The new year brings several new laws and requirements in Illinois and across the country. Effective January 1, 2017, the Illinois “Freedom to Work” Act bans non-compete agreements between employers and their low wage employees. This Act defines low wage employees as those whose hourly wages are less than $13.00.

Innovative custom software has become the instrument for success in today’s economy. Software developers and the software they create come in all shapes and sizes. The developer could be a family friend or relative. The developer could be solicited from Craigslist. Businesses could simply be enticed by the developer’s website that offers a range of software development services. Once the developer is hired, the type of software can be configured in various ways. The software can stand alone. Or it can be an add-on or customization of existing platforms such as Salesforce.com or Magenta.

We’re proud to announce that “IP News for Business” – the blog written by Golan Christie Taglia partner Beverly A. Berneman – was chosen as one of the ABA Journal’s BLAWG 100, honoring the 100 best legal blogs.

• From Our Managing Partner
• Unclaimed Property
• Welcome Neil Johnson
• Barbara Yong Receives TMA’s Outstanding Service Award
• New Employment Laws for 2017
• "Work-For-Hire” Doctrine as Protection for your Software
• Beverly Berneman’s Blog Makes ABA Journal’s Top 100 List

Rita Garry, hosted by The Knowledge Group on January 11, 2017 at 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET. The webcast is entitled, “Crowdfunding Rules & Regulation in 2017: What Every Attorney Should Know”.

Barbara Yong will be honored with the Outstanding Service Award at the Chicago/Midwest Chapter Turnaround Management Association’s Executive Speaker Forum on November 21, 2016 from 5-10pm at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago.

Significant new rules and regulations have been recently proposed for retirement plans, deferred compensation plans and group health plans. Here is a snapshot of the good news and the bad news:

Limited liability companies (“LLC”) have been a popular type of business entity due to the tax benefits that limited liability offered to owners and ease of governance. The Illinois LLC Act (805 ILCS 180) governs the organization and operations of LLCs in Illinois. Recently, Illinois House Bill HB 4361 (the “Bill”), which has been six (6) years in the making by the Institute of Illinois Business Law, was signed into law and significantly revises the Illinois LLC Act.

To address gender pay inequality (on average, women are paid 79 cents for every dollar a man earns), Massachusetts has recently passed one of the stricter laws in the country in an attempt to correct this. Under this recently enacted law, which goes into effect in July 2018, employers will be prohibited from asking job candidates about their salary history until after extending a formal offer of employment.

In August, a federal jury in Washington, D.C. awarded a former Chipotle Mexican Grill employee $550,000 after finding that she was fired from her job because she was pregnant. The verdict is remarkable for a low-wage earning employee and is intended to send a message to other employers.

Intellectual Property (“IP”) protection serves two sets of interested parties. First, the owners of the IP protect their investment in the creative parts of their businesses. Second, the users of the products and services can be confident that the protected IP fulfills their expectations. However, an underground market exists for IP goods and services. The underground market operates in both the business to business (“B2B”) and business to consumer (“B2C”) world. The following discussion identifies these markets and the potential liability for sellers and buyers in the underground market.

In our Summer 2016 newsletter, Jonathan D. Morton’s article (“What Happens To My Digital Assets When I Die?”) stated that the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (UFADAA) had not yet been adopted by Illinois. On August, 13, 2016, the act was finally signed into law and is now effective with regard to all existing estate planning documents.

• From Our Managing Partner
• Updates to Group Benefit Plans
• Extensive Changes to Illinois LLC Act
• New Laws Prohibit Employers From Asking Applicants About Salary History
• Jury Awards Employee $550,000 In Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit
• When It’s Too Good To Be True: The Underground Market For Intellectual Property
• UPDATE: UFADAA Becomes Law

It is hard enough to run any business, but family businesses are uniquely challenging. Everyone knows how complicated family relationships are and anyone who has sat at a Thanksgiving table has seen those complications play out in the most awkward ways possible. Now imagine that the livelihoods of everyone at that table, including the livelihoods of future generations, and, in most cases, the family legacy, hinge on that crowd making sound business decisions.

The proliferation of digital assets raises new questions about how to plan for the transfer of those assets. Law typically trails technology, and in the case of digital assets, the law is woefully behind. In Illinois, for example, there is no law opining on the transfer of digital assets, which are governed by complex “Terms of Service Agreements” that nobody reads. Thus, the question exists: what happens with my digital assets when I die?

A recent Seventh Circuit Court decision may impact the enforceability of arbitration provisions in your employment agreements.

Chicago recently passed an Ordinance requiring all employers with employees working in Chicago to provide those employees with paid sick leave. Chicago is only the most recent city to have passed such an Ordinance, following twenty-six (26) other cities including New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. In addition, five (5) states – California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Vermont – have laws requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to employees.

On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) into law. The DTSA marks long-awaited federal recognition of trade secrets as valuable Intellectual Property. Here’s a summary of what you should know about it.

In June, Leading Lawyers, a division of Law Bulletin Publishing Company, named the following Golan

• From Our Managing Partner
• Tips For Family-run Businesses
• What Happens To My Digital Assets When I Die?
• 7th Circuit Decision Outlaws Class Action Waivers In Employment Contracts
• Chicago Passes Paid Sick Leave Ordinance
• Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) Becomes Law
• Golan & Christie Attorneys Once Again Receive Peer Recognition

North American Theatre Engineering Architecture Conference

At a White House event on January 29, 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced a proposed revision to the Employer Information Report (EEO-1). Under the proposed rule, certain employers will be required to report pay rate data. The proposed rule—announced on the seventh anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act—aims to assist the agency in identifying discriminatory pay practices and promoting equal pay practices.

Effective January 1, 2016, certain business and establishments are required to post a new notice in connection with human trafficking and slavery prevention. Affected businesses must post the notice in a conspicuous place near its public entrance or in clear view of the public and employees on its premises. If a business fails to post the new notice, it is subject to a $500 penalty for a first time offense and $1,000 for each future offense.

Jonathan D. Morton’s practice focuses on trusts and estate planning, probate, tax controversy and planning, and general corporate and organizational matters. Mr. Morton is licensed to practice law in the states of Illinois and Florida, and before the Internal Revenue Service in Tax Court. Mr. Morton currently serves as the Illinois State Bar Association Federal Tax Section Council liaison to the Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Morton obtained his undergraduate degree in business from the University of Illinois in 2007, and his law degree from Loyola University Chicago in 2013, where he also obtained his certificate in taxation law. During law school he participated in Loyola’s federal income tax clinic and on the school’s moot court team where he was awarded runner-up best brief at