Insights

McGrath North proudly announces its achievement of Mansfield Certification Plus from Diversity Lab. The firm has demonstrated its continued commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the legal industry by surpassing the Mansfield Rule requirement and tracking and measuring diverse representation across all levels of the firm.  

Please join us March 26, 2024, for an informative webinar on the challenges and tasks faced by Condo Association directors. This event will provide a comprehensive overview of the responsibilities and duties that directors undertake in managing condo associations. Attorney Bob Dailey will share invaluable insights and best practices to ensure smooth and successful operations. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to enhance your understanding of condo association management. Register now and mark your calendars for an enriching experience!  

We are thrilled to announce the resounding success of the 2nd Annual Privacy & Data Protection Summit hosted by McGrath North yesterday.  

Yesterday, a highly informative webinar was conducted on the topic of assessments, delinquency, and liens in relation to condominium and homeowners association (HOA) properties. The webinar shed light on the crucial aspects of managing and collecting assessments, handling delinquencies, and understanding the legal framework of liens in these communities. Participants had the opportunity to gain valuable insights from attorney Bob Dailey, who provided practical solutions for dealing with delinquent owners, ensuring financial stability, and implementing effective collection strategies. The webinar proved to be essential for board members equipping them with the necessary knowledge to navigate the complex landscape of assessments, delinquencies, and liens in the realm of condo and HOA communities.  

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued its final regulations for purposes of implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA went into effect in June 2023 and requires employers with 15 or more employees to consider accommodation requests from employees and applicants for “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” in the same manner as accommodation requests under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Employers must provide reasonable accommodations to “qualified” individuals with a “known limitation” due to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship.  

On April 11, 2024, the Nebraska Legislature unanimously passed the Nebraska Data Privacy Act (LB 1074). LB 1074 is an omnibus bill that establishes a range of new state laws, including a proposed comprehensive privacy statute.  

On April 1, 2024, the United States (U.S.) and United Kingdom (UK) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a partnership for the purpose of working collaboratively in testing and researching artificial intelligence (AI) models. The MOU represents an evolution of the commitments made by both the U.S. and the UK at the AI Safety Summit in November of 2023. As AI is developing rapidly, both governments recognize the need to act now to ensure a shared approach to AI safety which can keep pace with the technology’s emerging risks. This partnership will accelerate the two countries’ work to address national security risks, as well as the broader concerns and risks AI has on society.  

On February 28, 2024, President Biden issued Executive Order 14117, titled “Preventing Access to Americans' Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern” (the “Executive Order”). This Executive Order sets in motion a rule-making process that has the potential to significantly impact the data processing practices of certain entities and organizations that hold U.S. citizens’ personal data. Read on to find out more about the Executive Order and its implications:  

How do today’s Family Business Leaders achieve lasting success? Whether instinctively or methodically, we see them asking and answering some version of essentially the following 3 Key Questions time and time again:  

Given the prevalence of blended families in today’s society, oftentimes estate planning counsel and financial planners work with married (or soon to be married) clients where one spouse may not wish to name their spouse (or future spouse) the primary beneficiary of their respective individual retirement account and/or company qualified retirement plan account. This situation may arise where a significant portion of such spouse’s net worth resides in such accounts and the spouse wants all or a portion of such account to be passed down to his or her biological children rather than his or her current spouse who is not the biological parent of such children. Such clients may not realize that individual retirement accounts differ from company qualified retirement plan accounts with respect to the potential requirement of “spousal consent.”  

Can your HOA or condominium association turn over its members’ email addresses to an outside party?  

A lot of Associations ask about best practices related to the use of architects to help an architectural review committee (ARC) review project submittals. More specifically, they’re asking how an architect consultant should interact with the Board when an owner submits a project for the ARC to review.  

Data protection certifications are a great way to give your organization an edge against your competitors when it comes to scoring new clients and proving up your data privacy and security compliance. However, understanding all the different certifications available and which certifications will provide the most value for organization can be tricky. This month, Stacey Shadden and Caroline Pieper discuss the most common types of certifications and how they can be beneficial for your organization as you consider getting certified!  

This month’s episode of Privacy is Power focuses on the importance of employee privacy and security training. Reports show that as many as 90% of breaches start from social engineering or phishing attacks that an organization’s technical security solutions can’t protect against. Training an organization’s workforce who handle sensitive data will have an immediate impact on an organization’s level of data security, and not properly training the workforce can be costly and detrimental. Don’t trust that employees know how to properly protect data or implement proper procedure, reach out to McGrath North’s Privacy and Cybersecurity team today to create a tailored training guide to efficiently ensure employees know proper protocol.   

2021 is already heating up with privacy and security regulatory changes. Congress is getting closer to federal legislation, regulatory agencies are finding ways to get involved and the first national cyber director in history was sworn in by the White House. Check out this month’s episode of Privacy is Power to get up to speed on the top 5 newsworthy data privacy and security topics to help your organization implement updates and prepare for future changes in the world of data privacy and security.  

As the pandemic continues to wind down and vaccines are more widely distributed, employers are bringing employees back to work and may be collecting or accessing data through the use of vaccine cards, temperature checks, COVID-19 screening questions, workplace monitoring apps, and more. Join us for Episode 4, where we discuss not only the data privacy considerations associated with bringing employees back to work, but also the labor and employment considerations. This month, a guest speaker from McGrath North’s labor and employment group, Cody Brookhouser-Sisney, joins Caroline and Stacey for a panel discussion.