Criminal Law

• Theft

Business and Corporate Law

• Mergers and Acquisitions
  Smith & Downey regularly advises clients concerning employee benefits and executive compensation issues arising in connection with mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions.
• Unfair Competition
  Competing entity after the worker’s employment ends). In short, the FTC determined that it is unfair competition to: (i) enter into or attempt to enter into a new non-compete clause; (ii)

Employment Law

• Employment Discrimination
  Gender Affirming Care Coverage. In May 2024, HHS issued its third round of regulations under ACA Section 1557 which makes it illegal for health programs that receive federal financial assistance to discriminate based on sex. Like the original HHS regulation issued in 2016, the new regulation restores gender identity as part of such prohibited sex discrimination. Although Section 1557 does not generally apply to employer-sponsored health plans, it does apply to health insurers and in some cases to third party administrators. Moreover, the new Section 1557 regulations specify that where a third party administrator plays no role in the development of a plan design, HHS will refer discrimination complaints to the EEOC or DOI for potential investigation. As a
• Employment Contract
  A federal court recently issued a nationwide injunction preventing the enforcement of the FTC Rule which was scheduled to take effect last month, a decision that the FTC is appealing. It is too soon to predict with 100% certainty how this will play out. Employers should continue to monitor developments in this area and in the interim consider the potential impact of the FTC Rule on its employment agreements, handbooks, etc. if the FTC Rule goes into effect.
• Employment Litigation
• Non-compete Agreement
  The FTC Rule would bar both new and existing non-compete agreements with respect to regular workers (i.e. those who do not qualify as “senior executives” as defined below). Thus, any

Immigration Law

• Business Immigration
  Doug Desmarais focuses his practice on all aspects of labor and employer/employee relations, general litigation, ERISA litigation, and business immigration. He has extensive experience in representing clients before the Equal Employment Opportunity C... Read More View Doug's Profile

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
  Under Section 704(a)(11) of the Bankruptcy Code, Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees must perform plan administrator functions with respect to the debtor’s ERISA-governed plans. This duty also applies to Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustees under Section 1106(a)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code.