Some things you need to know about Florida Business Law:

For more info send email to: info@flabizlaw.com

Busines s, Entities and Transactions ... Florida requires employers report new hires. Report can be made over net, by fax, electronically, etc. Go to www.fl-newhire.com. [1/2001]

...Have you renewed your Florida corporate status? Annual reports must be filed by April 30

C ompliance and Management ...Are your company policies adopted, communicated and implemented in order to shield officers and directors from liability? Types of policies? E.g. sexual harassment, drug testing, compliance with foreign corrupt practices act, workplace privacy, email, etc.

...A corporate compliance program must have a code of conduct for employees and other agents, contractors, suppliers...Should require them to sign that code of conduct... Should set out clearly what is prohibited and what the penalty will be for violation... Should include background checks and training on ethics... Should take into account typical conflict or problem situations a company may face and the correct response for each... Companies should have an ethics adviser, an open-door policy and a hotline or some other way for employees to make anonymous calls or tips if they think something is wrong (issue will be whether everything was done to open the lines of communication so anyone who had a concern could come forward and speak about it)... Internal and external audits are important parts of a compliance program... If companies don't follow through with sanctions when the code of conduct is violated, then the code is worthless.

Intellectual Property ...New case interpreting business method patents in Federal Circuit - 1985 patent covering basic process of selling content, i.e. downloadable music, etc. over the web - court ruled in favor of patent holder [11/2000]

...Reps. Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., and Rick Boucher, D-Va. introduced H.R. 5364, "Business Method Patent Improvement Act of 2000," on behalf of opponents of business method patents who want to restrict the PTO's ability to issue them. [11/2000]

...Check your trademark deadlines. Is a filing due?

...Do you know the term of your copyrights?

Immigration ...The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) received 342,035 applications for H-1B visas between Oct. 1, 2000, and Sept. 30, 2001--a 14.4 percent increase from fiscal 2000

...LIFE Act deadline for filing is April 30, 2001, but filing should be done immediately. For LIFE Act FAQs click here:

... ACWIA and new DOL regs address H1-B visas. In addition to other reported changes: Temporarily requires non-displacement provisions whch generally prohibit certain employers from replacing U.S. workers with H-lB workers; Requires employers to offer benefits to H-lB workers on the same basis as they offer benefits to U.S. workers; Requires employers to pay H-lB workers when the workers are placed in non-productive status for work-related reasons such as lack of a license or lack of work; Provides whistleblower protections to employees who disclose information about potential violations or cooperate in an investigation or proceeding [1/2001]

... The Legal Immigration and Family Equity ("LIFE") Act was signed into law December 21, 2000. It provides limited restoration of section 245(i), creates a new "V" non-immigrant visa category for spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents waiting more than three years for an immigrant visa based upon an immigrant petition filed on or before the enactment date, expands the "K" visa to be available to spouses of US citizens (and their children) living abroad, and allows some people who filed before October 1, 2000 for class membership in one of the three "late amnesty" cases to adjust status during a 12-month period that begins once regulations are issued. [1/2001]

...New Child Citizenship Act of 2000 signed into law - granting automatic citizenship to certain children of US citizens [12/2000]

...Unless you have received Advance Parole, do not travel out of the country if you have a pending application for adjust of status, if you are a refugee, in TPS or asylum status, for example.

Securities ...SEC Insider trading rules changed to allow trades under prior written plan (Rule 10b5-1) [10/2000]

...SEC Regulation FD now requires fair disclosure of material company info. This means no more special early disclosure to analysts, etc. Material info that is disclosed must be publicly disclosed within 24 hours. Usually this is done by press release, or website. Some conference calls are now open to everyone. [10/2000]

C omputer / Cyberlaw / Technology ...Costs of hackers and viruses exceed the costs of hardware. Use virus protection software, encryption, firewalls, etc.

...State spam legislation upheld in California

...Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), chose ".biz," ".aero," ".name," ".coop" and ".info" to add to the pool of Net names. The others are ".pro" for professional Web sites and ".museum." Contact us for more info on registration.[11/2000]

...NJ court recognizes entity's right to be free of unsolicited bulk e-mail flooding its system in forcing ISP to reveal identity of mailer

E mployment ...Review your agreements. Do you have non-competes, invention assignments and non-disclosure covenants for key employees?

E ntertainment ...Do your agreements cover all new forms of "electronic rights"

Wills, Trusts and Estates ...Higher unified credit amount of $1,000,000 for 2002

O ther News

Busines s, Entities and Transactions	... Florida requires employers report new hires. Report can be made over net, by fax, electronically, etc. Go to www.fl-newhire.com. [1/2001] ...Have you renewed your Florida corporate status? Annual reports must be filed by April 30
C ompliance and Management	...Are your company policies adopted, communicated and implemented in order to shield officers and directors from liability? Types of policies? E.g. sexual harassment, drug testing, compliance with foreign corrupt practices act, workplace privacy, email, etc. ...A corporate compliance program must have a code of conduct for employees and other agents, contractors, suppliers...Should require them to sign that code of conduct... Should set out clearly what is prohibited and what the penalty will be for violation... Should include background checks and training on ethics... Should take into account typical conflict or problem situations a company may face and the correct response for each... Companies should have an ethics adviser, an open-door policy and a hotline or some other way for employees to make anonymous calls or tips if they think something is wrong (issue will be whether everything was done to open the lines of communication so anyone who had a concern could come forward and speak about it)... Internal and external audits are important parts of a compliance program... If companies don't follow through with sanctions when the code of conduct is violated, then the code is worthless.
Intellectual Property	...New case interpreting business method patents in Federal Circuit - 1985 patent covering basic process of selling content, i.e. downloadable music, etc. over the web - court ruled in favor of patent holder [11/2000] ...Reps. Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., and Rick Boucher, D-Va. introduced H.R. 5364, "Business Method Patent Improvement Act of 2000," on behalf of opponents of business method patents who want to restrict the PTO's ability to issue them. [11/2000] ...Check your trademark deadlines. Is a filing due? ...Do you know the term of your copyrights?
Immigration	...The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) received 342,035 applications for H-1B visas between Oct. 1, 2000, and Sept. 30, 2001--a 14.4 percent increase from fiscal 2000 ...LIFE Act deadline for filing is April 30, 2001, but filing should be done immediately. For LIFE Act FAQs click here: ... ACWIA and new DOL regs address H1-B visas. In addition to other reported changes: Temporarily requires non-displacement provisions whch generally prohibit certain employers from replacing U.S. workers with H-lB workers; Requires employers to offer benefits to H-lB workers on the same basis as they offer benefits to U.S. workers; Requires employers to pay H-lB workers when the workers are placed in non-productive status for work-related reasons such as lack of a license or lack of work; Provides whistleblower protections to employees who disclose information about potential violations or cooperate in an investigation or proceeding [1/2001] ... The Legal Immigration and Family Equity ("LIFE") Act was signed into law December 21, 2000. It provides limited restoration of section 245(i), creates a new "V" non-immigrant visa category for spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents waiting more than three years for an immigrant visa based upon an immigrant petition filed on or before the enactment date, expands the "K" visa to be available to spouses of US citizens (and their children) living abroad, and allows some people who filed before October 1, 2000 for class membership in one of the three "late amnesty" cases to adjust status during a 12-month period that begins once regulations are issued. [1/2001] ...New Child Citizenship Act of 2000 signed into law - granting automatic citizenship to certain children of US citizens [12/2000] ...Unless you have received Advance Parole, do not travel out of the country if you have a pending application for adjust of status, if you are a refugee, in TPS or asylum status, for example.
Securities	...SEC Insider trading rules changed to allow trades under prior written plan (Rule 10b5-1) [10/2000] ...SEC Regulation FD now requires fair disclosure of material company info. This means no more special early disclosure to analysts, etc. Material info that is disclosed must be publicly disclosed within 24 hours. Usually this is done by press release, or website. Some conference calls are now open to everyone. [10/2000]
C omputer / Cyberlaw / Technology	...Costs of hackers and viruses exceed the costs of hardware. Use virus protection software, encryption, firewalls, etc. ...State spam legislation upheld in California ...Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), chose ".biz," ".aero," ".name," ".coop" and ".info" to add to the pool of Net names. The others are ".pro" for professional Web sites and ".museum." Contact us for more info on registration.[11/2000] ...NJ court recognizes entity's right to be free of unsolicited bulk e-mail flooding its system in forcing ISP to reveal identity of mailer
E mployment	...Review your agreements. Do you have non-competes, invention assignments and non-disclosure covenants for key employees?
E ntertainment	...Do your agreements cover all new forms of "electronic rights"
Wills, Trusts and Estates	...Higher unified credit amount of $1,000,000 for 2002
O ther News