Articles

• Probate, Estates and Trusts Litigation Articles
  • Are You Your Mother’s Keeper?
  • What is Guardianship and How Does it Work?
• Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Articles
  • The Future Is Here: The Internet Of Things And The Law
• Litigation Articles
  • Attorney-Client Privilege
  • Business: Seeking Predictability in an Era of Uncertainty
  • Know the ‘American Rule’
  • Non-Compete Agreements Require Consideration
  • Pennsylvania Products Liability Law: Amazon May be Liable for Defective “Marketplace” Items in Oberdorf Case
  • What do I do with all that “stuff” my tenant left behind?
• Health Care Law Articles
  • Changes Coming for Physicians in Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program
  • Changes in Pennsylvania Law Eases Countersignature Requirements for Physician Assistants
  • CMS Publishes Final Rules for Stage 2 Meaningful Use
  • CMS Publishes Revision to Laboratory “14-Day Rule”
  • Contemplating New Models of Physician Compensation
  • Executive Action Amends HIPAA: Allows More Reporting to Criminal Background Check System
  • Final Omnibus Rule: What You Need to do to Ensure Continued HIPAA Compliance
  • First Settlement is a Wake-Up Call for Business Associates Working With Health Care Providers
  • HIPAA Compliance Manual
  • Is Your Compensation Plan Stark Compliant?
  • Medical Practices May be Especially Vulnerable to Sexual Misconduct Claims
  • New CMS Payment Models Imminent
  • New CMS Payment Options Can Improve a Primary Care Practice
  • New DOJ Compliance Counsel Underscores Need for Compliance Plans
  • Pennsylvania Senate Bill Proposes Independent Practice of Certified Nurse Practitioners
  • Pennsylvania’s Temporary Medical Marijuana Regulations – What Physicians Need to Know
  • Physicians – Will You Benefit From Tax Reform?
  • Proposed Legislation May Mean Additional Responsibilities for Physicians When Prescribing Opioids
  • Rules on Returning Medicare Overpayment Finalized
  • Security Risk Analysis is Key to Passing Healthcare Audits
  • The Proposed States Act: Bipartisan Effort Aims To Hand Marijuana Regulation Back To The States
• Estates and Trusts Articles
  • Can a child be held responsible for a parent’s medical expenses?
  • Celebrities Who Die Without a Will Leave a Dubious Warning
  • Downturn in Oil and Gas Market Has Estate Planning Benefits
  • Four Estate Planning Resolutions To Kick Off The New Year
  • How does an irrevocable life insurance trust reduce estate tax?
  • How To Make Sure Your Will And Estate Plan Is Always The Right Fit
  • IDGTs: A Potential Business Succession Tool
  • If my grandchildren are my beneficiaries, will my estate be subject to a larger transfer tax when I die?
  • Is a Family-Owned Businesses Exempt from PA Inheritance Tax?
  • Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Law Has New Exemption For Small Family Businesses
  • Planning Your Estate: Are Your Beneficiaries in Order?
  • Power of Attorney for Young Adults
  • Should I add my child as a joint owner of assets?
  • Should I make provisions for my pet in my Will?
  • Succession Planning is No Laughing Matter
  • The Dangers of Treating Legal Practice as a Commodity
  • What are special needs trusts?
  • What are the benefits of a family limited partnership (FLP) to a landowner who also holds the Marcellus Shale oil/gas rights?
  • What is the gift tax annual exclusion?
  • When must I begin to take distributions from my retirement assets?
  • Who Gets What When You Have “Yours, Mine and Ours”?
  • Will the beneficiaries named in my Last Will and Testament receive all of my assets?
• Employment Law Articles
  • Age Discrimination Releases – The Courts Are Finding Devils in the Details
  • COVID-19 Update for Employers – Federal & State Employment Law Update
  • Department Of Labor Increasing Activity On Wage And Hour Law Issues
  • Educate Your Employees on E-Mail Policy
  • EEOC Guidance Supports Caregivers
  • Employment Law Activity Heats Up
  • Employment Law Battles Between the Supreme Court & Congress
  • Employment Law Update: Pittsburgh Sick Days Act Takes Effect March 15, 2020
  • Employment Law Update: Pittsburgh Sick Leave Pay Ordinance Upheld
  • Family Responsibility Discrimination
  • FMLA Housekeeping
  • FMLA Includes Leave for Military Servicemembers Families
  • Give Your Supervisors A Bit Of The Same Attention You Give Your Taxes
  • Higher Salary Minimum Requirements Announced for Overtime Exempt Employees
  • Is Alcoholism a “Serious Health Condition?”
  • Is Your Employee Handbook Leaving You Exposed?
  • Medical Marijuana – Considerations for Pennsylvania Employers
  • New Disability Discrimination Provisions Go Into Effect January 1, 2009
  • New DOL Rule Increasing Minimum Salary for Overtime Exempt Employees
  • New FMLA Rules and Requirements as of January 16, 2009
  • New NLRB Rule Makes it Easier for Unions to Organize Workers
  • NLRB Poster Nixed Again
  • Pennsylvania No-Smoking Law as of September 11, 2008
  • Physicians Cutbacks
  • Recent Employment Law Updates: FMLA Legislative Changes and New EEO Poster
  • Terminating an Employee Soon After Hire: How to Protect Yourself From a Lawsuit
  • The Challenging World of Blogs, Tweets and Posts
  • Updated FMLA Forms for 2018
• Employee Benefits/ERISA Law Articles
  • “Church Plan” Need Not Have Been Established By A Church
  • Health Insurance Marketplace Notices: What to do?
  • How Will Tax Reform Provisions Affect Retirement Plans And Other Employee Benefits?
  • MARCH 31, 2020 DEADLINE LOOMS FOR 403(b) PLAN DOCUMENT UPDATES
  • SECURE Act Finally Secure: New Law Makes Major Changes to Retirement Plan Rules
  • Separate “Principal-Purpose Organization” May be Required For “Church Plan” Status
  • Update on Plan Document Compliance for Defined Benefit Pension Plans (Including Cash Balance Plans)
  • Wellness Programs Giving Employers a Workout
• Elder Law Articles
  • Don’t Underestimate the Risk of Needing Long-Term Care
  • Elder Abuse is More Prevalent than You May Think
  • Veterans May Be Able To Receive Financial Assistance For Assisted Living
  • What You Need to Know – and What You Have to Give Up – to be Eligible for Medicaid
• Creditor’s Rights Articles
  • Bankruptcy Preference Claims: Three Words You Don’t Want to Hear
• Construction Articles
  • Design Professionals and the Economic-Loss Doctrine: The State of the Law in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia
  • OSHA’s New View From Above
  • Step aside subcontractors, open-ended mortgages take priority
  • When it Comes to Collections, Construction Professionals Have Some Options Other Industries Do Not
• Oil and Gas Articles
  • Lease Expiration and Lease Development
    • Pennsylvania Superior Court Rules that Oil and Gas Rights Did Not Transfer to Buyer
    • Pennsylvania Superior Court Rules That Payment Of Delay Rentals Alone Cannot Maintain A Lease Beyond Primary Term
    • Kentucky Court Rules That Lease Expired Due To Driller’s Failure To Market And Produce Gas
    • Driller Bankruptcy Could Raise Environmental Concerns for Landowners
    • My Driller Filed for Bankruptcy; What Happens to My Lease in Pennsylvania?
    • Ohio Supreme Court Rules that Lease Expiration Claim is Subject to Twenty-One Year Statute of Limitations
    • Pennsylvania Superior Court Rules That Driller Abandoned Oil/Gas Lease By Failing To Pay Royalties For Over 20 Years
    • Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells – More Than Just a Rusty Eyesore
    • Can the Payment of a Shut-In Royalty Maintain an Oil/Gas Lease Indefinitely?
    • Federal Court in Pittsburgh Allows Lease Cancellation Suit to Move Forward
    • Federal Court in Scranton Rules That Litigation Filed by Landowner Did Not “Repudiate” the Lease
    • Federal Court Rules that Assignment of Oil/Gas Lease May Not Extinguish Liability of Original Lessee
    • Is the Implied Covenant of Reasonable Development Irrelevant?
    • Landowners: Act Now or be Bound by Class Action Settlement Terms
    • Landowners Beware: Warranty Clause in Oil and Gas Lease Can Obligate Landowner to Repay Signing Bonus
    • Murphy Exploration v. Adams: Texas Supreme Court Suggests That Horizontal Well Bore Will Not Drain Hydrocarbons From Adjacent Tract
    • New Legislation May Allow Drillers to Revive Expired Oil and Gas Leases
    • Non-Producing Oil and Gas Lease Deemed Abandoned by the Pennsylvania Superior Court
    • Non-Production During Secondary Term Results in Termination of Lease
    • Ohio Supreme Court Declines to Recognize Implied Covenant of Further Exploration
    • Ohio Supreme Court Observes That Driller Cannot Maintain Lease Indefinitely by Paying Delay Rentals
    • Pennsylvania Superior Court Rules Driller had no Implied Obligation to Develop Deeper Formations
    • Preliminary Operations Not Enough To Extend Lease into Secondary Term
    • Temporary Cessation of Production: How much time does a producer have under Pennsylvania law?
    • To Drill or Not to Drill – Does Pennsylvania Recognize an Implied Covenant of Further Exploration?
    • West Virginia Supreme Court Rules That Horizontal Wells Cannot Be Drilled Into Adjacent Tracts Pursuant to 1901 Lease
    • Does a Well Passing Horizontally Under a Property Trigger a “Payment in Lieu of Free Gas” Clause? The Pennsylvania Superior Court says “No”
  • Royalties and Post-Production Costs
    • The New Royalty Bill is Good for Pennsylvania Landowners
    • Is Your Driller Really Enhancing the Value of Your Gas?
    • Federal District Court Injects Confusion into Definition of Gross Royalty Under Pennsylvania Law
    • Are February 2021 Production Royalty Payments Leaving you Out in the Cold?
    • Texas Supreme Court Rules That Gross Royalty Clause Prohibits Driller From Deducting Post-Production Costs
    • Is Your Driller Trying to Re-Write History?
    • Historic Cold May Provide Window Into “Market Enhancement” Under Gas Leases
    • Kansas Court Rules that Gas is not Marketable Until it Reaches Interstate Pipeline
    • Why Is The Driller Deducting Post-Production Costs My Lease Doesn’t Allow? Kilmer V. Elexco Land Services: A Decade Later
    • Ohio Court Rules That Driller Did Not Breach Lease By Deducting Post-Production Costs Incurred By Affiliate
    • Federal Court in Kentucky Allows Novel Royalty Claim to Move Forward
    • West Virginia Federal Court Rules That Lease Did Not Authorize the Deduction of Post-Production Costs
    • Texas Court Rules That Gross Royalty Clause in Addendum Supersedes Royalty Clause in Pre-Printed Lease Form
    • Claim Based on Implied Covenant to Market Gas to Move Forward in Federal Royalty Litigations
    • North Dakota Supreme Court Rules That “Gross Proceeds” Means No Deductions
    • Court Rules Severance Tax Does Not Increase Value Of Shale Gas, Therefore Not A Deductible Post-Production Cost
    • Driller Has No Obligation to Pay Royalty on Lost Gas
    • Failure to Tender Production Royalty Did Not Trigger Forfeiture Clause
    • Federal Court in Pittsburgh Questions Applicability of Kilmer Decision
    • Federal District Court in Ohio Rules That Chesapeake Did Not Breach Lease When it Deducted Costs From Royalty
    • Federal District Court In Pennsylvania Allows Royalty Claim To Move Forward
    • HB 1391: Putting Teeth Back in Pennsylvania’s Minimum Royalty Statute
    • Is Pa. Becoming a First-Marketable-Product Jurisdiction?
    • Landowners May Face Difficult Burden Regarding Intermingled Gas
    • Legislation Revived to Protect Royalty Owners in Pennsylvania
    • New Royalty Bill HB 1708 Will Not Help Pennsylvania Landowners
    • Ohio Supreme Court Declines to Adopt Blanket “At the Well” Rule
    • Oklahoma Federal Court Rules That Driller Must Pay Royalty On Fuel Gas
    • Sixth Circuit Rules That Driller Must Pay Royalties On Natural Gas Liquids
    • Superior Court Breathes New Life Into Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act
    • Tenth Circuit Rules That Obligation to Pay Royalty on Fuel Gas Depends on Lease Language
    • The Difference Between a “Royalty” and a “Royalty Interest” Can Be Confusing and Costly For Landowners
    • West Virginia Jury Finds That Eqt Improperly Calculated Landowners’ Royalty On Shale Gas
    • West Virginia Moves to Prohibit Drillers From Taking Deductions Which Reduce Net Royalty Below 12.5%
    • West Virginia Supreme Court Declares that Minimum Royalty Statute Does Not Authorize the Deduction of Post-Production Costs
    • West Virginia Supreme Court to Reconsider Landmark Decision in Leggett v. EQT Production Company
    • Who’s Entitled to Free Gas?
    • Why the New Minimum Royalty Bill is Constitutional and Good for Pennsylvania
  • Pooling and Unitization
    • Hordis v. Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation: Landowner Challenges Whether Driller Can Ignore Pooling Clause and Simply Rely on Act 85
    • Supreme Court Decision in Briggs v. Southwestern Energy is a “Win” for Pennsylvania Landowners
    • Act 85 and Cross-Unit Drilling- More Questions Than Answers for Landowners
    • Murphy Exploration v. Adams: Texas Supreme Court Suggests That Horizontal Well Bore Will Not Drain Hydrocarbons From Adjacent Tract
    • Has Forced Pooling Come to Pennsylvania With SB 259?
    • Houston Harbaugh, P.c Files “amicus Curiae Brief’ On Behalf Of The Pennsylvania Chapter Of The National Association Of Royalty Owners In Briggs, Et Al V. Southwestern Energy (63 Map 2018)
    • Not Your Father’s Oil and Gas Lease
    • Pennsylvania Superior Court Rejects Rule of Capture in Subsurface Trespass Suit
    • Pooling Clause Not Necessary: West Virginia Court Finds Implied Right to Pool Exists Where Lease Silent
  • Surface Usage and Pipelines
    • Is Your Property At Risk If The Driller Or Pipeline Company Doesn’t Pay Its Contractors?
    • West Virginia Supreme Court Rules That Horizontal Wells Cannot Be Drilled Into Adjacent Tracts Pursuant to 1901 Lease
    • Adverse Possession – Can Surface Owner Acquire Title to Gas Formations by Mere Passage of Time?
    • A Possible Blueprint for Landowners Challenging Pipeline Companies
    • Good News for Landowners Means Bad News for Trespassers
    • Local Zoning Ordinances May Hinder Oil/Gas Development
    • Marcellus Shale Gas is Not a Mineral. What Does This Mean for Lease-holders?
    • Not All is Quiet on the Quiet Title Front
    • Pennsylvania Landowners May Not Own Oil and Gas Rights Under Rivers and Streams
    • Pipeline Operators: Public Utility or Pipeline Futility?
    • PUC Decision Suggests Pipeline Operator Has Public Utility Status
    • Subsurface Trespass – Can They Take the Gas Under My Property Without a Lease?
    • The Accommodation Doctrine: Balancing the Interests of the Surface Owner and the Mineral Owner
    • West Virginia Jury Awards Damages to Surface Owner for Unauthorized Well Pad