Your website gives customers valuable information, a place to explore your products and services and, if you engage in e-commerce, a place to buy. Almost every website owner has e-mechanisms in place to protect against hacking and unwarranted intrusions. But you should also protect the creative and unique aspects of the site.

Estate planning professionals are finding that clients are becoming increasingly connected with two or more states, either by maintaining residences or investment property in multiple jurisdictions.

All employers, regardless of size, are required to have all new employees fill out a Form I-9 within three days of an employee’s start date. The purpose is to confirm that all new hires are legally authorized to work in the United States. Although the process for filling out the form seems straightforward, the potential penalties for completing it incorrectly, or for failing to use the form at all, can be severe.

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) applies to all businesses with fifty or more employees. As anyone who has dealt with an FMLA leave can tell you, the rules about which employees qualify, which circumstances justify a job-protected leave, and how the leave is tracked, can be complicated. A detailed handbook policy, reviewed for accuracy by an employment attorney, is a great start to tackling the complexity.

• Protecting Your Website
• Estate Planning Across State Lines
• Employment Law Alerts

During the last few months of 2012, one could not avoid the drama unfolding in Congress concerning the “fiscal cliff.” Just when falling off the fiscal cliff appeared to be a certainty, Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act (the “Act”) of 2012 on January 1, 2013. Set forth below is a summary of some of the important changes made by the Act.

Prior to joining Golan & Christie LLP last September, I spent the past three years working for a well-known workers’ compensation defense firm. I am excited to share my knowledge relating to workers’ compensation with Golan & Christie’s clients.

In its recent opinion for Lawlor v. North American Corp. of Illinois, the Illinois Supreme Court sent a warning message to employers who try to dig up evidence about former employees – you may be liable for punitive damages for invading the employee’s privacy.

Those who examine employment laws throughout the various states often remark that California is in a class by itself as a state with some of the most employee-centric rules in the country. Adding to that reputation are a couple of new laws that just went into effect in 2013. An employer need not have physical operations in California in order to be subject to its employment laws – any individual who is working for you in California, even if that is out of his home, can seek the protections of California laws.

In a twelve-month span, Golan & Christie’s Bankruptcy and Reorganization Practice Group obtained confirmation of nine (9) separate chapter 11 cases, from manufacturing companies to real estate developers to retail operations to individuals.

• The Impact of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 On Individuals
• Two Things You May Not Know About the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act
• Employment Law Alerts

Is it better to give than to receive? Purely from a tax perspective, the answer is generally no, since the person giving the gift may be subject to a federal gift tax, while the recipient generally is not.

When starting a new business, owners, rightfully so, are focused on getting operations up and running and making the business profitable. If there is more than one owner, everyone is usually in a “honeymoon” period where everyone is getting along and everyone believes that the business will last forever.

Illinois has a new law which goes into effect on January 1, 2013, that makes it illegal for employers to ask job applicants or employees for passwords to their Facebook accounts or other online profiles.

In a recent opinion from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin federal courts, a $3.5 million jury award was affirmed for an employee who alleged his employer did not do enough to stop anonymous harassment and threats he received at work.

For the second year in a row, Peter M. Katsaros will be teaching at the upcoming Pincus Professional Education workshop:

On September 5, 2012, Barbara L. Yong was honored by the League of Women Voters of the LaGrange Area with the 2012 Person of Impact Award. According to the League, “The award was created to honor individuals, non-profit organizations or government entities that are considered ‘change-makers’ and have made significant contributions in encouraging citizens to engage in the democratic process.” Golan & Christie congratulates Ms. Yong on her achievement.

• Gift Tax Update - Is It Better To Give Than To Receive?
• Business Owners - Do You Have Your Buy-Sell Agreement In Place?
• Employment Law Alerts

Chicago Daily law Bulletin

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “ObamaCare,” remains intact even after the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of some of its key provisions.

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which goes into effect on September 16, 2012, changes many of the ways in which an inventor can obtain a patent in the United States. The best way to learn about the impact of the AIA is to compare key provisions of patent law before and after the AIA.

With summer temperatures upon us, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has a public awareness campaign to prevent workplace injuries related to heat. OSHA does not have a specific standard for working in heat, but, under federal law, employers have a duty to protect workers from serious hazards in the workplace, including heat-related hazards.