Rent Relief for Chicago Restaurant Ordered by Judge
New case sides with Illinois bar and restaurant over rent decrease under force majeure clause during reduced operations under COVID-19 orders. Happened in the context of a bankruptcy, but the opinion contains valuable arguments and guidance that bars and restaurants should be aware of.
It was bound to happen. And I’m happy it was in Chicago, Illinois, that a restaurant and bar fought and received an equitable reduction in rent proportionate to the potential loss in revenue (more on this below) suffered by the restaurant under the COVID-19 stay at home and business closure orders issued by the State of Illinois. The restaurant/bar had filed for bankruptcy protection before the COVID-19 crisis, so the order and opinion come from the bankruptcy court in the context of the landlord and management company filing motions to be able to proceed with eviction of the restaurant/bar and…
Here are the issues raised in the SBA’s updated guidance conforming present PPP loan guidance with the new PPP Flexibility Act’s amendments to the PPP program.
The Small Business Administration (“SBA”) has issued two Interim Final Rules amending the Interim Final Rule they’d issued back in April. These new rules implement changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) made by the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act.
The first update can be found here.
The second update can be found here.
The first update effectuates the following changes for PPP loans (old and new):
Extends the covered period for the loan – The old covered period ran to June 30, 2020, and that period is now extended to December 31, 2020. This means that loan…
Senators Agree PPP Forgiveness Application Requires Legal, Accounting Help to Complete, Ask SBA for Simplification
Summary Judgment Denied in Suit Alleging Breach of Voting Agreement
After CEO and Chairman of closely held company was removed by board of directors, he sued, requesting specific performance of the removal of the other members of the board. The Chancery Court dismissed several claims in the complaint for want of personal jurisdiction, and also denied the CEO’s motion for summary judgment, finding that each side of the litigation alleged disputed facts and complex legal theories not appropriate for resolution on summary judgment.
In 2016, Craig Bouchard founded Braidy Industries, Inc., a Delaware corporation with principal places of business in Kentucky and Massachusetts whose purpose is to manufacture efficient and…
Fizzy… oops, I mean Brizzy, hard seltzer maker files opening brief in appeal of trademark injunction ruling in favor of Fizzy… darn, I mean Vizzy, Molson Coors’ brand hard seltzer. (Bonus: we’ve got the brief for you)
Just so we’re not fuzzy on the issues – this is an appeal of the District Court’s denial of Future Proof’s request for a preliminary injunction against Molson Coors. Future Proof wanted to stop Molson from marketing and producing the Vizzy branded hard seltzer claiming it competed with and was confusable/confused/confusingly similar to/with Future Proof’s Brizzy branded seltzers (one of the reasons you request an injunction is that you don’t have to wait to appeal a preliminary injunction ruling to the end of a case – which can take years – you can appeal right after the ruling).
The District …
Craft Distiller seeking Tough Town trademark for its hand sanitizer takes on bullish craft brewer Kings & Convicts (yes, the one involved in buying Ballast Point) claiming sanitizer mark is barred by brewer’s Toughtown craft beer mark.
Apparently Teddy Roosevelt visited Highwood Illinois a century ago and called it one of the toughest towns in America or some such thing and the residents can’t let it go. Unlike “big apple” or “windy city” the trademark office didn’t catch that “tough” is a designation for Highwood and in applying for the trademark for craft beer, it doesn’t look like this fact was disclosed to make the trademark office aware of it.
The trademark owner, Hopmaniacs is affiliated with Kings & Convicts, the brewery that made headlines last year by being affiliated with that Ballast Point sale. The…
Employer Liability from Workplace Transmission of COVID-19
Over the coming weeks and months, employees will begin returning to work in increasing numbers across the state. As they do, employers will find themselves facing unique challenges created by the risk of workplace exposure to COVID-19. Potential transmission of COVID-19 by employees can create liability concerns for employers. The primary concern for employers is whether they will be entitled to the tort immunity typically provided by workers’ compensation laws in light of the unique nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. Far from being just a hypothetical concern, the first workplace COVID-19 exposure case in Illinois was filed a few weeks…
Court rules bar has no insurance coverage for battery and fatal shooting that occurred on premises where policy exclusions included assault and battery and firearms.
A recent case involving an Illinois bar is a good reminder that insurance coverage under regular commercial general liability policies generally excludes the types of injuries and harms that taverns, taprooms, bars, restaurants, and tasting rooms are likely to encounter vis-a-vis their patrons in their operations.
In this case, a patron was injured and another shot and killed in a tavern’s connected parking lot by two other individuals that had previously been drinking inside the same tavern. The estate of the deceased patron and the injured patron sued the bar and the bar sought coverage under its commercial general liability…
Don’t Leave Money on the Table: $130 Billion in Payroll Protection Program Cash is Still Available from the SBA
New PPP Changes Bring Further Pitfalls Along With New Flexibility
Agriculture Bankruptcy & Marshalling of Assets
Craft distiller wins dismissal of misleading label suit over where the whiskey was distilled and the source of the water used in proofing.
New Illinois workers’ compensation law means almost every “essential business” now faces liability to its employees. Some possible protection for emplacing COVID-19 cleaning, safety and health restrictions – Illinois’s breweries, wineries, distilleries, bars, distributors, dispensaries, and restaurants included.
The Illinois legislature has passed a bill that codifies the previously invalidated workers’ compensation rule creating a rebuttable presumption that an employee injured or killed by COVID-19 contracted the virus at work and is entitled to benefits.
The new law, HB 2455 creates a rebuttable presumption against employers – basically making it their obligation to disprove, rather than the employee’s obligation to prove, that their COVID-19 was contracted during employment and not elsewhere, thereby creating liability for the employer for their COVID-9 related injuries:
“[I]f the employee’s injury or occupational disease resulted from exposure to and contraction of COVID19, the…
Congress Extends PPP Spend Period
Extension and amendment to PPP loan program passes – here’s what you should know.
Unfortunately, the fluid situation regarding the COVID-19 epidemic has left many, including congress, reacting at a pace that may have been too slow to impact the spending of the PPP funds some businesses received prior to this latest amendment to the PPP loan program. There are likely quite a few employers that have met the 8-week requirement and spent their funds who will now not have the ability to take advantage of these extensions.
Congress has now passed reforms headed to the executive for signature.
The Bill:
Extends the eight-week period for spending to 24 weeks or the end of…