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Construction: Alert - January 30, 2012

For almost 50 years, lessors have had the ability to limit their liability for liens that arose from improvements to the leasehold made by a lessee. However, in the most recent legislative session, the Florida Legislature enacted revisions to Florida Statute § 713.10 that provide a potential pitfall for lessors by inserting a provision that may allow a contractor to lien the lessor's interest even where there is a recorded document advising of the limitation of liens.

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Labor, Employment and Benefits: Alert - February 6, 2012

The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied an employer’s request for review of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which held that tipped employees spending more than 20 percent of their time performing related but non-tipped duties must be paid the full minimum wage for that time, without the tip credit.

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Environment
Alert (1) - October 1, 2009
 
EPA Strengthens Enforcement for Clean Water Act
 
 October 1, 2009
 
Lawrence R. "Larry" Liebesman- Washington
Roger W. Sims- Orlando

In a memo to EPA staff dated July 2, 2009, Administrator Lisa Jackson announced a significantly enhanced Clean Water Act enforcement effort by the Agency through its programs and the programs administered by the states. The New York Times featured an article entitled “Clean Water Laws are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering” on the front page of the September 13, 2009 Sunday edition. Expect to see visible and aggressive action by EPA. Be prepared to proactively address noncompliance issues and evaluate alternatives to litigation.

In her memo, Administrator Jackson stated that “… we need to raise the bar for clean water enforcement performance. We must make sure that strong and effective action is taken when serious violations of law threaten water quality, and we must boost EPA’s enforcement presence against serious violators …” Further, “ … we need to move EPA’s information technology into the 21st century. We need to transform EPA to be not only a collector and disseminator of information but an analytical resource that can present information in a form that is easily understood and useable by the public. We have seen that when information is made public, it can be a powerful tool to help improve the environment directly …”

Administrator Jackson directed Agency enforcement staff to initiate the effort and report back in 90 days. This reporting deadline is approximately October 2, 2009. EPA’s Clean Water Act Enforcement initiative will have profound effects on the regulated community which should anticipate a significant increase in enforcement activity.

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