Taylor English partner Michele Stumpe to speak at annual Georgia Restaurant Association meeting

Taylor English Duma partner Michele L. Stumpe will be speaking at the Georgia Restaurant Association Annual meeting on June 25, 2012, at 10 a.m.  This year’s meeting will be held at the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North.  Ms. Stumpe will speak specifically on the Alcohol related issues addressing the topic of “What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You”. Click here to view schedule

Ms. Stumpe regularly assists hospitality and retail clients by providing counsel on alcohol compliance measures including training and policy implementation.  In addition she provides consulting services for not only the Georgia Restaurant Association, but also the Georgia Food Industry Association, and Georgia Association of Convenience Stores.  The Responsible Alcohol Sales & Service Workshops Ms. Stumpe developed has been so well received that many Georgia jurisdictions now require attendance as a  pre-requisite to obtaining an alcohol license.  In addition to her hospitality practice, Ms. Stumpe represents both individuals and corporations in general litigation matters. She has won the two highest verdicts ever awarded against the Metropolitan Atlanta Transportation Authority in negligent security cases.

Obamacare Summary of Benefits and Coverage FAQs

The Department of Labor last Friday released further guidance on how employers which sponsor healthcare plans are to comply with the requirement under Obamacare to provide a “summary of benefits and coverage” or SBC for open enrollment periods which begin on or after September 23, 2012.  The guidance is in the form of 14 questions and answers.  (Click here to see this Q & A).  These questions and answers supplement final DOL regulations which were released on February 14, 2012 (see  Federal Register Final Rules for EBSA for 2012  at dol.gov) and a set of 24 questions and answers which were released on March 19, 2012 (Click here to see this Q & A).  Please contact us if you wish to discuss these questions and answers in specific or the requirement to provide an SBC in general.

Michael Trotter Talks to Lawyers Weekly about Why Big-Firm Economics Go Wrong

This article discusses the implosion of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP and Trotter’s books “Profit and the Practice of Law” and “Declining Prospects,” in which he chronicles the law firm profession changes since 1960 and make some predictions about its future.

Click here to read the article.

Additional DOL Guidance on Participant-Level Disclosures

Late yesterday the DOL released further guidance on how to comply with the DOL’s participant-level disclosure regulations.  There is a link to these regulations in our Employee Benefit Plan Alert dated February 28, 2012, which is on our Taylor English website. Click here to view  The new guidance issued yesterday is in the form of 38 questions and answers and is set forth in Field Assistance Bulletin 2012-02.  Click here to view  The compliance deadline for the participant-level disclosures is August 30, 2012.  Finally, the DOL has issued fiduciary disclosure regulations, and the compliance deadline for these disclosures is July 1, 2012.  DOL representatives report that further guidance on how to comply with these fiduciary disclosure regulations will be released shortly.

Member Michael Trotter and Author of New Book, “Declining Prospects,” Quoted in New York Times DealB%k

In the New York Times DealBook Q&A, Trotter is interviewed and asked about his thoughts on the Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP crisis. Trotter is asked how the publication of his book “Declining Prospects” comes at a moment when Dewey faces the risk of collapse and that the turmoil at the firm appears to be a manifestation of a lot of the issues that Trotter discusses in his book. His response: “I don’t think Dewey’s problems are just a matter of a management mistake here or there but instead reflect a change in the fundamental competitive environment in the legal services industry. Many of the larger firms that serve major business clients are caught up in these changes.”

Click here to read the Q/A online.

Member Michael Trotter and Author of New Book, “Declining Prospects,” Quoted in Bloomberg BusinessWeek

The Bloomberg BusinessWeek article discusses the turmoil surrounding Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. Trotter notes, “If their collective top line had increased at the rate of inflation, it would have been the equivalent of $6.9 billion in 2010.” As noted in the article, in Trotter’s book, “Declining Prospects,” he “quotes Robin Sangston, now the general counsel of Cox Communications Inc., on what happened when one specialty partnership merged into a mega-firm: ‘Their rates went up, their hourly requirements went up, and I started getting marketed’ to buy unwanted additional services.”

Click here to read the article.

Amendment to Fair Credit Reporting Act—New Federal Law Requires Credit Score Disclosure When Score Used in Taking Adverse Employment Action

Beginning July 21, 2011, whenever an employer takes an “adverse action” against an employee or employee applicant in whole or in part based on a “credit score” obtained from a consumer reporting agency or other third party (including in a report from background check or employment screening company that obtains the credit score from a credit bureau), that employer must provide an “adverse action notice” to the employee or applicant containing not only the disclosures currently required under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), but also the credit score itself and certain other information relating to the score, including up to four key adverse factors in the score (plus a fifth if the number of inquiries into the credit file of the employee/applicant is a key adverse factor). Currently (prior to July 21, 2011) the adverse action notice must include a statement that a consumer report was used in the decision, the identity and contact information of the consumer reporting agency, and certain other information. The new requirements are mandated by Section 1100F of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), signed into law on July 21, 2010, which (among many other things) amends the FCRA.

While many companies obtain background checks on new hires, often from employment screening companies that obtain consumer reports (employment reports) from a consumer reporting agency, the majority of companies do not receive a credit score in the report.  However a number of employers do obtain a credit score as part of the process.¹

If your company uses, or is considering using, credit scores in connection with screening employee applicants or making decisions regarding current employees, you should be prepared to comply with the new credit disclosure requirements on July 21, 2011. For further information, including regarding the timing and content of FCRA adverse action notices, please contact Bruce Richards (678-336-7146), whose areas of practice include consumer reporting, equal credit, e-payments, and consumer data protection.

[Note that the “credit score disclosure” requirement under Dodd-Frank applies across the board to all FCRA adverse actions, not only in the employment context, but any context where a credit score is used to take an adverse action against a consumer (e.g., credit or insurance).  The credit score disclosure requirement applies as well where, based in whole or in part on a credit score obtained from a consumer reporting agency, a creditor (i) approves of credit applied for by a credit applicant, but the terms approved are materially less favorable than the most favorable material terms available to a substantial portion of the creditor’s applicants for the same product, or (ii) increases the interest rate on a consumer’s existing credit account.]

¹Sometimes employers engage in such a practice where the job under consideration involves employee access to the employer’s funds or other liquid assets where a low credit score could indicate an increased temptation of the applicant to misappropriate such assets.

Bruce Richards is a business lawyer with an extensive corporate, transactional and regulatory background. Having served as general counsel and an executive officer of four publicly traded companies, including Atlanta-based Equifax, he excels at evaluating, managing and advising with respect to the broad spectrum of legal challenges facing his clients’ businesses, and advising boards of directors and board committees with respect to strategic transactions and corporate governance matters.