Insights

McGrath North is deeply committed to expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion in our profession, community, and firm.  

Last week, McGrath North’s Intellectual Property group hosted a CLE seminar titled “Intellectual Property Basics for Non-IP Practitioners" in Sioux City, IA. This educational event helped attendees gain a comprehensive understanding of IP rights.  

McGrath North Board Member and Shareholder Abbey Moland is a co-host and panelist for an educational and networking event focused on Modern Models of Success for Women in Law on Thursday, February 2, 2023. Over 100 women from Omaha’s legal community will be at this first post-pandemic relationship building event by Drinks Among Friends, a grassroots organization dedicated to bringing women in the legal community together, to empower them in their legal practices, in their roles as businesswomen and in their aspirations to lead.  

On December 6, 2022, McGrath North held its Privacy & Data Protection Summit at the Scott Conference Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The over 100 attendees from almost 70 companies at the half-day event had the opportunity to hear speakers and panelists, including guest experts from the industry, share insights on key topics including:  

McGrath North shareholder Lauren Goodman served as one of the small group of speakers at the Nebraska Banker’s Association’s Women in Banking Conference held October 19-20, 2022, which was attended by over 110 women from across the state of Nebraska. The conference focused on the theme of women empowerment in the industry.   

On April 27^th, 2023, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law the “My Health, My Data” Act (“MHMD”), a piece of legislation that will have a profound impact on the treatment of consumer health data in the state of Washington. The goal of MHMD is to expand the protections granted to consumer health data beyond the scope covered by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. Here is what you need to know about the new law:  

The year 2023 continues to make waves in the realm of data privacy law in the United States, as several more states make strides in advancing bills that would establish comprehensive privacy laws. Delve into the latest developments surrounding these crucial bills:  

On January 4, 2023, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced two separate findings of violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (Meta Ireland). Meta Ireland is a subsidiary of Meta Platforms, Inc., the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The violations were found by the DPC in connection with Meta Ireland’s provision of Facebook and Instagram services in Ireland. The GDPR violations relating to Facebook have resulted in fines totaling €210 million, while the violations concerning Instagram total €180 million. In issuing these fines, the DPC has highlighted considerations that should be top of mind for entities doing business in the EU:  

Under the direction of President Biden, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a proposed rule that will outlaw non-compete agreements in the workplace. Back in July 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14036 directing the FTC to either ban or limit employee non-competes in order to promote competition in the American economy, increase wages, make it easier for employees to change jobs, and eliminate aggressive tactics by large companies. Biden's Executive Order specifically focused on the "unfair use" of non-compete clauses and other clauses that "unfairly limit" worker mobility.  

When employees decide to leave their employer and engage in competition, they frequently overlook their duty of loyalty. Absent a non-compete or non-solicitation restriction, an employee may believe that he or she can freely engage in discussions with clients and customers regarding their intention to leave employment and engage in a competitive business.  

Benjamin Franklin famously said that there are only two certainties in this world: death and taxes. However, even Franklin would have to agree that some taxes are more certain than others. For example, most people are all too familiar with paying taxes like the income tax, property tax and retail sales tax. But other taxes, like the federal estate tax, are far less common.  

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Act 2.0 or the SECURE Act 2.0 brings a variety of new retirement plan requirements and options to plan sponsors. Among the SECURE Act 2.0 provisions are several new minimum distribution rules and distribution options. This article focuses on the new distribution options offered through the SECURE Act 2.0 that plan sponsors should consider offering to plan participants as the different options become available. The new distribution events generally apply to account based defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans. However, the new minimum required distribution age and cash-out rules apply to all qualified plans.  

2023 has already become a landmark year for data privacy developments. On January 1 of this year, the California Privacy Rights Act and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act entered into force. Additionally, the Human Resources (HR) and Business-to-Business (B2B) exemptions under California law expired on January 1, which has drastically shifted businesses’ obligations in the state. Other states have also gotten in on the action, with Iowa passing a comprehensive privacy law, set to go into effect in 2025. Before that, however, the Colorado Privacy Act, the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, and the Utah Consumer Privacy Act will all enter into force before the end of this calendar year.  

Data protection certifications are a great way to give your organization an edge against your competitors when it comes to scoring new clients and proving up your data privacy and security compliance. However, understanding all the different certifications available and which certifications will provide the most value for organization can be tricky. This month, Stacey Shadden and Caroline Pieper discuss the most common types of certifications and how they can be beneficial for your organization as you consider getting certified!  

This month’s episode of Privacy is Power focuses on the importance of employee privacy and security training. Reports show that as many as 90% of breaches start from social engineering or phishing attacks that an organization’s technical security solutions can’t protect against. Training an organization’s workforce who handle sensitive data will have an immediate impact on an organization’s level of data security, and not properly training the workforce can be costly and detrimental. Don’t trust that employees know how to properly protect data or implement proper procedure, reach out to McGrath North’s Privacy and Cybersecurity team today to create a tailored training guide to efficiently ensure employees know proper protocol.   

2021 is already heating up with privacy and security regulatory changes. Congress is getting closer to federal legislation, regulatory agencies are finding ways to get involved and the first national cyber director in history was sworn in by the White House. Check out this month’s episode of Privacy is Power to get up to speed on the top 5 newsworthy data privacy and security topics to help your organization implement updates and prepare for future changes in the world of data privacy and security.  

As the pandemic continues to wind down and vaccines are more widely distributed, employers are bringing employees back to work and may be collecting or accessing data through the use of vaccine cards, temperature checks, COVID-19 screening questions, workplace monitoring apps, and more. Join us for Episode 4, where we discuss not only the data privacy considerations associated with bringing employees back to work, but also the labor and employment considerations. This month, a guest speaker from McGrath North’s labor and employment group, Cody Brookhouser-Sisney, joins Caroline and Stacey for a panel discussion.