Tag Archives: PLI PLUS

PLI Chronicle: Special AALL Edition

Dear Readers,

PLI launched the online journal the PLI Chronicle in September 2020 with a simple mission: to present engaging and timely discussions about the legal industry from a diverse range of perspectives. Chronicle editor Alyse Greer explains, “Since everyone offers value to their fellow industry associates, all legal and accounting professionals are encouraged to submit articles. The publication gives authors a platform to educate others and the freedom to write in their own voices.”

We compiled this “special edition” of the Chronicle from articles published in previous issues as a way to familiarize librarians with this new content type. The selection reflects what we identified as themes running throughout this year’s American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) conference: 1) Diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession; 2) The future of legal technology, education, and research; and 3) Mental health for legal practitioners.

In the articles below, you’ll find wellness tips from an attorney who overcame depression and addiction; a two-part look into the Internet of Things and open source software; musings on the role of curiosity in fostering inclusion and diversity initiatives; and more. You don’t need a subscription to read these articles. Everything published in the Chronicle is available for anyone and everyone to read. All you need is a PLI account, which is both free and easy to set up.

Our hope is that this curated edition will enhance the conference experience and perhaps even inspire some of our colleagues in law libraries to publish with us.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Fiore, J.D., M.A.
Associate Legal Editor, Publishing and PLI Plus

Updated Treatise: Holtzchue on Real Estate Contracts and Closings

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Holtzchue on Real Estate Contracts and Closings: A Step-by-Step Guide to Buying and Selling Real Estate (Third Edition) provides thorough legal, technical, strategic guidance to help implement dispute-free residential and commercial deals more quickly and easily. Featuring checklists, highlighted practice tips, and dozens of useful forms, this treatise is a valuable step-by-step “how to” guide that ensures practitioners can successfully prepare for a sale or purchase of real estate.

Release #21 includes new and updated cases and other authority throughout the text, including in the following important areas:

Attorney Malpractice: New section collects malpractice cases (see Front Matter at “Ethics and Professional Responsibility,” section [10]).
Purchase Money Note and Mortgage: Recent cases on installment land sale contracts (see section 2:2.5[B]).
Acceptable Title and Title Insurance: Where the N.Y. Appellate Division reversed annulment of Insurance Regulation 208, which prohibited title insurance corporations and title agents from providing any marketing payments or entertainments to attorneys, but affirmed annulment of regulations on closer fees and ancillary fee caps.
Closing Date and Place: Recent cases where the contract expressly states that time is of the essence (see section 2:2.9).
Condition of Premises and Caveat Emptor: Recent cases on affirmative representation on mold and Property Condition Disclosure Statement regarding water damage (see section 2:2.11[A][2]).
Remedies for Breach or Failure to Close: Recent cases on breaches by seller and specific performance (see section 2:2.17[A],[A][3]).
NYSBA Ethics Opinions: NYSBA Ethics Opinion 1161, opining that when a lawyer prepares a contract of sale, the lawyer may not disclose the contract to the broker who requested a copy without the client’s informed consent (see section 1:1.2).

This treatise is available on PLI PLUS. If you would like to order a print copy, please contact libraryrelations@pli.edu.

Employment Law Yearbook 2019 Edition

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Each edition of Employment Law Yearbook provides a comprehensive overview of the most important developments in employment law over the past year, including critical case decisions, legislative changes, government agency actions, and other events of interest to employers, employment and HR professionals, corporate attorneys, and employee advocates. Employment Law Yearbook 2019 details and analyzes recent legal developments, including:

California test for determining independent contractor status: The California Supreme Court has adopted a new test—the “ABC test”—to determine whether workers are to be classified as employees or independent contractors. Under this test, articulated in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court, workers are presumptively considered employees, but the employer may demonstrate a worker is more appropriately classified as an independent contractor if it proves all of several articulated factors. Chapter 1, Wage-and-Hour Issues, section 1:2.3[A], Independent Contractors.
Transgender discrimination: The Sixth Circuit, in EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc., became the first federal appellate court to hold that discrimination based on an employee’s transgender status is sex discrimination under Title VII. A group of sixteen states has asked the Supreme Court to overturn the decision, but the Court has not yet decided whether to take up the case. Chapter 3, Gender and Sexual Orientation Discrimination and Sexual Harassment, section 3:2.2, Sexual Orientation and Gender Stereotyping.
Noncompete agreements: In August 2018, Massachusetts enacted a law that places limitations on noncompete agreements entered into on or after October 1, 2018. The law also adopts the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Chapter 9, Guarding Trade Secrets, Section 9:3.1, Background.
New standard for evaluating facially neutral policies: In Boeing Co., the NLRB overturned the Lutheran Heritage “reasonably construe” standard and adopted a new balancing standard for evaluating facially neutral policies that potentially interfere with the exercise of section 7 rights. The NLRB delineated three categories of work rules based on the new standard. Chapter 11, Employee Blogging and Social Media, section 11:4.1[B][1], The New Standard of Reasonableness.

This treatise is available on PLI PLUS. If you would like to order a print copy, please contact libraryrelations@pli.edu.

Social Media and the Law

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Social Media and the Law examines the range of legal issues that can arise from the personal and professional use of social media, including concerns related to privacy, civil litigation, employment, criminal activity and prosecution, intellectual property, defamation, advertising, and regulated industries. Relevant legislation, cases, trends, and industry responses are included in the discussions.

The most recent update covers many developments that occurred in this field in the last year. For example:

In September 2018, Tesla CEO Elon Musk settled a dispute with the SEC regarding his allegedly misleading tweet about taking Tesla private at $420 per share. The settlement included Musk paying $40 million in penalties and stepping down as Chairman of Tesla (see Chapter 1. The Social Media Phenomenon and Chapter 7. Compliance Considerations for Regulated Industries).
Recent studies demonstrate increasing use of AI, big data, and data analytics by employers to source and screen candidates (see Chapter 6. Employment and Workplace Issues).
In June 2018, the NLRB General Counsel’s Office issued a new guidance memorandum on employee handbook rules, following the NLRB’s Boeing decision. In it, the General Counsel detailed the types of rules that might be implicated under Boeing (see Chapter 6. Employment and Workplace Issues).
In Kumho Tires, the NLRB found an employer’s social media policy lawful under Boeing where it was in place to maintain the confidentiality of the company’s trade secrets and private or confidential information (see Chapter 6. Employment and Workplace Issues).
In In re CSGOLotto, Inc., the FTC for the first time brought an action against individual influencers for failure to disclose their connections with the advertiser (see Chapter 8 Advertising).

This essential treatise is available on PLI PLUS. If you would like to order a print copy, please contact libraryrelations@pli.edu.

What’s New for April

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We add content to PLI PLUS every month to ensure our subscribers have access to the most up-to-date and relevant secondary source legal documents. Renowned legal experts regularly update our acclaimed Treatises, Course Handbooks, Answer Books, Transcripts, and Forms to reflect recent changes and developments in the law.

Click here to see what we added in April!

Securities Law and Practice Deskbook – Updated!

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Securities Law and Practice Deskbook remains your definitive one-volume guide to the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”), the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), relevant rules and regulations, and key case law. The book is intended to serve as an initiation into the U.S. federal securities laws and the way that securities lawyers approach problems. It also is meant to serve more experienced practitioners as a general review and first resource when approaching an unfamiliar area of securities law.

Release #13 brings you up to date on the latest important developments in securities law. Highlights include:

• Chapter 5, Reach of Securities Act Regulation. Cryptocurrencies and “ICOs” (initial coin offerings) continue to be the rage at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Commission brings a first-of-its-kind enforcement action against the operator of an unregistered token “exchange.” Significant fines and penalties continue to be imposed with respect to unregistered token offerings. Also , the Commission instituted and settled enforcement actions against celebrity promoters of ICOs for violations of the Securities Act’s “anti-touting” provisions. Finally, the Commission also pursues enforcement action against the 21st-century example of “free stock” “airdropping” tokens in blockchain scenarios.

• Chapter 6, Securities Act Registration Exemptions. The number of PIPE offerings was essentially flat during 2018, but offering amounts were up 44%, to $31 billion. In response to a congressional requirement, the Commission made Regulation A+ available to reporting companies.

• Chapter 8, Liability for Securities Act Violations. Beware the “tout sheet.” Emphasizing Commission enforcement action under Securities Act section 17(b), that section gets applied in connection with the Commission’s focus on ICOs as the Commission brings “anti-touting” enforcement actions against professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and music producer Khaled Khaled, known as DJ Khaled, for failing to disclose payments they received for promoting investments in ICOs.

• Chapter 9, Registration and Periodic Reporting Under the Exchange Act. An enforcement action against Tesla and Elon Musk underscores the need to proceed with caution when using social media to satisfy the company’s disclosure obligations. The Commission continues its focus on non-GAAP financial measures with first-of-its-kind enforcement action for violation of the “equal or greater prominence” requirement.

• Chapter 10, Regulation of Proxy Solicitations. After lengthy delay, the Commission adopts the hedging disclosure requirements that were required by section 955 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The fate of several Dodd-Frank rules (e.g., pay for performance and “clawbacks”), continues to be unclear. New Staff Legal Bulletins in the shareholder proposal area urge companies to submit board analyses when seeking to exclude shareholder proposals under the “ordinary business” and “economic relevance” grounds for exclusion.

This essential treatise is available on PLI PLUS. If you would like to order a print copy, please contact libraryrelations@pli.edu.

PLI PLUS: New Look & New Name!

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Notice something different about PLI PLUS? On February 11, we unveiled an updated look and feel to compliment PLI’S new brand initiative. In addition, Discover PLUS became PLI PLUS.

The changes to the platform are cosmetic in nature and provide a cleaner user interface with the exact same functionality and content.

For an overview of the updated platform, take a look at our Getting Started Guide or view our video tutorial:

If you have any questions about PLI PLUS, please email or call (877)-900-5291.