Blogs

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed H.B. 623 into law on April 15, 2024, creating a new section 553.837, Florida Statutes, which will require builders to provide a one-year warranty for all newly constructed homes.  While many new construction home builders already offer a warranty, this statute requires that, starting July 1, 2025, all builders of newly constructed homes provide a statutory warranty, unless they already provide a written warranty that meets or exceeds the statutory warranty terms.

Section 713.10, Florida Statutes, titled “Extent of liens,” provides a mechanism for landlords to protect their property from being liened when a tenant contracts for improvements to the leased premises.  The statute also provides a path for lienors to protect themselves when performing work on behalf of a tenant.

Updates to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Security Rule (“HIPAA Security Rule”) are planned for Spring 2024. New guidance from The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) via a recently released Concept Paper confirms plans to update the HIPAA Security Rule and additionally, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) will propose new cybersecurity requirements for program participants. The effects of these coming changes will be felt by healthcare providers, payers, and all companies with a business nexus to the healthcare market.

On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (“Department”) announced its final rule, Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees, which revises regulations for determining whether certain salaried employees are exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements under section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Exempt employees include those employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacities, as defined by the Department’s regulations, sometimes referred to as the “EAP exemptions.”

Following ZF Automotive, two New York district courts decisions, that ICSID arbitration panels in investor-sate arbitrations were not imbued with governmental authority and therefore not “foreign” or “international tribunals,” could indicate a direction that forecloses access to Section 1782 discovery assistance to ICSID arbitration panels.

Luxury fashion brand Hermès sued Mason Rothschild in January 2022 alleging that the digital images underlying the non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) produced and sold by Rothschild depicting faux fur-covered Birkin handbags – the “MetaBirkins” – constituted trademark infringement and dilution and that Rothschild was further violating anticybersquatting laws by using a similarly infringing domain name.