Imagine you receive an email from a customer stating that one of your employees engaged in serious misconduct. However, it's not clear from the email whether the customer is merely disgruntled at your company's service, or if your employee indeed engaged in...
PLDO Law Blog
Firm News
The Challenges of Using Rollovers to Start a Business
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...
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...
DOL Solicits Public Comment on Independent Contractor Proposed Rule
On September 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) released a proposed regulation addressing when a service provider should be classified as an independent contractor rather than an employee. The change is important to both employers and service providers...
Cautionary Insight Regarding Bonuses and The Wage Act
Massachusetts and Rhode Island are among those states that have enacted a Wage Act, under which employees who receive less than their full compensation due can sue for treble damages. In fact, in Massachusetts, a Wage Act violation leads to mandatory treble damages....
Irrevocable Trusts: Taking Care of Yourself and Your Retirement
Many people do not consider protecting assets for future long-term-care costs until they, or their spouse, requires skilled nursing care. Others are aware of the high price of such care (in some cases more than $10,000 a month) but believe that they have saved enough...
In Real Estate, Proceed with Caution and a Surefire Contract
While the real estate market is experiencing significant upheaval at the moment with decreased inventory and more tentative buyers, we believe there will be a reasonably quick return to status quo in the real estate market. Potentially, there will be an increase in...
Trust Beneficiary Forfeits Beneficial Interest After Violating No-Contest Clause
In July, the Massachusetts Appeal Court in Capobianco v. Dischino Capobianco v. Dischino, 19-P-197 (Mass. App. Ct. Jul. 9, 2020) ruled that a beneficiary forfeited his beneficial interest in a Trust established by his parents when he filed an action seeking to remove...
