Why avoid probate? It is a time consuming, public process, with significant legal expense involved. Avoiding it can save your family thousands of dollars in legal costs. How does your
Probate: What It Is and How To Avoid It
Know the Law: How Do Donor Advised Funds Work?
Q: I normally donate $5,000 to charity every year, but this year my tax preparer suggested I create a donor-advised fund to maximize my tax deduction. What is a donor-advised
A New Age of Pay Equity
Published in NH Bar News (4/17/2019) April 2, 2019 marked the 13th anniversary of Equal Pay Day, a day first recognized by the National Committee on Pay Equity to raise
Know the Law: Immigration Considerations in Business Purchase and Sale Transactions
Q: I am considering purchasing a small company that employs foreign national employees. What should I be concerned about from an immigration standpoint? A: You should be concerned about the
Everything Is Not Terminator: Value-Based Regulation of Artificial Intelligence
Last fall, Reuters reported that Amazon had developed a hiring tool that used artificial intelligence to review job candidates to make hiring decisions, but that the program discriminated against women.
Build a Qualified Information Security Team
Part 2 of a special three-part series on cybersecurity (Part 1, Part 3) Information security needs to become an operational function of every law firm, just like accounting, human resources,
Non-traditional Families, Assistive Reproductive Technologies, and Common Concerns Facing Same-Sex Estate Planning Clients Post-Obergefell
Published by the New Hampshire Bar News (3/22/2019) Many issues that faced same-sex couples prior to the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which recognized the rights of same-sex
Do Employees Recover Attorney’s Fees When A Massachusetts Wage Act Case Resolves Through A Settlement?
The Massachusetts Wage Act provides that an employee who “prevails” in an action to recover unpaid wages “shall … be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys’ fees.”
New Considerations in Family Partnership Planning
One of the most appealing strategies for reducing estate taxes is creating and funding a family limited partnership (“FLP”) (or a family limited liability company – FLLC). Under this strategy,
Know the Law: Are trademark screening searches worth the expense?
Question: I am in the process of developing a trademark for my brand. I have been told that the cost of conducting a preliminary screening or knockout search and the
Client Identification: Foundational and Unique to the Ethical Practice of Elder and Special Needs Law
Co-written by Robert C. Anderson I. Introduction Standard B, Client Identification, Section 1, of the NAELA Aspirational Standards states that the elder and special needs law attorney: Identifies the client
The New Hampshire Foundation Act: A Solid Foundation for Wealth Management on a Global Scale
Co-authored by: Thanda Fields Brassard, Fiduciary Trust Company of New England; Von E. Sanborn, Day Pitney LLP; and Constance Shields, Withers Bergman LLP New Hampshire recently signaled its intention to be
NH’s Top Court Takes a Stand on Wrongful Demotion
Published in NH Business Review (2/15/2019) In its first employment decision of 2019, the NH Supreme Court declined to recognize a claim for wrongful demotion under New Hampshire law. In
Know the Law: When is an “Assignment” Clause Worth Fighting For?
Published in the Union Leader (2/25/2019) Q. My small business is negotiating with a vendor who has asked to remove our contract’s “assignment” clause entirely. Is it worth the time
Legal Developments in Employee Benefits Plans in 2018
While tax practitioners were spending the bulk of 2018 attempting to understand the intricacies of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the Act), there were still significant developments
Department of Family and Medical Leave Issues Draft Regulations
On January 23, 2019, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) released draft regulations regarding the Paid Family and Medical Leave Law which was enacted as part of