Michael Leman

Legal eagles in my LinkedIn network - who can take a few minutes to help with me with some basic questions regarding the difference between a 501c3 and 501c6? Message me if you can point me in a good direction. Thanks in advance-

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Noooo!!! Holding a client of a staffing firm jointly liable for the staffing firm's actions is NOT using "an unprecedented legal theory". The US Dept of Labor last week sued an Alabama-based Hyundai manufacturing facility and a staffing firm for allegedly employing a minor (13 y.o.) to work 50-60 hrs/wk on an assembly line manufacturing auto parts between 2021 and 2022. Per the DOL, the staffing agency (and Hyundai) “knew had or had reason to know” that the employee was underage. Allegedly Hyundai dismissed two other workers supplied by the staffing agency and believed to be minors. The DOL is seeking an order requiring Hyundai to disgorge any profits made from child labor (i.e. a "hot goods" order). The lawsuit follows an investigation into allegations of Hyundai's use of child labor last year. Also, in 2022 the DOL got a court order against a separate Hyundai manufacturer, stopping it from employing minors between 13 and 15 years of age, and shipping or delivering any goods manufactured in violation of child labor laws. Hyundai says it cooperated with investigators and ceased using staffing firms that supplied minors. OK, I'm gonna channel Chris Rock for a minute: "Whadya want a cookie? You're NOT SUPPOSED TO HIRE CHILD WORKERS. YOUR'E NOT SUPPOSED TO DO BUSINESS WITH STAFFING AGENCIES THAT SUPPLY CHILD WORKERS". Hyundai says the DOL is seeking to apply  “an unprecedented legal theory that would unfairly hold Hyundai accountable for the actions of its suppliers and set a concerning precedent for other automotive companies and manufacturers.” Excuuuuuuse me??? Surely Hyundai has heard of the concept of joint employment. Yes, the staffing firm supplied the workers, but Hyundai used them on their own premises, and saw them for 50-60 hours a week -- and had *no* inkling that the kid was underage??? (Child labor laws don't allow ANY child under 14 to be working, and limit the hours of anyone under 16.) Some takeaways: 1. Staffing firms and the clients can be JOINTLY liable for employment/labor law violations. There is NOTHING "unprecedented" about that. 2. Yes, the staffing firm generally takes care of administrative issues like pre-screening, and ensuring that a worker is of age. That doesn't relieve the client of *all* responsibility though -- especially when the client (albeit a different facility/division) has been down that road before -- clearly not an "unprecedented" situation. 3. Once you know or have reason to know of a child labor, wage and hour or other employment law violation on your premises or by a supplier it falls to you to investigate and make sure it doesn't keep happening on your watch. OK, enough takeaways for now, I think. While Hyundai's attempt to distance itself from and offload all responsibility onto the staffing firm is not unique, it's a bad look for its employer -- and overall brand. Don't underestimate that. Your thoughts? Share below. #employmentlaw, #childlabor, #DOL, #FLSA, #hr, #employers

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For all the Tesla folks I know on the Supercharger team, and otherwise effected by layoffs. It's going to be okay. Not all changes are bad. I was recently reminded of the story of the Farmer and his son - in an episode of Bluey I watched with my girls a couple weeks ago. Take 26 minutes and watch the episode (if you've got less time, read the article linked). #Bluey #tesla #teslalayoffs #supercharger #ev #change #personaldevelopment #entrepreneurship

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📜Breaking news! The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently overruled more than four decades of precedent regarding the design patent obviousness standard. Not sure what this means for design patent applicants, patentees, and challengers? Check out our latest client alert, where we discuss some of the unanswered questions stemming from this significant ruling. https://gag.gl/MsSq0F Authors: Tracy-Gene G. Durkin, Deirdre Wells, Daniel Gajewski, Ivy Clarice Estoesta, and Michael Nathanson #PatentLaw #FederalCircuit #DesignPatents

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📜Breaking news! The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently overruled more than four decades of precedent regarding the design patent obviousness standard. Not sure what this means for design patent applicants, patentees, and challengers? Check out our latest client alert, where we discuss some of the unanswered questions stemming from this significant ruling. https://gag.gl/MsSq0F Authors: Tracy-Gene G. Durkin, Deirdre Wells, Daniel Gajewski, Ivy Clarice Estoesta, and Michael Nathanson #PatentLaw #FederalCircuit #DesignPatents

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📜Breaking news! The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently overruled more than four decades of precedent regarding the design patent obviousness standard. Not sure what this means for design patent applicants, patentees, and challengers? Check out our latest client alert, where we discuss some of the unanswered questions stemming from this significant ruling. https://gag.gl/MsSq0F Authors: Tracy-Gene G. Durkin, Deirdre Wells, Daniel Gajewski, Ivy Clarice Estoesta, and Michael Nathanson #PatentLaw #FederalCircuit #DesignPatents

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📜Breaking news! The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently overruled more than four decades of precedent regarding the design patent obviousness standard. Not sure what this means for design patent applicants, patentees, and challengers? Check out our latest client alert, where we discuss some of the unanswered questions stemming from this significant ruling. https://gag.gl/MsSq0F Authors: Tracy-Gene G. Durkin, Deirdre Wells, Daniel Gajewski, Ivy Clarice Estoesta, and Michael Nathanson #PatentLaw #FederalCircuit #DesignPatents

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📜Breaking news! The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently overruled more than four decades of precedent regarding the design patent obviousness standard. Not sure what this means for design patent applicants, patentees, and challengers? Check out our latest client alert, where we discuss some of the unanswered questions stemming from this significant ruling. https://gag.gl/MsSq0F Authors: Tracy-Gene G. Durkin, Deirdre Wells, Daniel Gajewski, Ivy Clarice Estoesta, and Michael Nathanson #PatentLaw #FederalCircuit #DesignPatents

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📜Breaking news! The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently overruled more than four decades of precedent regarding the design patent obviousness standard. Not sure what this means for design patent applicants, patentees, and challengers? Check out our latest client alert, where we discuss some of the unanswered questions stemming from this significant ruling. https://gag.gl/MsSq0F Authors: Tracy-Gene G. Durkin, Deirdre Wells, Daniel Gajewski, Ivy Clarice Estoesta, and Michael Nathanson #PatentLaw #FederalCircuit #DesignPatents

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📜Breaking news! The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently overruled more than four decades of precedent regarding the design patent obviousness standard. Not sure what this means for design patent applicants, patentees, and challengers? Check out our latest client alert, where we discuss some of the unanswered questions stemming from this significant ruling. https://gag.gl/MsSq0F Authors: Tracy-Gene G. Durkin, Deirdre Wells, Daniel Gajewski, Ivy Clarice Estoesta, and Michael Nathanson #PatentLaw #FederalCircuit #DesignPatents

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Ammonia is an important component in everything from fertilizers to alternative fuel sources, but synthesizing ammonia from molecular nitrogen is an energy-intensive process. However, Scientists from the Department of Energy’s Berkley Lab have found a new, cleaner method for producing ammonia. The process involves catalysts made from "rare-earth" metals, which can facilitate this reaction at room temperature and pressure. Further study is needed, but this could have major implications for both agriculture and clean energy initiatives. #CleanEnergy #Decarbonization #Ammonia #AgriTech

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#LKQ v. GM is an important new #design #patent case decided today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the #FederalCircuit sitting en banc. At issue is whether GM can protect a run-of-the-mill car fender with a design patent and stop LKQ, an auto parts maker, from selling an after-market fender at a lower price. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office upheld the GM design patent. Not so fast, held the Federal Circuit: On remand, the USPTO will be permitted under the Supreme Court's KSR precedent to determine obviousness based on a single prior art reference (the "Lian" fender) without the need (a) to point to any "secondary reference" or (b) to articulate a "detailed verbal description" of the patented design. Translation: If a patented design looks a lot like a previous design, the design patent is on shaky ground. Here's the official new opinion in LKQ v. GM, https://lnkd.in/gYWKBNYr.

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Did the FTC ban noncompetes? What do you need to know about the new rule? When does it go into effect? What should you do now to protect your business? For answers to all of these questions, see this blog post by my colleagues Benjamin Fink and Neal Weinrich, both of whom are true experts in this area of the law. https://lnkd.in/eE2v4vuX

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Production shutdowns for Stellantis auto industry lay-offs in Michigan trending upward, first-quarter U.S. new EV sales rise 3.3% year-over-year, and more in the most recent Foley Automotive Update from Ann Marie Uetz, Vanessa Miller and Nicholas Ellis #auto #EV #manufacturing

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My colleagues Benjamin Dryden, David Sanders, and Russell Beck will discuss the noncompete rule and potential paths forward in the webinar and CLE, "The FTC Noncompete Rule: Where Do We Go From Here?," on May 9. Click below to learn more and to register! #Noncompete #FTC #Webinar

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In 2021 the California legislature added section 118.9 to the Vehicle Code, authorizing The Department of Transportation to transfer 172 acres of land between Highway 1 and the Pacific Ocean, known as Chadbourne Gulch and as Blues Beach, to a private nonprofit corporation formed by Native American groups, for no cash consideration. The corporation would be obligated to maintain the property and allow free use of the property by the general public, except that the general public would be excluded from sunset to sunrise. There many strings and limitations to the deal, to the point it may be a burdensome white elephant to the corporation. I wrote to CalTrans reminding them that they were obligated: to reserve in the people the absolute right to fish on the property to be transferred as provided in section 25 article I of the California Constitution; to reserve in the people convenient access across the property to the shore below ordinary annual highwater mark and the ocean as provided in section 6210.4 of the Public Resources Code; to reserve in the state convenient access to the shore, the submerged state-owned lands and the ocean as provided in section 6210.5 of the Public Resources Code; prior to the transfer to consider the effect if the proposed transfer on public access to and use of the shore and the ocean, avoiding so far as feasible any adverse effect on public access and use, and provide this consideration in a public manner facilitating public participation, as provided in the Public Trust Doctrine; recently to recognize that the people had acquired a public right of way over the Chadbourne Gulch road under the theory of implied dedication (the theory being pushed by the state in the California v. Martins Beach LLC litigation in San Mateo County). With respect to the right to fish, there are fish in the Chadbourne Gulch creek. CalTrans has not responded to numerous emails over the last years inquiring as the implementation of section 118.9. I recently became aware that the Coastal Conservancy and the California Ocean Protection Council have granted Kai Poma, a private nonprofit corporation organized under tribal law and qualified under 501 (c)(3), a couple of hundred thousand dollars to support cultural and environmental research and preparation of documents related to compliance with the corporations obligations under section 118.9. That is, the implementation of section 118.9 is going forward - the transfer of between 135 and 162 acres of spectacular coastal land controlling access to a popular beach with reliable surf, out of state ownership and into a private corporation. Although from the tribes' point of view this is part of landback - the return of ancestral lands, compliance with the laws mentioned is necessary to protect the interests of the general public.

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The FTC says that it has been extremely busy... Since April 2023, it touts as its accomplishments: ✔ Finalized a rule to ban noncompete clauses ✔ Proposed a rule to ban "junk fees" ✔ Encouraged pharmaceutical companies to take down "junk" patent listings on inhalers ✔ Challenged the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history ✔ Revealed evidence of an oil executive attempting to collude to reduce output ✔ Ordered data brokers to stop selling consumers’ sensitive geolocation data ✔ Imposed record-setting penalties on businesses related to products alleged to have been “made in the USA” Yesterday, the FTC Chair asked the House appropriations committee for a 25% increase to its annual budget in order to keep up this enforcement pace -- she wants $535,000,000.00 for fiscal year 2025 versus $425,700,000.00 for the existing fiscal year budget. Is this a good spend? Where do you think FTC should be concentrating its resources? #FTC #enforcementactions #2025budget

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