On August 28, 2020, the Constitutional Law team at Rupp Baase, consisting of Tony Rupp, Phillip Oswald, and Chad Davenport, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all New York State restaurants and venues that seek to hold weddings up to the 50% venue capacity limit in place for ordinary dining. The class action follows… Read More
Tony Rupp spoke to WIVB about a trial court win regarding a couples wedding during COVID-19. BLASDELL, N.Y. (WIVB)– Joe and Alysa Gryzbowski were originally going to get married at the Avanti Mansion, but they said all the uncertainty with not knowing how many people they could invite made them reconsider. The downside is the couple… Read More
Tony Rupp spoke with Anderson Cooper on August 18th 2020 regarding representing a New York couple over their right to hold a 175 person wedding during the pandemic given the current restaurant guidelines. “Why is New York saying you can’t hold a wedding, when the venue itself and all of the attendees at the wedding… Read More
It’s a federal court win! Congratulations to the newlyweds! Rupp Baase is proud and honored to have secured an order in federal court enjoining enforcement of the 50-person limit on weddings. Our constitutional law attorneys, Tony Rupp, Phillip Oswald, and Chad Davenport successfully argued a likelihood of success in establishing that the 50-person limit violates… Read More
Jamie Batt joined Buffalo Business First Virtual Executive Forum on Succession Planning as a panelist. Click link below to read the key takeaways. They agreed: If you haven’t started succession planning, start now by developing long-term goals and then draw a roadmap to achieve those goals. In its simplest terms, it is like a planning… Read More
Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham is proud to welcome Elizabeth Holmes as a Partner Attorney in our Project Development and Environmental, Business Litigation and Construction practice groups. With years of both civil and criminal litigation experience Elizabeth is well known in the Buffalo legal community representing clients in land-use matters before municipal boards and through supreme… Read More
Open Letter to Buffalo Businesses We’re getting back to business. But not business as usual. There is nothing usual about what we’ve all experienced. We’re getting back to business, inspired by simple acts of bravery, ready to take on difficult questions. We’re getting back to business guided by lessons learned as moms and dads, neighbors… Read More
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts have more time to create and implement measures increasingly important in today’s tech-savvy and tech-reliant world: cybersecurity and data privacy. The Board of Regents extended the compliance deadline for educational agencies and their vendors to meet the terms of Commissioner’s regulation Part 121—which implements Education Law § 2-d’s… Read More
Virtual Executive Forum: Response & Recovery on Tuesday, June 23rd from 1:00pm-2:00pm What will happen to your business when you retire, if you choose to sell, if you pass away, or if you and your business partners have a falling out? These are issues that may be uncomfortable or seem far off in the future… Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about huge changes in the medical industry. One of these changes is a shift to telehealth. What will this shift in care mean for physicians and healthcare plans? Join partner attorneys, Jamie Batt and Fred Cohen as Rupp Baase hosts a complimentary webinar Wednesday, June 24th 12:30pm-1:30pm with a panel… Read More
COVID-19 Business Reopening Webinar – June 11 at 9:00 AM The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the business world as we know it. As more businesses start to reopen it is important to understand the New York State safety guidelines and how to ensure you keep your employees safe. Does your business need a written safety… Read More
As life slowly begins to return to normal and restrictions on business activities are lifted, many businesses may be concerned about a COVID-19 lawsuit. What if a customer gets sick with Covid-19 after shopping in a store or eating at a restaurant? Can the store or restaurant be held liable? To date, there have been… Read More
New York Forward: The 4 Phases of Business Re-Openings The four-phase New York plan to reopen businesses, “New York Forward” (the “Plan”), is underway, with Phase Two of the Plan commencing in Western New York (“WNY”) on June 2nd and in several other NYS regions on May 29th. This alert sets forth: (i) the regions… Read More
Partner attorney Jamie Batt and the rest of our Business Law team provide a brief overview of the Main Street Lending Program the Federal Reserve has established to provide financing opportunities for certain American businesses that were unable to receive funding under the Paycheck Protection Program or need additional financial support after receiving the previous… Read More
On April 3, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York State Child Parent Security Act (the “Act”), which reverses New York’s decades-long ban on compensated surrogacy. The Act, which will take effect on February 15, 2021, is a landmark bill that will provide many New York residents legally protected access… Read More
New Title IX rules are here. Jill Yonkers and our Campus Disciplinary Defense Team have been waiting for this day to come. The wait is over. Today, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) released the long-anticipated final version of its Title IX rules governing how schools must respond to allegations of sexual harassment. Although there… Read More
Do you have questions about how COVID-19 will affect your construction business? Construction law and partner attorney, Dan Sarzynski along with Drew Miller from Webster Szanyi provided an informative webinar on the topic of “Navigating Construction Projects during the COVID-19 Crisis” on Thursday, April 30th, 2021 for the Construction Exchange. Before the Coronavirus pandemic hit… Read More
Labor & Employment attorney Matt Miller partners with BNP to discuss the NYS Shared Workforce Program and provide direction for business owners who are facing difficult questions: How do I avoid layoffs? How do I retain my trained employees during a slowdown? How do I attract them back during a slow rampup period – especially… Read More
Are you working from home? Don’t get too comfortable in your home office. The switch to remote working can present new cybersecurity challenges. Hackers know that organizations are particularly vulnerable now as many organizations are preoccupied with COVID-19. By way of example, on March 15, 2020 the United States Department of Health and Human Services… Read More
NYS Proposed Prevailing Wage Requirements. The following alert is a follow up to our last alert (initial indicators from the 2021 budget) for Developers and Contractors. On April 3rd, Governor Cuomo signed New York State’s $177 billion budget for fiscal year 2021. The legislation contains provisions to expand prevailing wage requirements for private construction projects where… Read More
Matthew Miller, speaks to Business First’s Patrick Connelly on the legal differences between layoffs and furloughs, in New York State. Though used interchangeably with regularity, there is a legal difference between layoffs and furloughs in New York state. Layoffs “The biggest difference and misconception is a layoff or a termination is intended to be permanent… Read More
Developers, construction companies, and municipalities should be aware of a few initial indicators from the recently passed NYS 2021 Budget. Spending Cuts: Most significantly, the Budget reduces spending by $10 billion and empowers the State Budget Director to develop a plan for across the board reductions and implement a reassessment “as necessary” throughout the calendar… Read More
Despite Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 202.8 requiring non-essential businesses to reduce in‑person workforce locations by one hundred percent (100%), businesses may find some relief from performance under their contractual obligations. Below are some avenues that may potentially provide relief for businesses: Force Majeure in a Lease. A force majeure provision in a commercial lease allows… Read More
On March 27, 2020, the President of the United States signed a law that provides additional Unemployment Insurance (“UI”) assistance to workers impacted by COVID-19. This new pandemic unemployment assistance law provides: Please find updated information on what you need to know in the document below: QUESTION: Who is eligible for PUA?ANSWER: Individuals are eligible… Read More
We understand information overload. So we’ve provided you with some COVID-19 resources. If you have any questions on these COVID-19 resources please reach out to our teams who are on the front lines of the ever-changing laws. Labor & Employent Team or Business Law Team New York State Resources New York State Department of Labor… Read More