Kang Haggerty News

COVID-19 UPDATES: N.J. Suspends Elective Medical Procedures as of Friday

March 25, 2020 | Jacklyn Fetbroyt

Nurse holding patient file and on the phone net to patient in hospital bed with cast on foot On Monday March 23, 2020 Governor Murphy issued Executive Order 109 introducing additional preventive measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 and simultaneously seeks assistance from the private healthcare community to increase the stock of PPE.

By Friday, March 27th at 5:00 p.m., all medical or dental “elective” surgeries and “elective” invasive procedures performed on adults to be suspended. An “elective” or invasive procedure is defined as “any surgery or invasive procedure that can be delayed without undue risk to the current or future heath of the patient as determined by the patient’s treating physician or dentist.”

Healthcare providers must consider post-operation complications when determining which operations qualify as “elective” and must coordinate post-operation care with ambulatory surgery centers or hospitals that have the resources to address post-operation complications. To that end, each hospital or ambulatory surgery center is required to establish written guidelines to ensure compliance and provide a copy to the Department of Health. All elective surgeries or invasive procedures already scheduled after 5:00 pm on Friday March 27, 2020 are to be cancelled or postponed indefinitely, and facilities must notify patients who will be affected by EO-109.

COVID-19 UPDATES: Non-Life Sustaining Business Waiver from March 19 Order of Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf Directing Massive Closures

March 24, 2020 | Jacklyn Fetbroyt

Illustration of office building with two trees out front. All windows are darkened but one, which shows the the figure of one person. With the current outbreak of COVID-19, each day creates a new normal. Government officials are adjusting to the new pandemic and implementing different policies to help protect the community’ s public health. On Thursday, March 19, 2020 Governor Tom Wolf issued an order mandating that all non-life-sustaining businesses close their physical locations by Thursday at 8 PM. Specifically, the order provides:

No person or entity shall operate a place of business in the Commonwealth that is not a life sustaining business regardless of whether the business is open to members of the public. This prohibition does not apply to virtual or telework operations (e.g., work from home), so long as social distancing and other mitigation measures are followed in such operations. Continue reading ›

COVID-19 UPDATES: Delay for Tax Day

March 23, 2020 | Jacklyn Fetbroyt

Corporate woman in suit sitting at computer, cactus also on desk
After a few false starts, the IRS announced over the weekend that the federal income tax filing due date is automatically extended to July 15, 2020. Mid-week, the IRS, acting in accordance with the President’s emergency declaration pursuant to the Stafford Act, originally extended only the time for certain tax payments, but not filings. Now, the IRS has clarified that both tax returns and tax payments originally due to be filed April 15th are extended three months.

Taxpayers can defer federal income tax payments due without penalties and interest, regardless of the amount owed; the latter is an important change from the earlier announcement as it related to corporations, which were only originally permitted to defer a certain amount. Now, this deferment applies to all taxpayers, including individuals, trusts and estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers.

Taxpayers do not need to file any additional forms or call the IRS to qualify for this automatic federal tax filing and payment relief. Taxpayers who need additional time to file beyond the July 15 deadline can request a filing extension by filing Form 4868 (individual) or Form 7004 (businesses).

Legal Intelligencer: Time to Reconsider Remote Depositions in the Age of COVID-19

March 20, 2020 | Edward T. Kang

Back of head facing screen In the March 19, 2020 edition of The Legal Intelligencer Edward T. Kang, managing member of Kang Haggerty wrote “Time to Reconsider Remote Depositions in the Age of COVID-19”

Remote depositions allow the deposition to proceed even though the witness is not in the same room as some or all of the other participating counsel and other persons entitled to be present.

As social distancing, travel limitations and working from home have become the norm due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), lawyers should give renewed consideration to conducting depositions by remote means. Remote depositions allow the deposition to proceed even though the witness is not in the same room as some or all of the other participating counsel and other persons entitled to be present.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(4) and similar state rules authorize remote depositions by stipulation of the parties or court order. Having conducted several depositions through remote means recently, including expert depositions, our firm attorneys believe the benefits of taking remote depositions far outweigh the perceived limitations. Continue reading ›

COVID-19 AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT: Performance Obligations and Force Majeure

March 19, 2020 | Jacklyn Fetbroyt

Graphic shows two hands. One holding a contract that shows Force Majeure and the other hand signing. As a commercial transactional lawyer, I often speak to my clients and colleagues about contract management. While I am usually heavily involved in many stages of the contract lifecycle – most notably, negotiations, drafting, closings and amendments – the real work (and most problems) arise during contract performance, which is the time the contracting company is typically “on its own.” I stress to my clients that competent management of contracts post-execution is critical: your management team needs to know its contractual obligations: due dates and milestones, payment terms, and areas of performance. Who’s doing what, when, and for how much? I recommend companies appoint a contract manager to maintain each contract and its pertinent information, and create a database of performance, payment, and other obligation information, along with applicable deadlines and a “tickler” system.

Now, in the wake of COVID-19 and its tremendous impact on businesses, it is important to pull out those databases, and update them with information particular to the current state of operations – yours and your contracting partners. Continue reading ›

CLE for Pennsylvania Bar Institute: The Complex Commercial Case in Arbitration 2020

February 28, 2020 | Kang Haggerty LLC

Flyer advertising CLE with panelists, date and time Kang Haggerty Managing Member Edward T. Kang and Member Kandis L. Kovalsky are both presenters in an upcoming CLE on the advantages and disadvantages of using arbitration as a resolution mechanism for complex commercial cases. Kandis also serves as Course Planner.

This 3-hour CLE will review the history of arbitration and the United State’s growing trend favoring arbitration. The panel, comprised of experienced practitioners and arbitrators, will discuss the preliminary conference, discovery, awards as well as considerations for increasing the efficiency in arbitration. Continue reading ›

Implementation Regulations on the Horizon Under Section 1071 of Dodd-Frank

February 5, 2020 | Jacklyn Fetbroyt

In response to the 2008 financial crisis, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) in 2010, focused on addressing sectors of the financial services industry. Dodd-Frank was to be implemented over time: Section 1071 (15 U.S. Code § 1691c-2(a)) has been pushed back on the implementation timeline, as it does not become effective until the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) implements regulations – which it has not.

Section 1071 amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. It requires financial institutions and governmental entities to compile, maintain, and submit data to the CFPB regarding credit applications submitted by women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses.

Kang Haggerty at NAMWOLF 2020 Driving Diversity & Leadership Conference

February 3, 2020 | Kang Haggerty LLC

Kang Haggerty Members Edward T. Kang, Jacklyn Fetbroyt and Kandis L. Kovalsky are attending the 2020 National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (“NAMWOLF”) Driving Diversity & Leadership Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from February 22^nd to February 25^th. Continue reading ›

Kandis Kovalsky, David Scott Elected to Kang Haggerty Membership

January 29, 2020 | Kang Haggerty LLC

Philadelphia, PA (January 29, 2020): Kang Haggerty LLC, a business litigation boutique with offices in Philadelphia, PA and Marlton, NJ, is pleased to announce that Kandis L. Kovalsky and David R. Scott were elected to the firm’s membership, effective January 1, 2020.

Kandis L. Kovalsky

David R. Scott

Legal Intelligencer: Beyond the Courts: The Potential Future of Arbitration

January 23, 2020 | Edward T. Kang

In the January 23, 2020 edition of The Legal Intelligencer Edward T. Kang, managing member of Kang Haggerty wrote “Beyond the Courts: The Potential Future of Arbitration”

This recent decision has implications for how practitioners understand the court system and arbitration system to usually work, as well as raising already-existent questions about the fairness of arbitration clauses and its applicability for various types of claims.

In a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, we saw a rare event—the court affirmed the district court’s decision to vacate an arbitration award in Monongahela Valley Hospital v. United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC, ___F.3d___ (3d Cir. Dec. 30, 2019). This case exemplified one of the rare situations in which the courts have decided to exercise authority and “correct” arbitration awards that have appeared to be blatantly unfair, which could arise from a variety of reasons. This recent decision has implications for how practitioners understand the court system and arbitration system to usually work, as well as raising already-existent questions about the fairness of arbitration clauses and its applicability for various types of claims.

Monongahela Valley Hospital involved a dispute between the hospital and one of its “bargaining unit” employees who are members of the union under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). About half of the employees of the hospital are supervisors who are not bargaining unit employees. The CBA governed the relationship between the hospital and the bargaining unit employees. The grievances centered around the hospital’s denial of a unit bargaining employee’s request for vacation due to a non-unit bargaining employee’s request for the same time off. The hospital denied the unit bargaining employee’s request because her supervisor, a nonbargaining unit employee, had requested the same week off and both could not be away at the same time. Using its authority to have the “final” say in the matter, the hospital denied the bargaining unit employee’s request. Continue reading ›

Firm News

This recent decision has implications for how practitioners understand the court system and arbitration system to usually work, as well as raising already-existent questions about the fairness of arbitration clauses and its applicability for various types of claims.