On March 30, 2020, the Supreme Court upheld a decision by the Third Circuit imposing strict liability on shippers who enter into charter party agreements (a form of maritime contract involving the marine transport of goods) with “safe berth” clauses. The Supreme Court‘s decision in CITGO v. Frescati Shipping Co. is a cautionary tale for […]
The Export Compliance Committee of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) has been working hard to keep up with the various governmental requirements pertaining to the export of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). For those of you who are not members of the NCBFAA, we thought that you might be interested in […]
Non-profit organizations everywhere should be made aware of a little known “secret” — their member lists may constitute a trade secret protectible under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). To state a claim under the DTSA, a plaintiff must allege the existence and ownership of a trade secret, and misappropriation of the trade secret. In […]
A lot has changed in the business world since the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping across the United States and the rest of the world. Social distancing requirements, lockdown orders, travel restrictions, mass layoffs, and disrupted supply chains have businesses scrambling to deal not only with a variety of human resource issues caused by a frightening […]
As has been the case with numerous other agencies, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has undertaken a role to attempt to ameliorate some of the enormously disruptive effects on trade that have been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 31, 2020, the agency first opened Fact Finding Investigation No. 29 (FF No.29) in an […]
On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The legislation included various provisions that assist tax-exempt organizations by providing programs and tax benefits to reduce some of the financial stress created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, one of the most popular parts of the Act, the Paycheck […]
In the last two weeks, the number of coronavirus cases has quintupled across the world, causing major disruptions to global shipping networks as governments impose lockdowns on cities, regions, and entire countries. The coronavirus pandemic, and the measures to contain it, have caused abrupt changes in consumer behavior, companies’ productivity, and in turn, companies’ financial […]
On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The $2.2 trillion stimulus bill passed by Congress is the largest federal response in history designed to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 has greatly affected the shipping industry due to quarantines, travel […]
On Tuesday, March 31, at 1 pm EDT, GKG Law's Keith Swirsky hosted the one-hour webinar "Defending a Federal or State Tax Audit in Aviation and Other Industries." Attendees learned details and best practices of preparing for, participating in, and defending federal income tax or excise tax audits and state sales and use tax audits. Keith discussed the process and procedure […]
On March 27, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), a $2 trillion stimulus bill passed by Congress. Our previous alert discussed CARES Act provisions that will benefit general aviation. However, the bill also contains several provisions impacting federal income tax deductions. Below are some provisions that may […]