For those who do business or litigate in Virginia, you should be aware of two noteworthy laws that take effect July 1, 2020. With the first, Virginia becomes the latest state to ban covenants not to compete for low wage employees . The second law creates a private cause of action for misclassified workers if their employers had knowledge of the misclassification.

In unprecedented times like this, the allocation of loss will become particularly important. The country will eventually reopen, and business will restart.  With it, however, will come the inevitable tide of litigation over disputes that could not be resolved.  Now is the time to carefully review contracts and leases, and begin working towards resolutions.

Although much has been written about the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and its companion relief programs, less has been written about the legal ramifications for businesses as a result of the widespread economic shutdown. From commercial leases to construction projects to supply-chain relationships, businesses are likely to take a hard look at their contracts to see what their rights and obligations are in this unprecedented time.

Lamar Jackson and Tiger Woods have found themselves as parties in civil cases - albeit in completely different ways. Lamar Jackson, the reigning NFL MVP, recently filed suit against Amazon.com and Amazon.com Services Inc. in Florida federal court. According to the lawsuit, the Amazon defendants have falsely advertised and endorsed unlicensed and infringing clothing that utilized Jackson’s name, nicknames, images and persona. Tiger Woods (and his caddie) were sued by a spectator at the Valspar Golf Tournament in Florida.  In that case, the spectator alleges that he was pushed by Woods’ caddie after he tried to take a selfie of himself with Tiger in the background.

Michael Severino is pleased to announce that he has been selected to the 2020 Maryland Super Lawyers List for business litigation. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.