Legal Updates Archive

Governor Kim Reynolds recently signed three new laws affecting the real estate and leasing industries: HF 2326, SF 2291 and SF 2268. A summary of each law is contained herein, but readers should review each bill in its entirety.

Higher immigration fees took effect on April 1,2024, following a U.S. district court judge’s refusal to block a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services fee rule.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a temporary final rule to increase the automatic extension period for certain employment authorization document holders from 180 days to 540 days.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued new guidance on the validity of Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced new audit measures under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, affecting all designated regional centers. Under the 2022 law, USCIS must conduct audits at least once every five years for each regional center.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued a significant update for Palestinians in the United States, as detailed in a recent Federal Register notice.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on April 18, 2024, that it has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 19,000 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the early second half of fiscal year 2024 with start dates from April 1 to May 14, 2024, under the H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has updated its fee schedule for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker—H-1B and H-1B1 Petitions, to reflect the additional required fees for online filings.

The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency issued notices providing work authorization for certain Ethiopian and Palestinian students in lawful F-1 nonimmigrant status.

Effective June 28, 2024, the Department of Labor is amending its regulations governing certification of temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal agricultural work and enforcement of contractual obligations applicable to their employers.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on April 24, 2024, that it is refunding all of the I-765 employment authorization document fees collected from eligible Ukrainian parolees who entered as parolees after February 24, 2022.

The Department of Justice announced on April 17, 2024, that it secured a settlement agreement with Washington University, a private university headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

In a significant development for employers and individuals involved in the STEM fields, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced an update to the definition of “Schedule A, Group II” occupations, which is part of the agency’s efforts to align more closely with the Department of Labor definitions and streamline the permanent residency application process for high-achieving employees.

The original proposal to designate PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA hazardous substances raised a great deal of concern among public entities about the possible CERCLA liability they may face from providing public services that use, remove, treat, or dispose of these substances.

The duty to preserve evidence and the significant events that determine when the duty to preserve arises is often intertwined with privileged discussions and documents related to the planning and implementation of a litigation hold. And when there is a dispute about when the duty to preserve was triggered and there are allegations of spoliation, concerns regarding protecting privilege and not waiving privilege become critically important.

On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a final rule increasing the compensation employers must pay to certain categories of employees to be exempt from the overtime and minimum wage requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

If you do not have time to read all 570 pages of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) final rule and explanation banning non-competes (and who does other than an employment attorney?), here are the essentials.

We are now two years into complying with Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, which was adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission in August 2022 and required new “pay versus performance” disclosure beginning in 2023 proxy statements.

On April 19, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a first-of-its-kind rule designating two PFAS chemicals, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), along with their salts and structural isomers, as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.

On March 22, 2024, the Cyberspace Administration of China enacted the official Provisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-border Data Flow, the second editions of the Guidelines for Application for the Security Assessment of Data Cross-Border Transfer, and the Guidelines for Filing of the Standard Contract for Personal Information Cross-Border Transfer to ease cross-border data transfers.

The U.S. Department of Education has released its long-awaited Title IX regulations addressing sexual discrimination and sexual harassment, which also include coverage of sexual orientation, gender identity and pregnancy.

In March 2024, the SEC adopted new climate disclosure rules requiring publicly traded companies to provide comprehensive information about their climate-related risks and impacts. These rules mandate narrative disclosures covering governance, risks, strategy, targets, goals, and—for larger filers—emissions and attestations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on April 10, 2024, issued a final rule establishing National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals. The new regulations establish the agency’s first drinking water standards addressing PFAS chemicals, a group of several thousand synthetic chemicals that persist in the environment and have adverse impacts upon human health and the environment.

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for April 2024 notes that little to no additional forward movement in final action dates for visa categories is expected in the coming months.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on March 12, 2024, that it has begun implementing a streamlined process to provide Employment Authorization Documents more efficiently to eligible refugees after they are admitted into the United States.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on March 21, 2024, that it has updated guidance in its USCIS Policy Manual, effective immediately.

The Department of Homeland Security is extending and redesignating Burma (Myanmar) for Temporary Protected Status.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed a new rule that would eliminate its current procedures for National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) compliance and instead follow the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s NHPA regulations (36 C.F.R. part 800). The comment deadline on the proposed rule—April 9, 2024—is approaching.

On March 8, 2024, when President Biden signed into law a $459 billion legislation package to fund portions of the government for the next six months, most media attention focused on the last-minute aversion of a partial government shutdown. However, buried in the legislation are provisions that demonstrate increasing concern about the foreign acquisition of U.S. agricultural land and a move to increase coordination between the CFIUS and the USDA.

H.F. 3680 was introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives on February 13, 2024, and would amend Minnesota law by opting out of the federal interest rate preemption established under the federal Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980.

On February 9, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released end-of-fiscal-year 2023 data. Included are selected highlights of the data and USCIS's plans for FY 2024.

On February 14, 2024, President Biden directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant Deferred Enforced Departure to Palestinians in the United States for 18 months, with some exceptions. 

E-Verify announced on February 22, 2024, that it will launch its "next generation" service, E-Verify+, as a pilot in spring 2024. E-Verify said the "plus" in E-Verify+ represents benefits the new service will provide to employers and employees, including "added efficiency" for employers and "more control over their personal information" for employees.

The Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers reminded its clients that fees for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, increased on February 26, 2024. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reminded employers that the initial registration period for the FY  2025 H-1B cap season will open at noon ET on March 6, 2024, and run through noon ET on March 22, 2024. A USCIS online account is required to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $10 registration fee.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a reminder that under the new fee final rule effective April 1, 2024, the new 04/01/24 editions of several forms will be required.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on February 27, 2024, that eligible Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members who are physically present in the United States can now be considered for re-parole to continue to temporarily remain in the United States.

The Department of State's Visa Bulletin for April 2024 notes that little to no additional forward movement in final action dates for visa categories is expected in the coming months because the final action dates for many categories advanced for April 2024, in many cases by several months to a year.

A recent federal court decision sheds light on what may be required for disclosure of document preservation efforts. In Doe LS 340 v. Uber Technologies, Inc., --- F. Supp. 3d ----, 2024 WL 107929 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 29, 2024), the court looked to Rule 26 and local practice for the initial disclosure of information regarding efforts to preserve documents and ESI sources.

In a case of first impression, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that, despite the language of a declaration of covenants and restrictions to the contrary, a homeowners’ association (HOA) lien for unpaid assessments does not have super priority over a later recorded mortgage.

On March 7, 2024, USCIS received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2024.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has begun announcing start dates for spring load restrictions across the state.

Questions concerning cash management programs are some of the most frequent to cross my desk these days. Some are spurred by outdated agreements, some by fraud incidents, and many by new or changing products and services. As both technology and customer expectations evolve, it naturally follows that cash management programs and agreements will need to evolve too. So, what are the most common themes of these questions and updates?

The Community Reinvestment Act final rule is almost 1,500 pages and undoubtedly challenging to digest. As of the drafting of this article, the final rule has not been published in the Federal Register, and this article is based on the version published on the federal banking agencies’ websites on October 24, 2023.

In response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence, the USPTO has issued guidance for how AI-assisted inventions, or inventions where artificial intelligence contributed to the conception of the invention, will be examined. 

On February 13, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) released an update that affects H-2A and H-2B employers.

USCIS will be increasing the filing fees for H-2 petitions filed on or after February 26, 2024.

USPTO issued inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions. The guidance explained that “while AI-assisted inventions are not categorically unpatentable, the inventorship analysis should focus on human contributions, as patents function to incentivize and reward human ingenuity.”

This article highlights some of the key issues courts are facing with AI in intellectual property litigation.