnesota: Effects on Homeowners Associations
On Wednesday, November 18, 2020, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced that he was dialing back Minnesota’s Stay Safe Plan for the COVID-19 pandemic. The updated plan is a reaction to a continued rise in all relevant metrics, including number of cases, rate of positive tests, and use of hospital capacity.
Minnesota: HOA Signage Rules During Election Season
As election day rapidly approaches, it is important for homeowner and community associations (HOAs) throughout Minnesota to fully understand their rights and obligations relating to campaigning and campaign materials. While limitations on exterior signs, flags, and other decoration is extremely common at homeowners associations generally, there are laws relating to campaign season that Boards and property managers should be aware…
Why Business Owners Need Confidentiality and Proprietary Rights Agreements
At Smith Jadin Johnson, we represent a wide variety of businesses. In doing so, our firm often discovers that clients have key employees that are aware of the business’s confidential information and yet no protections are in place for preserving that information. This creates the risk that a key employee may leave the business and take the business’s confidential information…
THE CARES ACT: HELPING YOUR SMALL BUSINESS SURVIVE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
The Federal Government has passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) to help small businesses cope with the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act includes both low-interest forgivable payroll protection loans through the Payroll Protection Program (“PPP”) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). Payroll Protection Program The PPP was enacted as…
Business Owners – COVID-19 Update!
The novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 has become a global pandemic and will change business as we know it for the foreseeable future. It will almost certainly throw the global economy into a recession as people start adapting to social isolation and containment procedures. Business owners may be asking themselves whether insurance will cover lost business income caused by COVID-19.…
Buy/Sell Agreement – A Necessity for Every Privately Held Business with Multiple Owners
A properly drafted buy/sell agreement for privately held businesses with multiple owners avoids the risk of costly litigation that can occur when a co-owner departs from the business. The following scenario is an example of the financial risk in not having a buy/sell agreement in place: A business owner (“Buyer”) needs representation in the buyout of her business partner (“Seller”).…
Eleven Tips to Avoid Litigation
If you are a business owner, you need to make sure that all of your customers, employees, and business contacts are happy. For better or worse, more and more people turn to lawyers when things don’t go the way that they expect. Litigation can be quite costly, both in terms of money and time, so you should do everything that…