Legal Updates

Iowa and Minnesota are not known for oil and gas production, and with good reason — there isn’t any. But despite a history of oil or gas production in either state, recent discoveries prompted the 2024 sessions of the Iowa and Minnesota legislatures to revisit their oil and gas statutes.

On Friday, November 15, 2024, a federal district court struck down the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2024 rule increasing the minimum salary required for the most common overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Iowa landlords are likely to receive long-awaited clarity on notice requirements under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act from the Iowa Supreme Court in a pending appeal case where Fredrikson attorneys, Jodie McDougal and Jack O’Brien, filed an amici curiae brief on behalf of multiple statewide landlord associations.

On October 9, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule under the 2018 Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) governing the release of pollution to U.S. waters incident to the operation of ships, including unique requirements applicable to Great Lakers freighters.

On September 26, 2024, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission unanimously adopted the recommendations of the Minnesota Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) regarding how the Commission should interpret new or amended terms added to Minn. Stat § 216B.169.

Many employers are intimately familiar with the federal Family Medical Leave Act, which requires up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave for qualified employees of covered employers. Here we discuss three common FMLA-related mistakes we encounter as business advisors. 

The Internal Revenue Service has announced the 2025 cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for benefit plans.

With the November 5 general election looming, employers should be reminded of Iowa’s law regarding time off to vote, Iowa Code § 49.109. Polls in Iowa will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. statewide on November 5.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced several measures “to provide temporary immigration reprieve to eligible Lebanese nationals currently in the United States” and to allow them to request work authorization, including Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), and Special Student Relief.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved International Education Evaluations, LLC, as a new credentialing organization for healthcare workers for certain immigration purposes.

On October 11, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an update to its guidance on expedite requests, effective immediately.

On October 2, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued policy guidance, effective immediately, to further clarify the types of evidence that the agency may evaluate to determine eligibility for extraordinary ability (E11) EB-1 immigrant visa classifications.

The Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs announced on October 3, 2024, that it is reducing processing times for passports to four to six weeks, down from six to eight weeks.

Disputes regarding failures to disclose material facts are common in residential real estate transactions. A number of courts have considered the issue of whether a seller is obligated to disclose the existence of paranormal or violent occurrences on the property.

On October 17, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unanimously voted to finalize its rule with plans for exercising its limited authority over transmission line siting. Order No. 1977 clarifies that FERC has the authority to issue transmission permits within U.S. Department of Energy-designated National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC) even after states deny an application in these areas.

Through Executive Order, President Biden has announced both Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Lebanese nationals. These designations have two different time periods for qualification yet provide similar benefits.

Ever since remote work became a normal reality for corporate employees, it is not surprising to see an increase in the use of personal devices for business purposes. This means text messages on company-owned phones and personally owned phones that are used for business purposes can be a relevant data source in litigation.

Most people building a home enter into an agreement with a general contractor. In turn, that general contractor enters into agreements with subcontractors to actually build the home. At first glance, it may seem that those subcontracts are intended to benefit the homeowner, as the work under the subcontract will result in the construction of their home. However, in a recent decision, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals found that a homeowner was not a third-party beneficiary to a subcontract.

As we approach election day, employers are likely to notice an increase in discussions about political and social issues in the workplace. 

The emergence of tools designed to produce new imagery, video and sound based on generative artificial intelligence/machine learning is raising questions about the efficacy of current laws governing the use and protection of human made content. We recently had the opportunity to survey this legal landscape in a matter involving the use of AI to recreate the voice of a well-known public figure.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on September 19, 2024, that it has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year 2025.

As of September 10, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is automatically extending the validity of permanent resident cards (green cards) to 36 months for lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card.

On September 9, 2024, the Department of State (DOS) announced the issuance of all available visas in the employment-based second preference (EB-2) visa category for fiscal year (FY) 2024.

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced a revised transition schedule (scroll to September 10, 2024) for receiving and processing H-2A job orders and Applications for Temporary Employment Certification under the Farmworker Protection Rule, along with other technical guidance.

The California Service Center (CSC) has moved to a new facility.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its guidance on when students may be eligible for optional practical training (OPT) extensions for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

A Texas District Court has temporarily stopped the Biden administration's "Keeping Families Together" parole-in-place program.

According to reports, the Biden administration plans to resume a program that allows would-be migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to apply from their home countries for entry into the United States.

Pay transparency laws are increasingly being implemented across the United States with a purported goal of increasing fairness, addressing wage inequalities and promoting a more transparent hiring process.

Back in February 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued its widely discussed decision in McLaren Macomb that drastically shifted the standard for determining the lawfulness of common employee separation agreements. In short, the NLRB ruled that a hospital violated the National Labor Relations Act by unlawfully furloughing eleven employees without bargaining with the union, by directly dealing with those employees in offering them separation agreements, and by offering separation agreements with facially unlawful confidentiality and nondisclosure terms.

On August 19, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a Federal Register notice to implement Keeping Families Together, a parole-in-place process for certain noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens. DHS estimated that up to 500,000 noncitizen spouses and 50,000 noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens may meet the eligibility criteria.

The Department of State (DOS) announced on August 16, 2024, that annual limits have been reached in the EB-3, EW, and EB-5 unreserved categories for this fiscal year.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on August 5, 2024, that it has completed its second random selection to reach the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H-1B regular cap numerical allocation.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an update to its policy on Ukrainian employees with parole, stating that E-Verify employers should not create a case in E-Verify for re-paroled employees unless they are newly hired.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has extended the expiration date of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to 05/31/2027.

On July 26, 2024, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the deferral, for 18 months, of the removal of any Lebanese national who was present in the United States on that date, with a few exceptions.

On June 18, 2024, the Biden administration announced actions to more efficiently process employment-based nonimmigrant visas for those who have graduated from college in the United States and have a job offer.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued policy guidance, effective immediately, on new provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that cover consequences for noncompliance with the EB-5 regional center program.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released frequently asked questions (FAQs) that address common questions by individuals in H-1B nonimmigrant status, particularly related to applying for lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, job changes or terminations, international travel, and dependent family members.

On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a final rule raising the minimum salary employers must pay exempt employees under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Though the rule is facing legal challenges, employers are preparing for what comes next. If you have exempt employees, here is what you need to know.

With cannabis now officially legalized in Minnesota and the Office of Cannabis Management working to develop its regulatory licensing and oversight program for cannabis businesses, many bankers are also hard at work putting together cannabis banking business lines. But there’s another important piece of this puzzle: the deposit account agreement.

Fredrikson attorneys from several practice and industry groups reflect on the potential impact of the Supreme Court’s rulings on their specific areas of law and on their clients’ business.

The Federal Trade Commission has struck out in enforcing its final rule banning employment non-competes, but there are more innings to go.

As the Federal Trade Commission ban on non-compete agreements is set to take effect September 4, 2024, its status remains in flux. Two federal district courts have issued rulings enjoining the FTC from enforcing the ban. Both rulings are limited to only the named plaintiff in the case, but one of these courts has promised a decision on whether to enter a nationwide injunction before August 30, 2024. This puts employers in a difficult situation.

It is no secret that the intercollegiate athletics landscape has changed drastically over the last five years, as student-athletes have been permitted to license their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) in exchange for compensation. These changes, kicked off by state legislatures in California and Florida, were escalated by student-athlete-initiated legal action.

On July 24, 2024 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Eastern Division issued a 54-page Memorandum and Order enjoining the U.S. Department of Education from “implementing, enacting, enforcing, or taking any action in any manner to enforce” the 2024 Title IX regulations published on April 29, 2024, against the plaintiff states of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

With nearly fifty years of caselaw addressing the introduction, definition, and expansion of workplace harassment law, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission replaced its prior enforcement guidance published in the 1980s and 1990s with a new document entitled “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace.” This document provides some helpful insight that employers can use to review and update their harassment policies and trainings.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the designation of Yemen for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been extended and redesignated for 18 months, beginning on September 4, 2024, and ending on March 3, 2026. DHS also announced work authorization relief for F-1 students from Yemen. Below are highlights of DHS’s actions.

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for August 2024 shows no further retrogression in the EB-3 visa category following retrogression in July.

President Biden has extended through June 30, 2026, deferred removal for Liberians with a grant of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) under a 2022 memorandum.

The Department of Homeland Security released additional details about the extension and redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) through February 3, 2026.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has raised civil monetary penalties for certain violations based on inflation.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that applicants for naturalization can now request a replacement Social Security card when they apply for citizenship through Form N-400.

Most Minnesota landlords are aware that the state legislature passed sweeping changes to Minnesota’s landlord-tenant laws during the 2023 legislative session, most of which took effect on January 1, 2024. With less fanfare, however, the legislature passed another round of significant changes during the 2024 legislative session. 

As The Wall Street Journal reports, the Mizrahi Kroub law firm is one of a handful of plaintiff-firms filing thousands of Website Accessibility / ADA lawsuits each year. 

On May 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to review a 2023 Clean Water Act decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As in last year’s high-profile CWA decision, the Court will once again consider — and potentially curtail — the scope of EPA’s authority to regulate pollutant discharges.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management and Slawson Exploration Company related to the issuance of drilling permits. 

The Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned an injunction on the City of Minneapolis’ 2040 Comprehensive Plan on May 13, 2024. 

On March 21, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the EPA exceeded its statutory authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act when it used a Significant New Use Rule to prohibit a fluorination process that had been used by Inhance Technologies L.L.C. for decades. 

The 2024 Minnesota legislative session brought notable changes to environmental laws in Minnesota.

On December 29, 2023, China enacted amendments to the PRC Company Law which came into effect earlier this month on July 1, 2024.

In 2024, the Minnesota Legislature made several changes to the Gopher One Call Statute, creating reporting requirements for large operators and modifying excavation processes to require meetings at the sites of proposed excavations. It also created new safety requirements for underground telecommunications installers, which for the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area take effect on July 1, 2025, and for the rest of the state on January 1, 2026. 

Many changes to Minnesota’s health care laws were signed into law by Governor Walz in the 2024 legislative session that ended in May. Here is an overview of several of the key changes and new laws. Please contact your Fredrikson attorney for more information.

When the Federal Trade Commission issued its final rule banning employment non-competes over two months ago, it was widely expected to be struck down in some fashion. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has levied the first of those strikes, but it is far from a strikeout for the FTC.

Subject to certain exceptions, as of June 5, 2024, President Biden has “suspended and limited” entry into the United States of certain noncitizens across the southern border.

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for July includes the following information about retrogression in the EB-3 immigrant visa preference category and an alert about a new law’s impact on special immigrant visas.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reminded E-Verify users to delete the dash in their E-Verify login bookmarks.

On June 18, 2024, President Biden announced measures “to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on June 20, 2024, that it is extending the work authorization of Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries under the designations of El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan through March 9, 2025.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that login security will be enhanced for E-Verify and Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements later this year, when users will begin logging into E-Verify or SAVE using Login.gov.

A 5-4 majority of the U. S. Supreme Court, on June 27, 2024, granted a request for a stay of the Environmental Protection Agency’s imposition of its Federal Implementation Plan against more than 20 states that failed to meet their “good neighbor” obligations to decrease ozone-causing nitrogen oxide emissions within their borders under the Clean Air Act.

An emerging trend in e-discovery concerns how courts should treat emails containing hyperlinks that reference other documents.

The Department of Labor published a notice stating that the Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training ratified a final rule on Adverse Effect Wage Rate methodology for H-2A agricultural workers “out of an abundance of caution.”

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released its final rule implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act on April 15, 2024. The regulations, including an appendix of interpretive guidance that will guide the EEOC’s enforcement of the PWFA, become effective on June 18, 2024, 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the addition of 26 textile companies based in the People’s Republic of China to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.

Under Minnesota’s Paid Leave Law that was passed in 2023, eligible employees may take up to 20 weeks per year of paid leave during certain family and medical leave events starting in January 2026. However, the new law left many questions unanswered—some of which have now been answered, or at least clarified, by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and the Minnesota Legislature.

On May 24, 2024, Governor Walz signed the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act (MCDPA) into law, making Minnesota the latest state to enact comprehensive privacy legislation. The MCDPA provides Minnesota residents with significant new privacy rights and imposes substantial obligations on businesses to which it applies. Businesses subject to the MCDPA have until July 1, 2025, to come into compliance.

Anyone who has been paying attention knows about fintech partnerships in banking. The mold-breaking ideas of bright-eyed technology entrepreneurs have provided community banks with innovative ways to reach customers, make loans, gather deposits, provide payments solutions and expand their markets. Recently regulators have issued new guidance related to both the safety and soundness and compliance implications of such relationships.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new final rule related to credit card late fees has certainly generated a good amount of controversy since being released by the CFPB on March 5, 2024. A lawsuit to set aside the final rule was filed a mere two days after the final rule was released, and many articles, blog posts, and other commentary have been written.

As a lender, you have invested significant time and resources in building relationships with potential borrowers, presenting your financial solutions, and negotiating the basic terms of a loan through a nonbinding term sheet. However, without a well-drafted loan agreement, a seemingly promising deal can quickly turn into a financial nightmare. This article explains the critical sections of a typical loan agreement.

Rule 702 was recently amended on December 1, 2023, to clarify the standard for how judges must deal with challenges to expert testimony. The amended rule will very likely have a significant impact on the admissibility of expert testimony in patent cases.

A number of changes to Minnesota employment laws were proposed and considered in the most recent legislative session. This article is a summary of the laws that have been changed to date. Additional changes are forthcoming, and we will continue to update you as the laws are passed.

In the final hours of the 2024 Legislative Session, the Minnesota Legislature passed the Agriculture and Energy Omnibus Bill, which contained some of the most significant energy permitting policy reform of the last 50 years. Governor Tim Walz is expected to sign the Legislation in the coming days.

Governor Kim Reynolds recently signed three new laws affecting the real estate and leasing industries: HF 2326, SF 2291 and SF 2268. A summary of each law is contained herein, but readers should review each bill in its entirety.

Higher immigration fees took effect on April 1,2024, following a U.S. district court judge’s refusal to block a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services fee rule.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a temporary final rule to increase the automatic extension period for certain employment authorization document holders from 180 days to 540 days.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued new guidance on the validity of Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced new audit measures under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, affecting all designated regional centers. Under the 2022 law, USCIS must conduct audits at least once every five years for each regional center.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued a significant update for Palestinians in the United States, as detailed in a recent Federal Register notice.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on April 18, 2024, that it has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 19,000 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the early second half of fiscal year 2024 with start dates from April 1 to May 14, 2024, under the H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has updated its fee schedule for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker—H-1B and H-1B1 Petitions, to reflect the additional required fees for online filings.

The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency issued notices providing work authorization for certain Ethiopian and Palestinian students in lawful F-1 nonimmigrant status.

Effective June 28, 2024, the Department of Labor is amending its regulations governing certification of temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal agricultural work and enforcement of contractual obligations applicable to their employers.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on April 24, 2024, that it is refunding all of the I-765 employment authorization document fees collected from eligible Ukrainian parolees who entered as parolees after February 24, 2022.

The Department of Justice announced on April 17, 2024, that it secured a settlement agreement with Washington University, a private university headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

In a significant development for employers and individuals involved in the STEM fields, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced an update to the definition of “Schedule A, Group II” occupations, which is part of the agency’s efforts to align more closely with the Department of Labor definitions and streamline the permanent residency application process for high-achieving employees.

The original proposal to designate PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA hazardous substances raised a great deal of concern among public entities about the possible CERCLA liability they may face from providing public services that use, remove, treat, or dispose of these substances.

The duty to preserve evidence and the significant events that determine when the duty to preserve arises is often intertwined with privileged discussions and documents related to the planning and implementation of a litigation hold. And when there is a dispute about when the duty to preserve was triggered and there are allegations of spoliation, concerns regarding protecting privilege and not waiving privilege become critically important.

On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a final rule increasing the compensation employers must pay to certain categories of employees to be exempt from the overtime and minimum wage requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

If you do not have time to read all 570 pages of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) final rule and explanation banning non-competes (and who does other than an employment attorney?), here are the essentials.

We are now two years into complying with Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, which was adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission in August 2022 and required new “pay versus performance” disclosure beginning in 2023 proxy statements.

On April 19, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a first-of-its-kind rule designating two PFAS chemicals, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), along with their salts and structural isomers, as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.

On March 22, 2024, the Cyberspace Administration of China enacted the official Provisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-border Data Flow, the second editions of the Guidelines for Application for the Security Assessment of Data Cross-Border Transfer, and the Guidelines for Filing of the Standard Contract for Personal Information Cross-Border Transfer to ease cross-border data transfers.

The U.S. Department of Education has released its long-awaited Title IX regulations addressing sexual discrimination and sexual harassment, which also include coverage of sexual orientation, gender identity and pregnancy.

In March 2024, the SEC adopted new climate disclosure rules requiring publicly traded companies to provide comprehensive information about their climate-related risks and impacts. These rules mandate narrative disclosures covering governance, risks, strategy, targets, goals, and—for larger filers—emissions and attestations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on April 10, 2024, issued a final rule establishing National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals. The new regulations establish the agency’s first drinking water standards addressing PFAS chemicals, a group of several thousand synthetic chemicals that persist in the environment and have adverse impacts upon human health and the environment.

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for April 2024 notes that little to no additional forward movement in final action dates for visa categories is expected in the coming months.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on March 12, 2024, that it has begun implementing a streamlined process to provide Employment Authorization Documents more efficiently to eligible refugees after they are admitted into the United States.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on March 21, 2024, that it has updated guidance in its USCIS Policy Manual, effective immediately.

The Department of Homeland Security is extending and redesignating Burma (Myanmar) for Temporary Protected Status.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed a new rule that would eliminate its current procedures for National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) compliance and instead follow the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s NHPA regulations (36 C.F.R. part 800). The comment deadline on the proposed rule—April 9, 2024—is approaching.

On March 8, 2024, when President Biden signed into law a $459 billion legislation package to fund portions of the government for the next six months, most media attention focused on the last-minute aversion of a partial government shutdown. However, buried in the legislation are provisions that demonstrate increasing concern about the foreign acquisition of U.S. agricultural land and a move to increase coordination between the CFIUS and the USDA.

H.F. 3680 was introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives on February 13, 2024, and would amend Minnesota law by opting out of the federal interest rate preemption established under the federal Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980.

On February 9, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released end-of-fiscal-year 2023 data. Included are selected highlights of the data and USCIS's plans for FY 2024.

On February 14, 2024, President Biden directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant Deferred Enforced Departure to Palestinians in the United States for 18 months, with some exceptions. 

E-Verify announced on February 22, 2024, that it will launch its "next generation" service, E-Verify+, as a pilot in spring 2024. E-Verify said the "plus" in E-Verify+ represents benefits the new service will provide to employers and employees, including "added efficiency" for employers and "more control over their personal information" for employees.

The Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers reminded its clients that fees for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, increased on February 26, 2024. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reminded employers that the initial registration period for the FY  2025 H-1B cap season will open at noon ET on March 6, 2024, and run through noon ET on March 22, 2024. A USCIS online account is required to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $10 registration fee.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a reminder that under the new fee final rule effective April 1, 2024, the new 04/01/24 editions of several forms will be required.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on February 27, 2024, that eligible Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members who are physically present in the United States can now be considered for re-parole to continue to temporarily remain in the United States.

The Department of State's Visa Bulletin for April 2024 notes that little to no additional forward movement in final action dates for visa categories is expected in the coming months because the final action dates for many categories advanced for April 2024, in many cases by several months to a year.

A recent federal court decision sheds light on what may be required for disclosure of document preservation efforts. In Doe LS 340 v. Uber Technologies, Inc., --- F. Supp. 3d ----, 2024 WL 107929 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 29, 2024), the court looked to Rule 26 and local practice for the initial disclosure of information regarding efforts to preserve documents and ESI sources.

In a case of first impression, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that, despite the language of a declaration of covenants and restrictions to the contrary, a homeowners’ association (HOA) lien for unpaid assessments does not have super priority over a later recorded mortgage.

On March 7, 2024, USCIS received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2024.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has begun announcing start dates for spring load restrictions across the state.

Questions concerning cash management programs are some of the most frequent to cross my desk these days. Some are spurred by outdated agreements, some by fraud incidents, and many by new or changing products and services. As both technology and customer expectations evolve, it naturally follows that cash management programs and agreements will need to evolve too. So, what are the most common themes of these questions and updates?

The Community Reinvestment Act final rule is almost 1,500 pages and undoubtedly challenging to digest. As of the drafting of this article, the final rule has not been published in the Federal Register, and this article is based on the version published on the federal banking agencies’ websites on October 24, 2023.

In response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence, the USPTO has issued guidance for how AI-assisted inventions, or inventions where artificial intelligence contributed to the conception of the invention, will be examined. 

On February 13, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) released an update that affects H-2A and H-2B employers.

USCIS will be increasing the filing fees for H-2 petitions filed on or after February 26, 2024.

USPTO issued inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions. The guidance explained that “while AI-assisted inventions are not categorically unpatentable, the inventorship analysis should focus on human contributions, as patents function to incentivize and reward human ingenuity.”

This article highlights some of the key issues courts are facing with AI in intellectual property litigation.

There are many known and unknown risks associated with using generative AI in the legal industry such as not fact checking the output of generative AI tools, confidentiality and security, bias and copyright issues. Attorneys who use generative AI need to determine if they are required to provide notice to the court.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published a final rule, effective April 1, 2024, to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services plans to launch organizational accounts for non-cap filings and the fiscal year 2025 H-1B cap season.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2025 H-1B cap season will open at noon ET on March 6, 2024, and run through noon ET on March 22, 2024.

On January 12, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 20,716 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the first half of fiscal year 2024 with start dates on or before March 31, 2024, under the
H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule.

Effective January 15, 2024, as part of annual inflation adjustments, the Department of Labor is increasing D-1, H-1B, H-2A and H-2B civil monetary penalties it assesses or enforces for employer violations.

The Department of State has released guidance and frequently asked questions on its new pilot program to resume domestic visa renewals for qualified H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants who meet certain requirements.

On January 24, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated its policy guidance to provide that USCIS, “in our discretion and under certain conditions, may excuse a nonimmigrant’s failure to timely file an extension of stay or change of status request if the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the applicant or petitioner.”

On January 13, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security announced that noncitizen workers who are victims of, or witnesses to, violations of labor rights can now access a “streamlined and expedited deferred action request process.”

The Department of Homeland Security is extending and redesignating Syria for Temporary Protected Status. DHS also announced Special Student Relief for F-1 nonimmigrant students from Syria. 

The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in a case finding that a declaratory judgment on liability was sufficient to trigger the three-year statute of limitations for seeking contribution under section (g)(f) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9613(f).

In “the latest round in the battle over chlorpyrifos,” the Eighth Circuit recently found the Environmental Protection Agency’s ban on chlorpyrifos—a pesticide used in a variety of agricultural production—was arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. 

On November 27, 2023, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, for a second time, reversed and remanded the City of Eagle Lake’s determination that an environmental impact statement was not required for a proposal to construct a motorsports park on agricultural land. 

In December 2023, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released its "Framework for Developing and Evaluating Site-Specific Sulfate Standards for the Protection of Wild Rice."

The Iowa Court of Appeals recently had an opportunity to review an employer’s drug testing policy and procedures, shedding helpful light on the importance of procedural and administrative requirements in the statute and in your policies.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released frequently asked questions about employment-based adjustment of status.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on December 13, 2023, that it has received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year 2024.

The Department of Homeland Security published a Federal Register notice reiterating extensions of the periods to re-register for Temporary Protected Status under the existing designations of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan.

In Scripps College v. Jaddou, a U.S. District Court in Nebraska held that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services improperly denied the plaintiff’s I-140 immigration petition when it found that the beneficiary of the petition did not qualify for an employment-based first preference visa as an “outstanding professor or researcher.” The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Scripps College.

The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has announced Adverse Effect Wage Rates for H-2A agricultural workers in 2024 for range and non-range occupations.

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for January 2024 notes that H.R. 6363, a stopgap funding bill signed on November 16, 2023, extended the employment fourth preference Certain Religious Workers category until February 2, 2024.

On February 26, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security will increase premium processing fees charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The Department of State announced a pilot program to resume domestic visa renewal for qualified H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants who meet certain requirements. The pilot program will accept applications from January 29 to April 1, 2024.

On December 22, 2023, the Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification reminded employers that the filing window to submit an H-2B Application for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142B and appendices) requesting work start dates of April 1, 2024, or later opened on January 2, 2024.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued policy guidance regarding F and M nonimmigrant students, including the agency’s role in adjudicating applications for employment authorization, change of status, extension of stay, and reinstatement of status for these students and their dependents in the United States. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued policy guidance, effective immediately, on how it analyzes an employer’s ability to pay the proffered wage for immigrant petitions in certain first, second and third preference employment-based immigrant visa classifications, including instances when the sponsored worker changes employers.

The Department of State announced a “bright forecast” for worldwide visa operations. DOS said its visa processing capacity “has recovered faster than projected. We issued more nonimmigrant visas worldwide in 2023 than in any year since 2015.”

USCIS will soon be announcing the opening of the fiscal year 2025 H-1B Lottery.

On October 7, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act establishing reporting and disclosure requirements for voluntary carbon offset market participants that do business in California and other business entities that make certain climate-related claims about themselves or their products in California.

On August 24, 2023, a District of Minnesota Court issued an opinion granting a portion of a motion to dismiss arising from a challenge to Minnesota’s vehicle emissions standards for greenhouse gases by staying the case pending resolution of a similar challenge before the D.C. Circuit.

In a case primarily turning on county ordinance interpretation, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed Grant County’s grant of a conditional use permit to neighboring Stevens County. 

On July 21, 2023, the U.S. EPA published a final rule titled “Removal of Title V Emergency Affirmative Defense Provisions from State Operating Permit Programs and Federal Operating Permit Program” 88 Fed. Reg. 47029 (2023). The rule removes the “emergency” affirmative defense provisions from the federal Title V operating permit program regulations. 

On November 21, 2023, the EPA released draft guidance for applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund.

Trademark holders should be wary of official-looking communications urging them to take immediate steps to register their trademark or to renew their registration.

Beginning on January 1, 2024, the federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) will require “reporting companies” to report information about the organization, its “beneficial owners,” and, if formed after January 1, 2024, its “company applicants.”

If you do business in Washington, collect or process consumer health information, and such information is not HIPAA-regulated PHI, the Washington My Health My Data Act may apply to you. In particular, retail businesses, as well as health and fitness apps, wearables, or Internet of Things (IoT) developers, should pay attention to this law.

On November 9, 2023, the Department of Justice announced a landmark agreement with Apple Inc. to resolve allegations that the company illegally discriminated in hiring and recruitment against U.S. citizens and certain non-U.S. citizens whose permission to live in and work in the United States does not expire.

The Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Department of State, announced the lists of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H‑2A and H‑2B visa programs in the next year. Each country’s designation is valid until November 8, 2024. Bolivia has been added to the list of countries eligible to participate in both programs.

Effective November 17, 2023, in consultation with the Department of Labor, the Department of Homeland Security is increasing the total number of noncitizens who may receive an H‑2B nonimmigrant visa by up to 64,716 for fiscal year 2024. 20,000 visas are reserved for nationals of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica. The visas will be available "only to businesses that are suffering or will suffer impending irreparable harm, as attested by the employer." DHS is also providing temporary portability flexibility, explained in more detail in the temporary rule.

Following on the heels of the Department of Justice's $25 million settlement agreement with Apple Inc., DOJ has settled immigration-related discrimination cases with a New York City health care system and a staffing agency with offices nationwide.

On November 21, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it is expanding myProgress (formerly known as personalized processing times) to Form I‑821, Application for Temporary Protected Status, and Form I‑485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. myProgress will initially only be available for family-based or Afghan special immigrant I‑485 applicants.

The new federal Corporate Transparency Act requires the reporting of the ownership and organizers of many entities formed on or after January 1, 2024, and of the ownership of many active entities formed prior to January 1, 2024. The law imposes significant penalties for failure to comply.

Minnesota’s legislature passed a slew of laws in the 2022-23 session. One that continues to generate a fair amount of buzz among employers is the ban of virtually all noncompete agreements entered into on or after July 1, 2023, except for those relating to the sale or dissolution of a business. Although the new law is not retroactive, it limits the tools an employer can use moving forward to protect its business interests.

Bankers who have been in the game for some time will remember a scam that had great popularity in past decades: the fake Canadian cashier’s check. The most common targets were businesses that routinely shepherd funds to various parties involved in a transaction—title companies, law firms, money managers and the like. It was fraud, plain and simple, and money laundering to boot.