Versions of qualified plans, sometimes referred to as "Rollovers as Business Startups" or simply "ROBS," are marketed with increasing frequency to would-be business owners as a way to access tax-deferred retirement funds without paying distribution taxes, in order to...
PLDO Law Blog
Month: July 2016
Protect Your Customers’ Safety – It’s the Law
In a recent decision by the Rhode Island Superior Court, a judge determined that a wrongful death action brought on behalf of a bank customer, who was robbed and murdered in the bank's parking lot, could proceed to trial. The family of the murdered victim argued the...
New RI Non-Compete Law for Physicians Aims to Serve the Public
Non-competition and non-solicitation agreements are often legitimate tools to protect employers from spending time, money and effort training their employees, only to have those employees leave and open up a competing business across the street. Typically, such...
Feds Crack Down on “Payday” Lenders
Consumer rights advocates are praising a government move to crack down on so-called "predatory lenders" that charge triple-digit interest rates for "payday" loans. Providers of payday loans target individuals who cannot qualify for a traditional loan. It has been...
REAL ESTATE TITLE DISPUTES: THE PROCESS OF RECORDING “LIS PENDENS” IN RHODE ISLAND AND MASSACHUSETTS
If you or your business ends up in a dispute over real estate, it is likely that you will encounter a lis pendens. Lis pendens is Latin for “suit pending,” and it means just that, it is a statutorily governed legal tool that is often used to give notice on a...
HIGH STAKES: DRAFTING AND INTERPRETING PAYMENT REJECTIONS UNDER MASSACHUSETTS’ PROMPT PAY ACT
Under the Massachusetts Prompt Pay Act, which governs construction contracts, unless an owner meets the Act's "time and substance" requirements for rejecting a payment application from a contractor (ditto for subcontractors' applications to contractors), that...
RHODE ISLAND SUPREME COURT RULES THAT A PROPERTY’S FORECLOSURE WAS VALID DESPITE PLAINTIFF’S CLAIMS THAT MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS WERE “AMBIGUOUS”
BackgroundA recent case arose out of foreclosure proceedings that were instituted by Wells Fargo Bank (“Wells Fargo” or “defendant”) with respect to property located at 18 High Street in Bristol, Rhode Island. The property’s owner (“plaintiff”) secured the mortgage by...
FDA CONSIDERS RESCHEDULING MARIJUANA: A MILESTONE IN DRUG POLICY REFORM
The landscape of drug policy in the United States is poised for a significant shift as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) undertakes a reassessment of marijuana’s drug scheduling classification. The FDA is conducting a comprehensive review of marijuana’s current...
ARE NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENTS ENFORCEABLE IN RHODE ISLAND?
COURTS RULE IN FAVOR OF THE EMPLOYER’S AGREEMENT IN RECENT CASE The Rhode Island Supreme Court recently addressed the enforceability of a non-competition provision. In Walls v. Griggs & Browne Pest Control, Inc., the Court reviewed an agreement between Brian Walls...
