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Gail is a seasoned legal marketing director with an impressive 25-year track record in the legal industry. With a focus on communication and personal branding, she conducts monthly business development coaching sessions. Gail is the driving force behind her firm's advertising, events, seminars, social media, sponsorships, and digital presence.

In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities, Gail is a blogger and speaker. She shares her knowledge on harnessing the power of social media with various industry and professional groups.

Guest post by: Richard Akin, Esquire

Whether you are a realtor, a contractor, a health care professional or a licensed professional of any kind, maintaining your professional license is vital to your livelihood. While each type of license has different requirements for initial licensure and continuing education, certain types of conduct will inevitably subject your license to discipline no matter your professional field.

You likely know the big/obvious violations to avoid, but often times it’s the smaller violations that can cause problems for the average professional.
Continue Reading Five Ways to Endanger Your Professional License

As the laws change, we strive to share how they will affect our clients and readers of this blog. Thus, we are pleased to share the following guest post by Florida Bar Board Certified Wills, Trust and Estate Planning Attorney Eric Gurgold.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act does not repeal the Federal estate tax. Instead, the Act doubles the amount of wealth that is exempt from the estate tax. In 2018, the new estate tax exemption will be $11,200,000 per individual. A married couple may be able to shield $22,400,000 from Federal estate taxes. The exemption is indexed to increase each year with inflation. However, the changes to the exemption will sunset and revert to today’s numbers after 2025.

Given the high estate tax exemptions, it is possible that not enough estate taxes will be paid to justify retaining the Federal estate tax; and Congress may repeal it.

Would Repeal of the Estate Tax be Good for Your Bottom Line?

Continue Reading The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Does Not Repeal the Federal Estate Tax!

Guest post by Beth T. Vogelsang, Esquire, Florida Bar Board Certified Divorce, Marital and Family Law Attorney

On November 2, 2017, House Republicans released an income tax reform bill known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” There has been much publicity about the bill’s proposed corporate tax cuts and the purported reduction and simplification of individual income tax rates. One provision of the 492-page bill, which has gone largely unnoticed, is the proposed repeal of the deductibility of alimony payments.

Current IRS Regulations on Alimony

Continue Reading Will Tax Reform Eradicate the Alimony Tax Deduction?

Today’s guest post comes from Susan Smith Erdelyi, Esquire, Marks Gray, Jacksonville. She will be presenting at the Florida Law Alliance Fall Employment Law Conference taking place on Friday, November 10, 2017 with EEOC District Director Michael Farrell:

Did you know that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is becoming paperless? That’s right. The agency now uses a portal for employer position statements and no longer accepts paper documents from employers. So, if your employer/client is still mailing paper documents to the EEOC, it’s time to step aboard the EEOC Respondent Portal.

How Does It Work?

Continue Reading HR Seminars: Transparency, Efficiency and the EEOC Portal System

Today’s guest post comes from Michael Schofield, Esq., from the Clark Partington firm in Pensacola. He will be presenting at the Florida Law Alliance Fall Employment Law Conference taking place on Friday, November 10, 2017 (see below for more details):

Traditionally, when an employer and employee have a dispute over working conditions, terms, pay, or whatever, the employee quits or is fired, the employer then receives notice of a pending claim, either through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the EEOC), or the state’s agency, and perhaps notice of a lawsuit. Recently, however, more employers are requiring arbitration in contracts of employment and such contractual agreements are being upheld.

In an employment context, is arbitration a good thing, bad thing, or simply and alternative to trial?

Continue Reading What You Need to Know About Employment Dispute Arbitration

Today’s guest post comes from Jeff Wilcox, an associate at the Hill Ward Henderson firm in Tampa. He will be presenting at the Florida Law Alliance Fall Employment Law Conference taking place on Friday, November 10, 2017 (see below for more details):

Are you making deductions from your exempt employees’ pay? If so, you may lose the right to classify the employee as exempt and, as a result, may end up owing the employee overtime pay for all overtime hours worked over the last two, or possibly three, years.

As a general rule, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not permit deductions from an exempt employee’s salary, because the salary cannot be dependent on the number of days or hours he or she works, or even the employee’s quantity or quality of work. There are, however, limited exceptions where deductions can be made. For example, if the employee is absent from work for one or more full days for personal reasons, a deduction is permissible. Moreover, if the employee is absent from work for one or more full days for sickness or disability, and the deduction is made in accordance with a bona fide “sick leave” plan, policy, or practice, a deduction is again permissible. Other limited exceptions exist, and it is important for employers not to deduct from an exempt employee’s salary unless one of the exceptions applies.

Join us in Fort Lauderdale in November

Continue Reading Deductions From Employees’ Salaries May Lead to Liability

Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing guest posts from our member firms with the Florida Law Alliance, who will be producing an employment law conference on November 10, 2017, at the Sonesta Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel.

Today’s post is from Craig Salner, a partner at the Clarke Silverglate law firm in Miami:

Most South Florida practitioners are familiar with the barrage of recent lawsuits against places of public accommodation challenging their equal accessibility for the disabled. The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), a statute more known for its ban on disability discrimination in the workplace, has a section known as “Title III” which requires places of public accommodation to provide equal access to persons with disabilities. ADA Title III requirements typically have been applied to components of a business’s physical structure – appropriate linking of the parking lot to the adjacent sidewalk, sufficient main floor space for a wheelchair-bound patron to ambulate between and around aisles, bathrooms with sufficient space to maneuver with reachable soap and paper dispensers, etc.

Successful ADA Title III litigants are entitled to injunctive relief (i.e., the accessibility flaws must be remedied) plus attorney’s fees. Despite the lack of monetary damages available to litigants, ADA Title III litigation has spiked in South Florida with the emergence of certain serial “tester” plaintiffs – specific individuals claiming to test places of public accommodation for ADA Title III compliance and suing in instances of alleged non-compliance. Title III ADA lawsuits have nearly tripled nationwide in the last three years, rising from 2,722 in 2013 to 6,601 in 2016, including a 37 percent increase from 2015 to 2016. Florida is second only to California in the number of 2016 filings.

Are Internet websites places of public accommodation covered by Title III of the ADA?

Continue Reading Company Websites Under Attack – ADA Title III Expanding to the Internet

Guest post by Summer Associate Kristen Schalter

Football players took another hit in Tallahassee (pun intended) – this time in the workers’ compensation arena in the recent decision in Arena Football League v. Bishop, 2017 WL 2438335 (Fla. 1st DCA June 6, 2017). Bryon Bishop previously played for the Orlando Predators for one season and later wanted to rejoin the team. While participating in the Predators’ two-day tryouts in 2013, he suffered an on-field injury.

AFL Contract

Prior to participating in a tryout, a prospective Arena Football League (“AFL”) player is required to sign a contract.  Interestingly, the AFL contracts with players differently than the NFL. In the NFL, contracts are between individual teams and individual players, while in the AFL contracts are between the league itself and individual players.Continue Reading AFL Player’s Workers’ Compensation Claim is Sacked by 1st DCA